Keep putting out stuff like this, and this channels is going to explode! This is awesome! I never would have guessed that we had such creature here on the east coast.
In the mid to late 90's, in central Alabama, I was digging a grave for a goat that had died. When I got about 3 feet down I came across a hole between the size of an egg and a tennis ball, and to my utter amazement there was one of the spiders. I had no idea that they lived here, nor did anyone I shared this to. Some even just about said I was lying or mistaken. Thanks for showing this.
We definitely have them here. Although the funnel web spiders are slightly different from the tarantula, but we do also have some form of tarantula tho , but you rarely encounter them and likely aren't native
@@jeffjeannette9364 depends on how you classify that. They don't have neurotoxin, like rattlesnakes, black widow ect. It's more like the bite of a brown recluse/wolf spider (just eats away the skin) the trap door(funnel-web spider ) in Australia is one of the most deadly spiders in the world tho
the red legged purseweb is what got me interested in spiders, i had seen the little silk tubes around my whole childhood in Atlanta, but it wasn't until i was 13 that i pulled one up to investigate, and boy was I in for a surprise. i had always thought that the bigger critters like these were all obvious, you know, like i knew we had garden spiders and a few others, so when i did some research trying to figure it out, I was blown away, like you, at the biodiversity of my own backyard. a tarantula, on my front porch in atl!? crazy! but fast forward four years I'm applying to colleges with biology as my first choice of major in every one of them. sidenote, you can tug lightly on the web and get them up sometimes, a lot less harmful because if you fail, they just have to build a new web, whereas if you fail with a shovel, well we all know how that ends. also you can release them back in their holes this way. please keep putting these vids out. less exadgerated than coyote for sure and you seem way more down to earth which keeps it relatable for kids learning
I agree. I really like this dudes down to earth personality. No ego and no over the top animations. He's just chill, yet knows his stuff, and shares in an an interesting educational way. Great channel! 🕸🕷
This is no doubt one of the most amazing, underrated wildlife channels on TH-cam. The respect and appreciation you have for these creatures is just wonderful, and I always learn so much. Thank you for what you do! I look forward to seeing more!!
I just absolutely love how happy you sound and look whenever you find a little critter. So much love and respect. It's exactly what this world needs. Thanks for educating us!
"puppy dog eyes..." This is great! They always look to me like either they're seeing the world for the first time, or they're peering into my soul. I'm fine with both.
Thank you for these videos. For years I have been trying to overcome my fear of spiders and I'm at the point now where I can feel comfortable ignoring most spiders in my house. Leaving a spider on the wall alone while I shower less than 2 feet away from it and convincing a spider I saw on my bed to get on a sheet of paper so I could transfer it to the floor are recent major wins for me. And watching videos like this help a lot. I could handle the daddy long legs and the small jumping spiders because I knew they wouldn't bite me, or that even if they did that they were harmless. Thanks to you and a couple other TH-camrs I'm now not afraid of the yellowy/brown/clear orb weaving house spiders that find a spot near the ceiling to make a web and mostly stay there, or the small black ones that skitter along the ground. I think I've been bitten by a few stray spiders on occasion while sleeping and the bites have never been much worse than a mosquito bite, so I know I have nothing to fear from those common ones either. Watching you so easily handle all sorts of spiders and seeing them just chilling on your hands and arms is exactly what I need at this point, to see that if one gets onto me, I don't have to worry about it biting me as long as it doesn't go under fabric into an arm sleeve or something. I've considered trying to get a house spider to go onto my hand or arm, but I think I am not quite ready to purposefully put a spider onto myself yet. But I will absolutely keep watching your videos. I am very wary about spiders, but also fascinated by them.
I love to hear this! You’ve grown a lot, and that’s something to be extremely proud of. Most people don’t take action to beat their fears, but you’re out here crushing it, and humble enough to be vulnerable about how the spiders made you feel in the past! Don’t feel pressured to hold spiders on your bare hand before your ready, even I don’t do it much aside from if I’m relocating spiders or demonstrating that they’re not monsters like how I do in videos or in person when I’m educating people. An important thing to remember- even to the deadliest spiders in the world, we are a much bigger threat to them than they are to us. And they don’t really want much to do with us in the first place! So whatever you do, long as you’re respecting them for the living things they are, I 100% support you in your endeavors. Thanks for sharing this experience with me!
Lol, you don't _have_ to keep them in your house... you can definitely relocate them outside if need be. I understand trying to get over a phobia but still. Having spiders around in small numbers in your home isn't a bad thing but you definitely don't want an infestation of any kind. If you're finding them all over your house and they're crawling on your bed (and potentially biting you while you sleep...) and such, you may just have a bit of a bug problem in your home. Just an fyi, I suppose.
@@MyWildBackyard I will never be able to do that; my fear is extremely crippling and has been known to cause me to actually black out in the past if the shock is too great. It's the one creature on this planet I have a legitimate fear of, stemming from my earliest memory being bitten on the side of my foot by a spider (non-venomous, but I must have irritated it beforehand) while camping. They've absolutely terrified me ever since. And yet, my favorite comic book growing up was Spider-Man, I love watching movies like Arachnophobia and Eight-Legged Freaks, and even part of my username (gumo) is a dialectal variation of the word "kumo", which means spider (it can also mean cloud). I am both horrified by them and find them extremely fascinating to the point that I study them (at a very safe distance, of course) to learn their strengths and weaknesses, habitats, the ones that are dangerous and/or aggressive towards humans, etc.
I thought this was a story about an Australian funnel-web spider being found in America and that's something you don't want due to it being deadly In my experience the Australian Funnelweb spider lives in areas of clay soil, many years ago I unearthed a number of them while working on digging foundations in clay soil. Apparently they look similar to the Australian trapdoor spider which I also unearthed. Also I live in Sydney where the local funnelweb species is more deadly but I haven't seen a Funnelweb for many years possibly due to the soil being inappropriate for funnelweb spiders
@@majestic7768 Yup 😊 they are like cats in bug form...only they don't scratch the hell out of you, and I've never been bitten by one so I say they are slightly better than cats lol No offense, cat lovers
I live in Michigan, and for 2 years now we have had this spider. 2 different females, both about 3 inches with gigantic fangs. A small lake is across the street so we see tons of animals.
I make mistakes just like everyone else! And even though they do suck, it helps to learn so I can be better. Glad you’re enjoying me talk about spiders and other little critters!
Used to have a jumping spider that lived in my car’s side mirror of all places. That little guy stayed put for hundreds of miles of travel! Seemed rather healthy too given his size! Up and disappeared one day; so I like to think he hitched a ride on a bigger car than my civic! 😊
Great video, and gorgeous spiders. One slight correction: while Purseweb Spiders, Funnel Web Spiders, and Tarantulas, are all megalomorph spiders, tarantulas are in the family Theraphosidae. So while closely related, Purseweb Spiders and Funnel Web Spiders are not tarantulas.
The biggest difference, as someone who keeps and breeds megalomorph spiders, is that tarantulas have cooler feet 😂. They have adhesive fuzzy pads, and they have tiny claws, while most of the other megalomorph spider's legs come to little points. This allows tarantulas to climb smooth surfaces like glass, while most other spiders can not.
This is one of my favorite videos of yours to date Spencer. From a technical perspective it was flawless to me, great pacing, sharp editing, well thought-out story. The spiders spoke for themselves, I love Dolomedes albineus and I’m glad you got an adult this year, I still need mine. Phidippus otiosus was new to me, that is a very pretty spider, I love the coloration that guy had. And I totally agree that the Sphodros species is a gem tier find, that is a crazy looking animal for the east coast. Looked like Sphodros atlanticus from what I could see, but I’m not sure. Amazing work man, I can’t wait to see more! - Harrison
Thanks so much man! This was a blast to edit even if it took forever. I love getting to put these stories together and have em play out! Sphodros atlanticus is my best guess cause I’ve seen the males, but didn’t want to go past genus just to play it safe
I ran across a purse web spider in an in-ground raised bed when I was removing some woody dry stem material prior to fallowing the bed for winter. It was about the same size as the female you found and described in the last section of this video. She was very aggressive and clamped her fangs into a small blunt stick that I gently moved toward her. While she was still focused on biting the stick I relocated her to a fallow bed, with a reasonable covering of annual "weeds", that would not be used for another season. Alas I fear I sealed her doom because it was October and I think she was already settled in for the cold season. This was in an inland valley between the SF Bay and the San Joachim Valley, California.
I was at my son's ranch in Laredo Texas and after going through a severe drought we finally had lots of rain that brought out dozens of large spiders that look much like these. They were large and seemed very aggressive when i got close. They would rear up and show their large fangs. I I've seen many tarantulas and can tell these were not hairy but smooth and shiny black. Love this video do more
Maybe trap door spiders . If lots of rain they get flooded out of their burrows that they live in and come to the surface. Like he said the ruse web spider live close to water.
This is awesome. I found a purse web (still have pictures) in 2013 in South Ga and thought it was super cool and let it crawl on me. I'm glad I didnt drop the spider, and I knew it had some large fangs but did not know just how large they were! When I found it my first thought was this thing looks like a funnel web. Learned a lot from this video. Totally subbing 🤙
That was a really good video, thank you. Like a lot of commenters on this video, I'm Australian. It would be terrific if you could do this same thing in Sydney and as far north as the central coast, and south down to Canberra. There are a number of different funnel web species that could use your enthusiasm, passion and respect to highlight. If you're lucky, you might find a female mouse spider on your travels. I think an Australian visit would be great for this channel to explain the venomous spiders here, and for your US viewers, be able to explain the differences and how spider species have developed across different continents.
Oh absolutely. Absolutely. An Australian trip would be a dream come true for me, just to be immersed in the wilderness there… breathtaking. And you bet- I am FASCINATED by the invertebrate life there: centipedes, SPIDERS, insects- I would easily get over 100 videos filmed if I spent a month there
Purse web spiders are also the only tarantulas native to the UK. It isn't known how common they are because they are so rarely seen. Females rarely leave their burrows and the silk 'purse' is always well camouflaged with leaf litter and forest detritus. The bite from the European variety is harmless and is reportedly a little like a bee sting... although bites are extremely rare and this report comes from one enthusiast who deliberately provoked a female to bite him to record the effects. The European ones are also smaller than the one in this video.
Louisiana actually has about three tarantula species in the wild, one being a native to Texas that has migrated and a couple which were introduced by careless keepers. It's not incredibly uncommon to see them in our backyards here
You are so brave. Most of our spiders here in Australia are poisonous but there are some spiders, such as huntsman’s spiders, that have great personalities and get quite large
Their venom isn’t deadly but I’ve read it’s very painful with swelling and redness at the bite. Headaches and nausea have been reported and in 90% of bites the person will go into shock and needs immediate medical attention.
@@joemarks5895 well that contradicts what he told me tho xD but i believe you, hairless tarantula like spider, i would completely avoid, no matter how small it is.
@@joemarks5895 I'm not sure where you found that information but it's absolutely not true. Purse webs spiders do not have medically significant venom. Someone allergic to the venom may have the reaction you described, but the majority of people will be just fine. The mechanical damage from the massive fangs would likely be worse than any effects of the venom.
Used to see these guys all the time at the river by my house as a kid. Edit: Im talking about the fishing spider. It was the only big spider I wasn't afraid of because i always thought if they are so camouflaged then they know what they are looking to eat. Not just wondering around jumping on my shoes!!
I love how aggressively it’s carapace humps up to make way for it’s fangs. Also what good are forward facing eyes if they’re primitive tarantula eyes? Do these guys hunt kinda like trap door spiders?
Similar yes. It’s actually kinda gnarly. That silk tube they build is the key: an insect will walk onto it- presumably a caterpillar climbing up the tree trunk and using it as a bridge- and the vibrations travel all the way to the burrow’s depths. Spider is alerted to this movement, and scurried up. Uses those long fangs to stab THROUGH the web to envenomate the insect, then surgically cuts a slit in the web to take the insect inside, repairs the hole then eats the insect deep beneath the ground.
I caught a red legged purse web spider once. He was just crawling around on the sidewalk. I had never seen anything like it before and immediately tried to look up what it was. I named him Dorito then released him back. Cool find to be sure!
Dude, as an Australian, I was pooping bricks watching you poke that big black mean looking spider with your finger. That looks just like our Funnel Web or Trap Door Spider, which are deadly. You are crazy !!
Fun factoid: The very best fishing bait on the east coast for bass, and catfish in rivers and streams is what you termed nightmarish insect, the pinchers can rip human flesh to the bone, especially if your fingers are wet from catching them in their habit. Their life cycle is extreme, they live the first part of their lives under rocks in fast moving water, then develop wings and live in the air, they are called hellgrammites, and you have to pin their heads down to catch them, they are very strong, muscular like leaches, that have hooks on their tails, but you can put a hook thru their shell head and down the wormy back, and it will live for hours, you can catch many fish on a single one because their bodies are so tuff and resilient.
My pawpaw taught me to catch them in streams when I was little for that very reason. We would catch spring lizards too, but for some reason, I don’t see as many of them as I used to. I was scared to death of the hellgrammites at first, lol. On a side note, when I was was 10-11, my friends lived by a nice creek, and a guy would come by on Fridays and pay us 50 cents a piece for every crawfish we caught, he bass fished with them. That was good money for us in the 80’s.
Great video Spencer, I love that little jumping spider, you found, it was so cute 🥰 I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but I just cannot get enough of your videos, and your channel is growing, and growing, and you're getting more and more subscribers, that is just awesome, congratulations Spencer, you've come a long way, your quite the popular guy lol you're doing great, keep on doing what you do 💯👍🏼👌🏼👏🏼💙
Thanks so much! The last few months have been incredible. Opportunities, channel growth, and even just connections I’ve made along the way. Can’t begin to describe how grateful I am for the support from viewers like you, and it’s really been life changing. Glad I get to share these amazing animals and adventures with the world.
Seems like if you keep finding spiders that are supposed to be in the top of the trees, and they are not, THEN SOMETHING ELSE IS IN THE TOP OF THE TREES!!!!!! Bwahahahahah
Climbing trees in Alabama as a kid, I put my hand on one of those fishing spiders I guess? It looked very similar in color and size.... I know it scared me so bad I felt like i was electrocuted or something XD Thanks for sharing!
I have a gorgeous grass spider as a guest in my bedroom. She made her way into my room on curtains from another room that were tossed onto the dirty clothes basket. She made a nice funnel from the clothes basket to a dresser drawer next to the basket. I discovered her when she had just started the funnel. I decided to leave her alone, but only for a few days cuz she needs to be outside & I don't want egg sacs! 😅 I love spiders!!!
At 4.48m Just as he found the weird" jumping spider, Besides the unexpected spider there's actually a equally unexpected total black chicken over his shoulder. A mid size hen to b tech correct & doesn't seen freightin frighten by ppl so therefore somewhat domesticated. I thought these explorations were done in wild woodlands etc. I guess real r is his backyard 👍
Awesome video! I feel like that jumping spider segment came out of nowhere, but all the spiders were incredible (especially that purse web) and the info was great!
That Purse Web spider looks like the Australian Mouse Spiders. Calmer and less deadly than the funnel web. But quite venomous anyway. You wouldn’t poke one with your finger. They burrow up to a metre and you never see them. Only the males roaming looking for a mate in summer. And ‘Giant’.. really? Your American tarantulas are giant. These are tiny.
I’ve boxed for years so my fear of getting punched is nearly zero, but put a little spider on me and I turn into a 10 year old girl haha. You sir, are fearless. Great videos.
I have a Honda wolf spider tarantula and it's a large female the one you found is a male my female spider has a orange or yellow dot on the bottom of her Adam and what does that mean if you can answer my question that would be great😅❤
Oh my God! I read about the pursewebs in a little book about spiders when I was in elementary and couldn’t for the life of me remember what they were called(lost the book)! All I could remember was they had massive fangs and spun tube shaped webs. Off and on, I’ve been wondering what they were for the past 9 years and you just helped finally get the answer!
Soooooo does anyone remember the movie arachnaphobia??? Yeah didnt the brown recluse and a funnel web crossbreed?? Didnt they become a suoer dearh spider?? Sooo what your saying is that the nightmares are becoming true??? Welp going to go buy a nail gun and an aerosal can tomorrow. You never know
For a hot minute I thought someone was dumb enough to smuggle funnel webs out of Sydney airport or something, which would've taken the biggest amount of balls. After all, one of them decided that my mate's work boot was cosy enough to stay in, and said mate of mine was kind enough to tell me it felt like getting his toes caught in a bear trap.
Fisherman Spiders: I've seen them as big as half the size of my hand at this one fishing hole years ago, Rock Hill in Lancaster, PA. Down by Safe Harbor Dam, very impressive spiders
I definitely smashed my fair share of spiders before I understood them better. I watched some of the larger more impressive species walking around, and it got me curious as to how such a weird looking animal could exist. Now I study them so much that I’m super comfortable even with medically significant venomous species!
Omg. You’ve helped me figure out the identity of a spider I saw 10 years ago and couldn’t figure it out. These tarantulas are definitely in eastern Tennessee. I was living in a metal shed during a bout of homelessness and kept hearing something clacking over the side of the bed on the wooden floor (this was a cheap metal shed from Lowe’s that has a lot of gaps to the outside) every so often for days. This was in the fall when the yard was covered with leaves and it wasn’t a very tidy yard either. I finally got a look at it and I freaked out. It looked like a spider mixed with a crab. I thought I even saw a crab like claw but it had to be those huge fangs. It was jet black and shiny. The hard naked body would clack against the while walking. I’m terrified of spiders. Not even about them biting me. I’m just scared of them existing idk. But I have empathy to everything and it’s not the spiders fault I hate the way it looks so I called a truce that as long as he (it was defiantly the smaller male. ) didn’t get in the bed it was up against I would leave it alone. I saw and heard it a few more times then it left when it got colder. Never saw it on the bed but I would have nightmares about it and was always on edge. Damn if a blanket brushed my leg I’d jump 2 feet. Later that winter I upgraded to an old abandoned trailer that was falling apart but only half of it and we closed that half off. Spiders were still around but not to the same extant. Thank god I’m in an apartment now. I got out of homelessness a year ago and still have trouble sleeping. Even know just retelling this story my skin it twitching and I can feel non existent bugs crawling on me. I actually hope you see this because I’ve always wondered what the freak of nature was that I saw. It wasn’t a freak of nature at all, just another spider. But it seriously looked like it had 8 legs and a crab claw lol. I was like wtf😂 But my stress was an ok price to pay to not kill a living thing. **edit ti add: omg the shed was underneath a huge, huge pine tree and we have a creek down a small hill. That’s the habitat you described. I grew up playing in the creek and we have a lot of pine trees everywhere. I’d let you go spider hunting at the property if you wanted.
Funnel webs are no joke. I've seen them tear a lizard into two bits and take out a gaint weta's no problem. They literally tear things apart with there gaint fangs. They are strong as well. When you hold one down the a shovel you can feel it trying to get away.
Most spiders in the family Ctenizidae (Trapdoor spiders) have a similarly poor disposition to this animal in my experience. You’d also think they’d make interesting specimens in captivity. That’s … sorta true. They’re fun to feed but mostly like any fossorial mygalomorph it’s a pet hole… with the unique distinction of its LOVE for smearing poop all over the walls of its enclosure. Theraphosidae of a similar disposition at least don’t usually have the fecal fixation lol. I wonder if these guys share that trait?
😂 this comment got better and better as I read it! Pet hole is so accurate. And the fecal fixation 🤣 ah yes regular tarantulas are so much more normal.
It looks very similar to the Sydney Funnel Web. So isn't the same thing, except just found in America? On Monster Bug Wars, they mentioned the Sydney Funnel Web is the dinosaur of spiders because of its older breathing system within its body. It even has the same temperament as a funnel web, just smaller. Great video.
Let’s consider what you did from the spiders perspective. You first destroyed his intricate funnel web that was his livelihood that he built to catch food. You then dug him out of the ground destroying his home. And lastly to add insult to injury you decided to taunt him by poking him till he showed his fangs. Well done 👍😂
I live in N.C. and we have some VERY large spiders here! My friend had gone outside to smoke and came in to the room I was in. As we were walking back towards the door he'd just come through not 5 minutes prior, he said "Stop!" I looked down and saw a spider a .50¢ would have fit on its abdomen was in front of us. When I looked, I only counted 6 legs. It didn't last long enough to suffer.
The little jumping spiders are cute. But I can confirm that the middle to late fall in SC is when you really see the spiders come out. We always always see the big yellow and black 'writing' spiders come out and spin their webs, and a lot of other spiders as well. I always name the big yellow and black ones 'Esmerelda'.
I’ve only seen one of these in my life. It apparently was a female. Found it under an old wood pile as a little kid. Used to catch scorpions in that wood pile, but this thing was scary. Looks like a mini Sydney Funnel Web.
They really are something. My buddy Jack from Jack’s World of Wildlife actually suggested the title for this video based on the similarity of their appearance!
so real talk, interesting video? but not every spider in Mygalomorphae is "technically a tarantula", only the family Theraphosidae within Mygalomorphae are tarantulas. Another bit of trivia for you, while introduced there are mexican red rump tarantulas and some introduced arboreal tarantulas in parts of southern florida. The only native T east of the mississippi is Aphonopelma hentzi in Loisiana. Hope that helps you in the future.
Seeing these videos makes me wanna film the Spiders I find near my grandfather's cabin here in the UK. His garden is huge and is home to so many fantastic looking spiders. False Widows both male and female. Fair few cellar spiders, saw a female wolf spider egg sac carrier this time last year for the first time in my life time which was cool to see. My best find ever though was actually in a communial Garage, a massive female Tube Web spider Segestria florentina which probably the UK's closest spider to the funnel webs had a tunnel webbing across the entire garage roof.
Reminds me of Segestria florentina which has green fangs. Got lots of them in my woodshed and garage amongst a plethora of tube and funnel web spiders. The Florentina bite is apparently very painful. Haven't seen anyone (you, jack or coyote) try it out yet 😉
I found an ant imitating jumping spider in my attic in Buffalo N.Y 2 days ago. It took some research to identify it. Apparently a south American native. Was very surprised. Im also still recovering from a yellow sac spider bite from over 2 months ago. My foot blew up like a baloon. And was hospitalized for 1 day
The purse web spiders do look like small tarantulas. Also the woodlouse hunting spider also looks similar. They're also soft-bodied and have huge fangs in comparison to their body size
I've seen a woodlouse spider. It looked like a ball of fuzz tumbling across the floor, until I got closer. 😩 Large 🪙 size! Huge fangs for a domestic spider.
Me too in northern California. It was really small compared to the common tarantula, but had a similarly robust build and a glossy black thorax. Weird I had forgotten completely about it until I saw your comment.
While at work one day, my wife saw one of these in our house. She called me to come catch it, but I couldn't leave work, so she called an exterminator. When I got home that night, my wife was sitting on the couch with our 3 children. I asked her how it went with exterminator, and she said, "He came in, saw the spider, got in his truck and left." I went looking for the spider and saw that it was a funnel web. These things are VERY aggressive!! It began to chase me in my own bedroom! Sorry, but I smacked it with a baseball bat.
I was just checking out your Florida wandering spider video and saw the link to this video and man I didn't think we had these species in the us.....I live in New Jersey and we don't have anything like these and believe me I wish we did. I love all spider species and I have loved Spider's since I was a small child and how can you not love how interesting each species is they're beautiful creatures. Thank you Spencer for all your hard work and dedication in bringing us all these amazing educational experiences I really do appreciate you and your hard work thank you again my friend and have a great day.
I love discovering unique insects. I found a jumping spider once that was a bright orange metallic color. That was over 10 years ago and haven't seen another like it again.
You are so smart and I've learned alot just watching your videos I truly appreciate your area where you live and the world of spiders and all the other crazy insects like ant that looks like some of the spiders in the deserts of Africa and Asia. What a beautiful area for your studies and interests. Thanks so much, Mark Rusher
Makes sense. In early march one year, I was planting bulbs near NC when I found an underground spider about the size of a quarter. It was grayish brown and wrinkly. It wasn't aggressive towards me. I believe I put in back into the hole I'd dug with the bulb and loosened soil. I didn't bother trying to identify the spider due to its lack of markings
I actually found one of these east coast tarantulas! I live in the NC mountains, and about 4 years ago, I was at the horse farm I work/ride at, and was gathering up some of the horses' food dishes from the pasture. There was one dish (these are big, rubber bowls for horse feed) upside down and hadn't been used in a few days or more, and when I picked it up, underneath was the biggest, most tarantula looking spider I have ever seen here, almost the size of my hand with leg extension, and it looked JUST like that massive female purse web spider you showed! I even joked to my barn mates that the spider I found was a few college credits away from being a full on tarantula, b/c I thought we didn't have tarantulas here. The farm is in the country and surrounded by woods, besides pretty much this whole region is just a massive forest with some towns and small cities so it's very wild around here. Thanks for this video, b/c I have always wondered what that spider was that I found, and it was a huge female purse web spider just like you showed, looked EXACTLY like that! *edit* We also have a huge creek that runs in two branches across the whole property, so yep the purse web spider I found under that food dish was within 12 feet of the creek. I feel so lucky to have found one without looking for it!
He calls them "Buried Treasures " ...I call them NIGHTMARE FUEL . A PANIC ATTACK CROSSED WITH A Psychotic Mental BreakDown of ALL OF MY HIGHER BODILY FUNCTIONS.
Here in Australia we pick up snakes, swim with sharks, nonchalantly swart away redback spiders.....but funnel webs? WE STAY WELL CLEAR OF THOSE INSANE AND AGGRESSIVE MONSTERS.
Here’s one for you. Traveling in west Texas one day, the highway was filled with gold-backed black tarantulas. Thousands of them on the road and all over the land on both sides, all migrating south like a locust swarm on the move. There were hundreds dead on the road from vehicles so I slowed down and stopped. I refused to run over any. I picked one up and kept it as a pet for awhile before letting it go in the neighborhood. It stayed around the house, to the dismay of Mom who found it in the laundry one day. I took it back outside. Thanks for the spidy videos. Fun
We have tons of fishing spiders up north in Canada, we call them dock spiders. I have been in a boat driving along and seen them on a tree 100 feet away. leg spans up to 5 inches. They are intimidating.
'Funnel Webs' in America? 🤣😂🤭 Now, firstly, they look more like our female Mouse Spiders, than our Funnel Webs. Secondly... They're TINY in comparison!!! Most pics of the Purse Web spider make them look massive, but they aren't.
"They're just like little cats" Bro...IF THERE WERE SPIDERS THE SIZE OF CATS (I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU GOLIATH BIRD EATER), THAT WERE NATIVE TO N.Y., I DON'T THINK I WOULD EVER GO OUTSIDE AGAIN.... AND I'M SORRY , BUT IF CATS HAD 8 LEGS, I DON'T GIVE A RATS ASS HOW "CUTE" YOU THINK THEY MIGHT BE... I'M NOPE NOPE NOPING RIGHT THE HELL OUT OF THERE.
Me: I’m glad we don’t have any spiders like this in Wisconsin! That one guy: there’s a type of daddy long legs that lives in North Dakota and is coming to Wisconsin that can grow up to about 1 foot long. Me: BRO SHUT THE HELL UP STOP TELL ME YOUR NIGHTMARE FUEL IM JUST TRYING TO ENJOY MY DAY JUST PLEASE. That one guy: there’s also a fungi on mars that basically is a zombie virus Me: I hate you That one guy: I’ll keep going if you keep talking Me: go ahead, try me That one guy: there’s a North American tarantula that uses a trap door mechanism to hunt prey. Me: eh it’s not dangerous to humans That one guy: there’s a tarantula that has a pattern on its abdomen which it uses to hide underground so that the pattern is the only thing that appears to make animals make it think it’s food or an artifact or just something weird that would attract potential victims Me: please for the love of god stop That one guy: n o
My neighbor caught one back in the mid-1990s. He called it "Roscoe". We didn't know what it was. But it looked exactly like an Australian funnel web spider (or close to it) but it was apparently a trap door spider afaik. This was in North Carolina near Charlotte. I'm not sure exactly where he caught it. But it wasn't too far away. He kept it in an aquarium outside the house.
I live in North Carolina and I took out a forest of weeds in my yard and there were quite a bit of them. It’s so awesome that these spiders live in NC. I used to think NC didn’t have much wildlife compared to anywhere else but that’s never the case with anything. Great video btw :) It’s nice to have a wildlife youtuber in my state.
Keep putting out stuff like this, and this channels is going to explode! This is awesome! I never would have guessed that we had such creature here on the east coast.
Honestly this was one of my favorites to film in a while. I don’t get to see mygalomorphs often, and crazy lookin ones like these are a special treat!
He has been pretty consistently putting out stuff like this for a good amount of time.
@@roboticrainbow I know. I've been following for a while.
He is among the very best in the Nature channel universe.
@@lowandodor1150 we got some more great channels in the nature channel cinematic universe making appearances very soon!
In the mid to late 90's, in central Alabama, I was digging a grave for a goat that had died. When I got about 3 feet down I came across a hole between the size of an egg and a tennis ball, and to my utter amazement there was one of the spiders. I had no idea that they lived here, nor did anyone I shared this to. Some even just about said I was lying or mistaken. Thanks for showing this.
It was definitely a female, as it was quite large.
Depending on the species you’d be surprised! Trapdoor spiders look a lot like this too and the males are BIG.
We definitely have them here. Although the funnel web spiders are slightly different from the tarantula, but we do also have some form of tarantula tho , but you rarely encounter them and likely aren't native
How venomous are they?
@@jeffjeannette9364 depends on how you classify that. They don't have neurotoxin, like rattlesnakes, black widow ect. It's more like the bite of a brown recluse/wolf spider (just eats away the skin) the trap door(funnel-web spider ) in Australia is one of the most deadly spiders in the world tho
the red legged purseweb is what got me interested in spiders, i had seen the little silk tubes around my whole childhood in Atlanta, but it wasn't until i was 13 that i pulled one up to investigate, and boy was I in for a surprise. i had always thought that the bigger critters like these were all obvious, you know, like i knew we had garden spiders and a few others, so when i did some research trying to figure it out, I was blown away, like you, at the biodiversity of my own backyard. a tarantula, on my front porch in atl!? crazy! but fast forward four years I'm applying to colleges with biology as my first choice of major in every one of them. sidenote, you can tug lightly on the web and get them up sometimes, a lot less harmful because if you fail, they just have to build a new web, whereas if you fail with a shovel, well we all know how that ends. also you can release them back in their holes this way. please keep putting these vids out. less exadgerated than coyote for sure and you seem way more down to earth which keeps it relatable for kids learning
I agree. I really like this dudes down to earth personality. No ego and no over the top animations. He's just chill, yet knows his stuff, and shares in an an interesting educational way. Great channel! 🕸🕷
Thanks so much! To both of the comments here! Glad to share all these weird and wacky creatures with ya!
This is no doubt one of the most amazing, underrated wildlife channels on TH-cam. The respect and appreciation you have for these creatures is just wonderful, and I always learn so much. Thank you for what you do! I look forward to seeing more!!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad I get to share all these awesome critters with you!
Puts CNN to shame to much truth and Honesty on this channel......love it
I just absolutely love how happy you sound and look whenever you find a little critter. So much love and respect. It's exactly what this world needs. Thanks for educating us!
How could anyone be afraid of the jumping spiders?! They're absolutely adorable. They're like little fuzzy crabs with puppy dog eyes lol.
Fuzzy crabs 😂 I’m using this
Yeah, sure.
In pictures, they’re adorable. Especially if they’re wearing raindrop hats.
In person? The sudden jumping is startling as hell.
"puppy dog eyes..." This is great! They always look to me like either they're seeing the world for the first time, or they're peering into my soul. I'm fine with both.
Sarcasm at it's finest
Wow! Being from Australia I totally thought that was a funnel web spider when I first saw it! They certainly display similar defensive behaviour!
Thank you for these videos. For years I have been trying to overcome my fear of spiders and I'm at the point now where I can feel comfortable ignoring most spiders in my house. Leaving a spider on the wall alone while I shower less than 2 feet away from it and convincing a spider I saw on my bed to get on a sheet of paper so I could transfer it to the floor are recent major wins for me.
And watching videos like this help a lot. I could handle the daddy long legs and the small jumping spiders because I knew they wouldn't bite me, or that even if they did that they were harmless. Thanks to you and a couple other TH-camrs I'm now not afraid of the yellowy/brown/clear orb weaving house spiders that find a spot near the ceiling to make a web and mostly stay there, or the small black ones that skitter along the ground. I think I've been bitten by a few stray spiders on occasion while sleeping and the bites have never been much worse than a mosquito bite, so I know I have nothing to fear from those common ones either.
Watching you so easily handle all sorts of spiders and seeing them just chilling on your hands and arms is exactly what I need at this point, to see that if one gets onto me, I don't have to worry about it biting me as long as it doesn't go under fabric into an arm sleeve or something. I've considered trying to get a house spider to go onto my hand or arm, but I think I am not quite ready to purposefully put a spider onto myself yet.
But I will absolutely keep watching your videos. I am very wary about spiders, but also fascinated by them.
I love to hear this! You’ve grown a lot, and that’s something to be extremely proud of. Most people don’t take action to beat their fears, but you’re out here crushing it, and humble enough to be vulnerable about how the spiders made you feel in the past! Don’t feel pressured to hold spiders on your bare hand before your ready, even I don’t do it much aside from if I’m relocating spiders or demonstrating that they’re not monsters like how I do in videos or in person when I’m educating people. An important thing to remember- even to the deadliest spiders in the world, we are a much bigger threat to them than they are to us. And they don’t really want much to do with us in the first place! So whatever you do, long as you’re respecting them for the living things they are, I 100% support you in your endeavors. Thanks for sharing this experience with me!
Lol, you don't _have_ to keep them in your house... you can definitely relocate them outside if need be. I understand trying to get over a phobia but still.
Having spiders around in small numbers in your home isn't a bad thing but you definitely don't want an infestation of any kind. If you're finding them all over your house and they're crawling on your bed (and potentially biting you while you sleep...) and such, you may just have a bit of a bug problem in your home. Just an fyi, I suppose.
@@-UseSoap_ they are nice pests control
@@MyWildBackyard I will never be able to do that; my fear is extremely crippling and has been known to cause me to actually black out in the past if the shock is too great. It's the one creature on this planet I have a legitimate fear of, stemming from my earliest memory being bitten on the side of my foot by a spider (non-venomous, but I must have irritated it beforehand) while camping. They've absolutely terrified me ever since. And yet, my favorite comic book growing up was Spider-Man, I love watching movies like Arachnophobia and Eight-Legged Freaks, and even part of my username (gumo) is a dialectal variation of the word "kumo", which means spider (it can also mean cloud). I am both horrified by them and find them extremely fascinating to the point that I study them (at a very safe distance, of course) to learn their strengths and weaknesses, habitats, the ones that are dangerous and/or aggressive towards humans, etc.
For the most part, I no longer kill on sight. I catch and release. But any spider that gets on my bed is dead.
I thought this was a story about an Australian funnel-web spider being found in America and that's something you don't want due to it being deadly
In my experience the Australian Funnelweb spider lives in areas of clay soil, many years ago I unearthed a number of them while working on digging foundations in clay soil.
Apparently they look similar to the Australian trapdoor spider which I also unearthed. Also I live in Sydney where the local funnelweb species is more deadly but I haven't seen a Funnelweb for many years possibly due to the soil being inappropriate for funnelweb spiders
I also thought this and am glad it isn't the case
You can find them as close to the CBD as Burwood these days.
Lols this guy is would be dead by now hunting funnel webs…. One of the most aggressive creatures on the planet… you get close it will chase you
@@Sugar_K IT WILL CHASE YOU?!!!!!!!
It's fine. It's fine. I don't need to sleep anymore. It's fine. Thank you.
@@Sugar_K That’s not true. AND even if it was true, taking two steps away wouldn’t be hard.
It's pretty cool how jumping spiders almost look like they're in stop animation the way they move. Not as fluid of motion as a lot of other spiders.
They really do look unreal. Most of these creatures surprise me- like how strange is it that we share our planet with so many weird things?
They are DEFINETLY my favorite inquisitive little critters 😊 the way they tilt their heads is adorable
Because they jump on their prey.
@@majestic7768 Yup 😊 they are like cats in bug form...only they don't scratch the hell out of you, and I've never been bitten by one so I say they are slightly better than cats lol No offense, cat lovers
It's a sign of their great eyesight and sense of their surroundings. They move very deliberately.
I live in Michigan, and for 2 years now we have had this spider. 2 different females, both about 3 inches with gigantic fangs. A small lake is across the street so we see tons of animals.
Have you kept any in captivity? I kinda want to try and see if they’d survive
@@MyWildBackyard no I’m actually scared of spiders 🕷️ lmao 🤣
Where in Michigan are you? I live Downriver and would be mortified if I'd seen one of these things
@@MyWildBackyard I did. It survived 3 days. I have arachnophobia so I tried having it crawl around in me but it would fall and take off l
@@Marie-rt1ls Lansing visiting my family.. I don’t actually live here.. I’m taking care of my mom.. I live in Vegas.
We have those purse web spiders even in England, I can definitely see how somebody could mistake those for funnel webs haha
Hm! I thought they were the same, or at least very similar(well, appearance wise they are) and related. How one's eyes can be deceiving.
@@Khornedevotee Yeah they look really similar to Mouse Spiders from Australia as well. Nowhere near as venomous as both of course
9:27 i appreciate the honestly bro
this video is amazing btw. Who thought watching a guy playing with random spiders could be so cool
I make mistakes just like everyone else! And even though they do suck, it helps to learn so I can be better. Glad you’re enjoying me talk about spiders and other little critters!
The camo on the fishing spider (I think was the name?) was wild.
Right? I’ve seen several color morphs but that individual was stunning.
Used to have a jumping spider that lived in my car’s side mirror of all places. That little guy stayed put for hundreds of miles of travel! Seemed rather healthy too given his size! Up and disappeared one day; so I like to think he hitched a ride on a bigger car than my civic! 😊
Jumped ship for a Lexus. 🤣
Great video, and gorgeous spiders. One slight correction: while Purseweb Spiders, Funnel Web Spiders, and Tarantulas, are all megalomorph spiders, tarantulas are in the family Theraphosidae. So while closely related, Purseweb Spiders and Funnel Web Spiders are not tarantulas.
The biggest difference, as someone who keeps and breeds megalomorph spiders, is that tarantulas have cooler feet 😂. They have adhesive fuzzy pads, and they have tiny claws, while most of the other megalomorph spider's legs come to little points. This allows tarantulas to climb smooth surfaces like glass, while most other spiders can not.
This is one of my favorite videos of yours to date Spencer. From a technical perspective it was flawless to me, great pacing, sharp editing, well thought-out story. The spiders spoke for themselves, I love Dolomedes albineus and I’m glad you got an adult this year, I still need mine. Phidippus otiosus was new to me, that is a very pretty spider, I love the coloration that guy had. And I totally agree that the Sphodros species is a gem tier find, that is a crazy looking animal for the east coast. Looked like Sphodros atlanticus from what I could see, but I’m not sure. Amazing work man, I can’t wait to see more!
- Harrison
Thanks so much man! This was a blast to edit even if it took forever. I love getting to put these stories together and have em play out! Sphodros atlanticus is my best guess cause I’ve seen the males, but didn’t want to go past genus just to play it safe
I ran across a purse web spider in an in-ground raised bed when I was removing some woody dry stem material prior to fallowing the bed for winter. It was about the same size as the female you found and described in the last section of this video. She was very aggressive and clamped her fangs into a small blunt stick that I gently moved toward her. While she was still focused on biting the stick I relocated her to a fallow bed, with a reasonable covering of annual "weeds", that would not be used for another season. Alas I fear I sealed her doom because it was October and I think she was already settled in for the cold season. This was in an inland valley between the SF Bay and the San Joachim Valley, California.
Yet another species on this channel that I've never seen in all my years living in NC. She looks fierce with those giant fangs. Amazing find.
Glad to show you another weird secret of the woods!
I was at my son's ranch in Laredo Texas and after going through a severe drought we finally had lots of rain that brought out dozens of large spiders that look much like these. They were large and seemed very aggressive when i got close. They would rear up and show their large fangs. I I've seen many tarantulas and can tell these were not hairy but smooth and shiny black. Love this video do more
Maybe trap door spiders . If lots of rain they get flooded out of their burrows that they live in and come to the surface. Like he said the ruse web spider live close to water.
@@bari2883 i believe you are right
They probably have tiny cars, that they drive, using those chompers!
"Mom, quit smiling, you're scratching the floor!"😂
Jumping spiders are really the only kinds of spiders I can deal with and not get weirded out by
This is awesome. I found a purse web (still have pictures) in 2013 in South Ga and thought it was super cool and let it crawl on me. I'm glad I didnt drop the spider, and I knew it had some large fangs but did not know just how large they were! When I found it my first thought was this thing looks like a funnel web. Learned a lot from this video. Totally subbing 🤙
They can positively drive CARS with those fangs!😂
It looks close to ridiculous, how long those things are!
Nature rocks.
That was a really good video, thank you. Like a lot of commenters on this video, I'm Australian. It would be terrific if you could do this same thing in Sydney and as far north as the central coast, and south down to Canberra. There are a number of different funnel web species that could use your enthusiasm, passion and respect to highlight. If you're lucky, you might find a female mouse spider on your travels. I think an Australian visit would be great for this channel to explain the venomous spiders here, and for your US viewers, be able to explain the differences and how spider species have developed across different continents.
Oh absolutely. Absolutely. An Australian trip would be a dream come true for me, just to be immersed in the wilderness there… breathtaking. And you bet- I am FASCINATED by the invertebrate life there: centipedes, SPIDERS, insects- I would easily get over 100 videos filmed if I spent a month there
@@MyWildBackyard please, make it happen! 👍
@@ajrichar0 might be as soon as 2024! I’m
Talking with some contacts I’ve got, and should be in the budget by then
Purse web spiders are also the only tarantulas native to the UK. It isn't known how common they are because they are so rarely seen. Females rarely leave their burrows and the silk 'purse' is always well camouflaged with leaf litter and forest detritus. The bite from the European variety is harmless and is reportedly a little like a bee sting... although bites are extremely rare and this report comes from one enthusiast who deliberately provoked a female to bite him to record the effects. The European ones are also smaller than the one in this video.
Louisiana actually has about three tarantula species in the wild, one being a native to Texas that has migrated and a couple which were introduced by careless keepers. It's not incredibly uncommon to see them in our backyards here
Louisiana has one species of Tarantula. Aphonopelma hentzi
You are so brave. Most of our spiders here in Australia are poisonous but there are some spiders, such as huntsman’s spiders, that have great personalities and get quite large
They are Venomous*
I thought funnel webs were only in Australia 😰
They are. These guys look ridiculously close to them though! Crazy little mygalomorphs!
They look similar and look just as aggressive. It wouldn't be that hard to get one to bite you.
so you seem to be very comfortable at handling them, how bad would the bite be? similar to a funnel web or no?
These would be pretty mild. Painful but mild. There are no medically significant mygalomorphs/tarantulas in the US.
Their venom isn’t deadly but I’ve read it’s very painful with swelling and redness at the bite. Headaches and nausea have been reported and in 90% of bites the person will go into shock and needs immediate medical attention.
@@joemarks5895 well that contradicts what he told me tho xD but i believe you, hairless tarantula like spider, i would completely avoid, no matter how small it is.
@@joemarks5895 I'm not sure where you found that information but it's absolutely not true. Purse webs spiders do not have medically significant venom. Someone allergic to the venom may have the reaction you described, but the majority of people will be just fine. The mechanical damage from the massive fangs would likely be worse than any effects of the venom.
@@yuumijungle548 why would you trust a random YT account with no content over a channel dedicated to the topic?
Used to see these guys all the time at the river by my house as a kid. Edit: Im talking about the fishing spider. It was the only big spider I wasn't afraid of because i always thought if they are so camouflaged then they know what they are looking to eat. Not just wondering around jumping on my shoes!!
respect to your account name, and the fact that this is a spyder video
I actually saw those silk tubes a lot when I lived in Asheville, but I had no idea they were the burrows of this.
I love how aggressively it’s carapace humps up to make way for it’s fangs. Also what good are forward facing eyes if they’re primitive tarantula eyes? Do these guys hunt kinda like trap door spiders?
Similar yes. It’s actually kinda gnarly. That silk tube they build is the key: an insect will walk onto it- presumably a caterpillar climbing up the tree trunk and using it as a bridge- and the vibrations travel all the way to the burrow’s depths. Spider is alerted to this movement, and scurried up. Uses those long fangs to stab THROUGH the web to envenomate the insect, then surgically cuts a slit in the web to take the insect inside, repairs the hole then eats the insect deep beneath the ground.
@@MyWildBackyard that's awesome
@@MyWildBackyard GOOD LORD
@@JohannVonVorst You must be a caterpillar. Lol
I caught a red legged purse web spider once. He was just crawling around on the sidewalk. I had never seen anything like it before and immediately tried to look up what it was. I named him Dorito then released him back. Cool find to be sure!
Dorito deserves the world :>
Dude, as an Australian, I was pooping bricks watching you poke that big black mean looking spider with your finger. That looks just like our Funnel Web or Trap Door Spider, which are deadly. You are crazy !!
They look so much like em it’s crazy! Got some people asking me to test the bite but I’m pretty hesitant to go that far
@@MyWildBackyard yeah nah
I saw another Aussie say it was a Funnel Web... We dont have them in the US... THANK THE GODS!
Fun factoid: The very best fishing bait on the east coast for bass, and catfish in rivers and streams is what you termed nightmarish insect, the pinchers can rip human flesh to the bone, especially if your fingers are wet from catching them in their habit. Their life cycle is extreme, they live the first part of their lives under rocks in fast moving water, then develop wings and live in the air, they are called hellgrammites, and you have to pin their heads down to catch them, they are very strong, muscular like leaches, that have hooks on their tails, but you can put a hook thru their shell head and down the wormy back, and it will live for hours, you can catch many fish on a single one because their bodies are so tuff and resilient.
Oh yeah those guys are metal. But I’ve heard the hellgrammites are great for a lot of good fish!
My pawpaw taught me to catch them in streams when I was little for that very reason. We would catch spring lizards too, but for some reason, I don’t see as many of them as I used to.
I was scared to death of the hellgrammites at first, lol.
On a side note, when I was was 10-11, my friends lived by a nice creek, and a guy would come by on Fridays and pay us 50 cents a piece for every crawfish we caught, he bass fished with them.
That was good money for us in the 80’s.
Great video Spencer, I love that little jumping spider, you found, it was so cute 🥰 I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but I just cannot get enough of your videos, and your channel is growing, and growing, and you're getting more and more subscribers, that is just awesome, congratulations Spencer, you've come a long way, your quite the popular guy lol you're doing great, keep on doing what you do 💯👍🏼👌🏼👏🏼💙
Thanks so much! The last few months have been incredible. Opportunities, channel growth, and even just connections I’ve made along the way. Can’t begin to describe how grateful I am for the support from viewers like you, and it’s really been life changing. Glad I get to share these amazing animals and adventures with the world.
@@MyWildBackyard Absolutely Spencer, I Couldn't Agree More 💯🙏🏼,
Seems like if you keep finding spiders that are supposed to be in the top of the trees, and they are not, THEN SOMETHING ELSE IS IN THE TOP OF THE TREES!!!!!! Bwahahahahah
Climbing trees in Alabama as a kid, I put my hand on one of those fishing spiders I guess? It looked very similar in color and size.... I know it scared me so bad I felt like i was electrocuted or something XD Thanks for sharing!
I bet you it was the same species too! They sure can be startling, and that's coming from someone who LIKES spiders!
Did u know NASA Might have found a Possible bug planet with bugs the size of cars,,,7ft tall mantis..
I have a gorgeous grass spider as a guest in my bedroom. She made her way into my room on curtains from another room that were tossed onto the dirty clothes basket. She made a nice funnel from the clothes basket to a dresser drawer next to the basket. I discovered her when she had just started the funnel. I decided to leave her alone, but only for a few days cuz she needs to be outside & I don't want egg sacs! 😅 I love spiders!!!
Fuckin eeewwwww
At 4.48m
Just as he found the weird" jumping spider,
Besides the unexpected spider there's actually a equally unexpected total black chicken over his shoulder. A mid size hen to b tech correct & doesn't seen freightin frighten by ppl so therefore somewhat domesticated. I thought these explorations were done in wild woodlands etc. I guess real r is his backyard 👍
Awesome video! I feel like that jumping spider segment came out of nowhere, but all the spiders were incredible (especially that purse web) and the info was great!
I had to throw it in there! Found him while I was out poking around for this spider, and he NEEDED that spotlight. Such a cute little guy!
That Purse Web spider looks like the Australian Mouse Spiders. Calmer and less deadly than the funnel web. But quite venomous anyway. You wouldn’t poke one with your finger. They burrow up to a metre and you never see them. Only the males roaming looking for a mate in summer. And ‘Giant’.. really? Your American tarantulas are giant. These are tiny.
I’ve boxed for years so my fear of getting punched is nearly zero, but put a little spider on me and I turn into a 10 year old girl haha. You sir, are fearless. Great videos.
I have a Honda wolf spider tarantula and it's a large female the one you found is a male my female spider has a orange or yellow dot on the bottom of her Adam and what does that mean if you can answer my question that would be great😅❤
Oh my God! I read about the pursewebs in a little book about spiders when I was in elementary and couldn’t for the life of me remember what they were called(lost the book)! All I could remember was they had massive fangs and spun tube shaped webs. Off and on, I’ve been wondering what they were for the past 9 years and you just helped finally get the answer!
Glad I could help! I love finding weird stuff like this in the woods 😂
Soooooo does anyone remember the movie arachnaphobia??? Yeah didnt the brown recluse and a funnel web crossbreed?? Didnt they become a suoer dearh spider?? Sooo what your saying is that the nightmares are becoming true??? Welp going to go buy a nail gun and an aerosal can tomorrow. You never know
Wow, it’s amazing as an Australian to see this, we have identical looking funnel webs in the south east of Australia
Gotta say tho, ours are a lot bigger 😅
For a hot minute I thought someone was dumb enough to smuggle funnel webs out of Sydney airport or something, which would've taken the biggest amount of balls.
After all, one of them decided that my mate's work boot was cosy enough to stay in, and said mate of mine was kind enough to tell me it felt like getting his toes caught in a bear trap.
This guy is helping me get over my fear of bugs and I don't know how i should feel about this
Telling my kids at this exact moment of writing this you had 24,337 subscribers
😂 24,399 when you posted this actually
I remember one of these randomly showing up in my parents' carport years and years ago. We were all like "WTF is a tarantula doing in Metro Atlanta??"
Isn’t that nuts?
Fisherman Spiders: I've seen them as big as half the size of my hand at this one fishing hole years ago, Rock Hill in Lancaster, PA. Down by Safe Harbor Dam, very impressive spiders
Half of me wants to smash every spider i see and half of me is super intrigued by them as creatures, definitely trying to lean into the latter
I definitely smashed my fair share of spiders before I understood them better. I watched some of the larger more impressive species walking around, and it got me curious as to how such a weird looking animal could exist. Now I study them so much that I’m super comfortable even with medically significant venomous species!
You call those funnelwebs, I’m here from Australia to gatekeeper funnelwebs
Omg. You’ve helped me figure out the identity of a spider I saw 10 years ago and couldn’t figure it out.
These tarantulas are definitely in eastern Tennessee. I was living in a metal shed during a bout of homelessness and kept hearing something clacking over the side of the bed on the wooden floor (this was a cheap metal shed from Lowe’s that has a lot of gaps to the outside) every so often for days. This was in the fall when the yard was covered with leaves and it wasn’t a very tidy yard either.
I finally got a look at it and I freaked out. It looked like a spider mixed with a crab. I thought I even saw a crab like claw but it had to be those huge fangs. It was jet black and shiny.
The hard naked body would clack against the while walking. I’m terrified of spiders. Not even about them biting me. I’m just scared of them existing idk. But I have empathy to everything and it’s not the spiders fault I hate the way it looks so I called a truce that as long as he (it was defiantly the smaller male. ) didn’t get in the bed it was up against I would leave it alone. I saw and heard it a few more times then it left when it got colder. Never saw it on the bed but I would have nightmares about it and was always on edge. Damn if a blanket brushed my leg I’d jump 2 feet.
Later that winter I upgraded to an old abandoned trailer that was falling apart but only half of it and we closed that half off. Spiders were still around but not to the same extant. Thank god I’m in an apartment now. I got out of homelessness a year ago and still have trouble sleeping. Even know just retelling this story my skin it twitching and I can feel non existent bugs crawling on me.
I actually hope you see this because I’ve always wondered what the freak of nature was that I saw. It wasn’t a freak of nature at all, just another spider.
But it seriously looked like it had 8 legs and a crab claw lol. I was like wtf😂
But my stress was an ok price to pay to not kill a living thing.
**edit ti add: omg the shed was underneath a huge, huge pine tree and we have a creek down a small hill. That’s the habitat you described. I grew up playing in the creek and we have a lot of pine trees everywhere. I’d let you go spider hunting at the property if you wanted.
Funnel webs are no joke. I've seen them tear a lizard into two bits and take out a gaint weta's no problem. They literally tear things apart with there gaint fangs. They are strong as well. When you hold one down the a shovel you can feel it trying to get away.
Most spiders in the family Ctenizidae (Trapdoor spiders) have a similarly poor disposition to this animal in my experience.
You’d also think they’d make interesting specimens in captivity. That’s … sorta true. They’re fun to feed but mostly like any fossorial mygalomorph it’s a pet hole… with the unique distinction of its LOVE for smearing poop all over the walls of its enclosure.
Theraphosidae of a similar disposition at least don’t usually have the fecal fixation lol. I wonder if these guys share that trait?
😂 this comment got better and better as I read it! Pet hole is so accurate. And the fecal fixation 🤣 ah yes regular tarantulas are so much more normal.
It looks very similar to the Sydney Funnel Web. So isn't the same thing, except just found in America? On Monster Bug Wars, they mentioned the Sydney Funnel Web is the dinosaur of spiders because of its older breathing system within its body. It even has the same temperament as a funnel web, just smaller. Great video.
I remember the sillyness of the sound effects of that episode!😂
So amazing 👌💯😄😄such a great channel too 💯💯
I love your Videos Keep it up. I love funnel web spideys🤗🕷
Welp... crossing off the East Coast on my places to visit.
Let’s consider what you did from the spiders perspective. You first destroyed his intricate funnel web that was his livelihood that he built to catch food. You then dug him out of the ground destroying his home. And lastly to add insult to injury you decided to taunt him by poking him till he showed his fangs. Well done 👍😂
I live in N.C. and we have some VERY large spiders here! My friend had gone outside to smoke and came in to the room I was in. As we were walking back towards the door he'd just come through not 5 minutes prior, he said "Stop!" I looked down and saw a spider a .50¢ would have fit on its abdomen was in front of us. When I looked, I only counted 6 legs. It didn't last long enough to suffer.
The legs thing could just be lost legs, they regrow them with molts.
Try and handle a Sydney funnel web spider from here in Australia 🙏🏽
The little jumping spiders are cute. But I can confirm that the middle to late fall in SC is when you really see the spiders come out. We always always see the big yellow and black 'writing' spiders come out and spin their webs, and a lot of other spiders as well. I always name the big yellow and black ones 'Esmerelda'.
I’ve only seen one of these in my life. It apparently was a female. Found it under an old wood pile as a little kid. Used to catch scorpions in that wood pile, but this thing was scary. Looks like a mini Sydney Funnel Web.
They really are something. My buddy Jack from Jack’s World of Wildlife actually suggested the title for this video based on the similarity of their appearance!
so real talk, interesting video? but not every spider in Mygalomorphae is "technically a tarantula", only the family Theraphosidae within Mygalomorphae are tarantulas. Another bit of trivia for you, while introduced there are mexican red rump tarantulas and some introduced arboreal tarantulas in parts of southern florida. The only native T east of the mississippi is Aphonopelma hentzi in Loisiana. Hope that helps you in the future.
Atypidae are the atypical tarantulas. Right there in the name
I feel like some humans have a natural instinct to love anything that’s dangerous. Speed, venom, spooders etc.
Yeah that sums me up
This is crazy I've never seen a spider that gets so cranky with the slightest interaction XD
Imagine if Coyote Peterson teamed up with this guy. This guy could find it… then Coyote could find out how venumous it is.
People have been asking me to test it too, might do that soon actually
Seeing these videos makes me wanna film the Spiders I find near my grandfather's cabin here in the UK. His garden is huge and is home to so many fantastic looking spiders. False Widows both male and female. Fair few cellar spiders, saw a female wolf spider egg sac carrier this time last year for the first time in my life time which was cool to see. My best find ever though was actually in a communial Garage, a massive female Tube Web spider Segestria florentina which probably the UK's closest spider to the funnel webs had a tunnel webbing across the entire garage roof.
Reminds me of Segestria florentina which has green fangs. Got lots of them in my woodshed and garage amongst a plethora of tube and funnel web spiders. The Florentina bite is apparently very painful. Haven't seen anyone (you, jack or coyote) try it out yet 😉
Great Video!!! I’m a huge fan.
Glad you enjoyed! And glad to have you here!
We have them in england aswell but so so rare
I am so happy you found this spider. Your passion and awe are infectious thank you!
I love those jumping spiders!
I found an ant imitating jumping spider in my attic in Buffalo N.Y 2 days ago. It took some research to identify it. Apparently a south American native. Was very surprised. Im also still recovering from a yellow sac spider bite from over 2 months ago. My foot blew up like a baloon. And was hospitalized for 1 day
The purse web spiders do look like small tarantulas. Also the woodlouse hunting spider also looks similar. They're also soft-bodied and have huge fangs in comparison to their body size
I've seen a woodlouse spider. It looked like a ball of fuzz tumbling across the floor, until I got closer. 😩 Large 🪙 size! Huge fangs for a domestic spider.
See what would happen to your blood from water mostcin venom or cotton mouth
That’s coming soon! Stay tuned!
This one looks like a mouse spider here in aus except for ours is red around the fangs
@SolDeFili yeh our most common is the red headed mouse spider, but there are other species as well.
are they as dangerous as a funnel web spider? I would assume not right?
Shouldn’t be, no. I don’t plan on testing the bite anytime soon, but there are no recorded mygalomorphs that are medically significant in the US.
@@MyWildBackyard Good to know. Thank you for the information and great video as always!
Hello Mysterious Burrower !
I've seen a somewhat similar spider in the pacific northwest. It wasnt huge but looked very similar
Me too in northern California. It was really small compared to the common tarantula, but had a similarly robust build and a glossy black thorax. Weird I had forgotten completely about it until I saw your comment.
While at work one day, my wife saw one of these in our house. She called me to come catch it, but I couldn't leave work, so she called an exterminator. When I got home that night, my wife was sitting on the couch with our 3 children. I asked her how it went with exterminator, and she said, "He came in, saw the spider, got in his truck and left." I went looking for the spider and saw that it was a funnel web. These things are VERY aggressive!! It began to chase me in my own bedroom! Sorry, but I smacked it with a baseball bat.
I was just checking out your Florida wandering spider video and saw the link to this video and man I didn't think we had these species in the us.....I live in New Jersey and we don't have anything like these and believe me I wish we did. I love all spider species and I have loved Spider's since I was a small child and how can you not love how interesting each species is they're beautiful creatures. Thank you Spencer for all your hard work and dedication in bringing us all these amazing educational experiences I really do appreciate you and your hard work thank you again my friend and have a great day.
WOW.. I LOVE FUNNEL WEB SPIDER♥︎♥︎♥︎
hOPE IN PHILIPINNE IS HAVE HERE FUNNEL WEB... I LIKE THESE THAT YO KEEPING FIBER AQUARIUM..WITH COCOPET ...
I love discovering unique insects. I found a jumping spider once that was a bright orange metallic color. That was over 10 years ago and haven't seen another like it again.
You are so smart and I've learned alot just watching your videos I truly appreciate your area where you live and the world of spiders and all the other crazy insects like ant that looks like some of the spiders in the deserts of Africa and Asia. What a beautiful area for your studies and interests.
Thanks so much,
Mark Rusher
Thanks so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying, I love sharing all these crazy creatures with others!
Makes sense. In early march one year, I was planting bulbs near NC when I found an underground spider about the size of a quarter. It was grayish brown and wrinkly. It wasn't aggressive towards me. I believe I put in back into the hole I'd dug with the bulb and loosened soil. I didn't bother trying to identify the spider due to its lack of markings
I actually found one of these east coast tarantulas! I live in the NC mountains, and about 4 years ago, I was at the horse farm I work/ride at, and was gathering up some of the horses' food dishes from the pasture. There was one dish (these are big, rubber bowls for horse feed) upside down and hadn't been used in a few days or more, and when I picked it up, underneath was the biggest, most tarantula looking spider I have ever seen here, almost the size of my hand with leg extension, and it looked JUST like that massive female purse web spider you showed! I even joked to my barn mates that the spider I found was a few college credits away from being a full on tarantula, b/c I thought we didn't have tarantulas here. The farm is in the country and surrounded by woods, besides pretty much this whole region is just a massive forest with some towns and small cities so it's very wild around here.
Thanks for this video, b/c I have always wondered what that spider was that I found, and it was a huge female purse web spider just like you showed, looked EXACTLY like that!
*edit* We also have a huge creek that runs in two branches across the whole property, so yep the purse web spider I found under that food dish was within 12 feet of the creek. I feel so lucky to have found one without looking for it!
He calls them "Buried Treasures " ...I call them NIGHTMARE FUEL .
A PANIC ATTACK CROSSED WITH A Psychotic Mental BreakDown of ALL OF MY HIGHER BODILY FUNCTIONS.
Here in Australia we pick up snakes, swim with sharks, nonchalantly swart away redback spiders.....but funnel webs? WE STAY WELL CLEAR OF THOSE INSANE AND AGGRESSIVE MONSTERS.
This is a Wonderful Video where I Learned alot...ENTERTAINING & EDUCATIONAL VIDEO.
WILL BE WATCHING MORE OF YOUR VIDEOS
THANK YOU
Here’s one for you. Traveling in west Texas one day, the highway was filled with gold-backed black tarantulas. Thousands of them on the road and all over the land on both sides, all migrating south like a locust swarm on the move. There were hundreds dead on the road from vehicles so I slowed down and stopped. I refused to run over any. I picked one up and kept it as a pet for awhile before letting it go in the neighborhood. It stayed around the house, to the dismay of Mom who found it in the laundry one day. I took it back outside. Thanks for the spidy videos. Fun
We have tons of fishing spiders up north in Canada, we call them dock spiders. I have been in a boat driving along and seen them on a tree 100 feet away. leg spans up to 5 inches. They are intimidating.
'Funnel Webs' in America? 🤣😂🤭 Now, firstly, they look more like our female Mouse Spiders, than our Funnel Webs. Secondly... They're TINY in comparison!!! Most pics of the Purse Web spider make them look massive, but they aren't.
"They're just like little cats"
Bro...IF THERE WERE SPIDERS THE SIZE OF CATS
(I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU GOLIATH BIRD EATER), THAT WERE NATIVE TO N.Y., I DON'T THINK I WOULD EVER GO OUTSIDE AGAIN....
AND I'M SORRY , BUT IF CATS HAD 8 LEGS, I DON'T GIVE A RATS ASS HOW "CUTE" YOU THINK THEY MIGHT BE...
I'M NOPE NOPE NOPING RIGHT THE HELL OUT OF THERE.
Me: I’m glad we don’t have any spiders like this in Wisconsin!
That one guy: there’s a type of daddy long legs that lives in North Dakota and is coming to Wisconsin that can grow up to about 1 foot long.
Me: BRO SHUT THE HELL UP STOP TELL ME YOUR NIGHTMARE FUEL IM JUST TRYING TO ENJOY MY DAY JUST PLEASE.
That one guy: there’s also a fungi on mars that basically is a zombie virus
Me: I hate you
That one guy: I’ll keep going if you keep talking
Me: go ahead, try me
That one guy: there’s a North American tarantula that uses a trap door mechanism to hunt prey.
Me: eh it’s not dangerous to humans
That one guy: there’s a tarantula that has a pattern on its abdomen which it uses to hide underground so that the pattern is the only thing that appears to make animals make it think it’s food or an artifact or just something weird that would attract potential victims
Me: please for the love of god stop
That one guy: n o
You're literally like the NC version of Crocodile Dundee. "Look at this HUGE spider... I'm gonna poke it with a stick!" hahaha
My neighbor caught one back in the mid-1990s. He called it "Roscoe". We didn't know what it was. But it looked exactly like an Australian funnel web spider (or close to it) but it was apparently a trap door spider afaik. This was in North Carolina near Charlotte. I'm not sure exactly where he caught it. But it wasn't too far away. He kept it in an aquarium outside the house.
I live in North Carolina and I took out a forest of weeds in my yard and there were quite a bit of them. It’s so awesome that these spiders live in NC. I used to think NC didn’t have much wildlife compared to anywhere else but that’s never the case with anything. Great video btw :)
It’s nice to have a wildlife youtuber in my state.
Pretty diverse habitats here in NC. mountains, some of which are actually considered a rain forest, the piedmont, and coastal areas.
Are you kidding me? We have loads of beautiful animals in NC!