do texas spiny lizards bite?  is it safe for the kids to catch them
131968
They don't bite and, yes, they are safe for children to catch...if they can. However, it may be better if the children are taught to watch and not touch.\n\nTry this: Kids get a kick out of taking pictures of anything. Get them an inexpensive digital camera and ask them to "catch" some lizards with the camera. And then have them find information on the Internet about the animals or bugs that they captured with the camera. It's great fun for the kids and they might learn something about the critters at the same time.
664868
Well first off you can forget the myth that the female spider eats the male. Very occasionally in a handful of species the female will eat the male after mating, but it is the exception, not the rule, and it never occurs in most spider species.\n\nAs for webs, most male spiders do indeed spin webs.  In a small number of species the males are essentially parasitic on the female webs, hanging arund the edges eating insects that are too small to attract the notice of the much larger female.
566164
I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but actually all spiders are poisonous.. even the harmless ones like daddy long legs... look at all the elderly ppl at Okinawa.. you have nothing to be afraid of.. I could find no reference to any species of highly poisonous spider for Okinawa
635337
How big was the lizard?  Where there any other distinguishing features?\n\nIf it was quite big, like a big, black iguana, I'd say it might be a Chuckwalla:\n\nhttp://www.reptilesofaz.com/Lizards-Subpages/h-s-ater.html\n\nSmaller and spiky, it might be a Clark's Spiny Lizard\n\nhttp://www.reptilesofaz.com/Lizards-Subpages/h-s-clarkii.html\n\nSlender and smooth, it might be something like a Gilbert's skink\n\nhttp://www.reptilesofaz.com/Lizards-Subpages/h-e-gilberti.html\n\nIf those don't help, check out the other species on this page:\n\nhttp://www.reptilesofaz.com/herp-lizards.html
96789
Anoles eat mosquitoes, spiders, and roaches.  They are quite common in the southern US, where many people call them 'chameleons" by mistake, because they can change from green to brown, vice/versa.  they can get up to about 8" but are more commonly seen 1/2 that size.  \nThe grownups are wary, but they will become semi-tame, when they learn you won't kill them.  The males have a red throat flap when they're horny :}
581782
The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is the largest and most dangerous of Florida's native snakes, and is one of the most poisonous snakes of the world. It is large in size, has a high quantity of venom, aggressive defensive tactics and tremendous striking speed, thus making this snake one to be treated with extreme caution. Although it may attain a body length of over eight feet, it is rare to find an Eastern Diamondback over seven feet long. Rattlesnakes feed on small warm-blooded animals, mainly rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice, and sometimes birds. When disturbed, rattlesnakes assume a defensive position with the body coiled around and the head and neck raised in an S-position. From this stance, the rattler can deliver the venomous strike. It almost always gives a warning rattle of the tail first. The Eastern Diamondback occurs in every Florida county and prefers rural scrub pine areas. Average adult size is 36-72 inches, and the record is 96 inches.\n \n The Canebrake Rattlesnake, also called the Timber Rattlesnake, is restricted mainly to northern Florida but has been reported as far south as Alchua County. I doubt you'll ever see one in Orlando. This snake is the southern subspecies of the timber rattlesnake found in more northern portions of the United States. As with other rattlesnakes, the head is much wider than the neck. It is smaller and more slender in build than the average Diamondback. Florida specimens seldom measure more than five feet in length. The Timber Rattler is usually found in the flatwoods, fields and around farms. Average adult size is 36-60 inches, and the record is 74.5 inches. There's no snake repellant to keep away Canebrakes! \n \n The Pygmy Rattlesnake, also called ground rattler, is common throughout Florida. It is found in every county. Its rattle is small and slender and produces a sound like the buzzing of an insect, which may be difficult for people to hear. Most pygmy rattlers measure less than 18 inches in length. It feeds on small frogs, lizards, mice and other snakes. The Pygmy has a feisty disposition, and is quick to strike. Luckily, it usually does not inject enough venom to kill an adult human. However, the venom is extremely painful and damaging to tissue. You do not want to receive a Pigmy Rattler bite! Get pest control for snakes first. Average adult size is 12-24 inches, and the record is 31 inches.
656693
It's actually very fun and entertaining to try to catch them with your hands. You do have to be very careful because they are extremely fragile. Whatever you do, be sure to let them go shortly after catching them because they do not survive in captivity!
629668
I tell my daycare children if bitting is present, that we don't bite our friends, we only bite apples, bananas, cookies...etc.  That eliminates bitting altogether.  It directs them to what our teeth is used for.  Not on our friends/family
656751
Pretty much any carnivore will eat bats if they can catch them, that is why bats spend all day hiding in caves, hollow logs and so forth. Any bat that ventures out in daytime will be eaten within minutes.\n\nThe list of predtaors includes all the usual suspects such as cats, dogs, snakes, racoons, hawks, shrikes and so forth but also includes almost any carnivore you can imagine. I've seen bats being eaten by crocodiles, spiders, other bats and, as kawaii holwingwolves aid, by frogs. Bats ae incredibly small animals and are weak even for their size making them prey for almost anything at all that can catch them.\n\nAs for how bats get rabies, normally the disease is transmitted from bat to bat directly which removes any need for the animals to be attacked by another rbaid aniamnl and survive. In the real world the chances of any bat surviving an attack by a predtaor are effectively nil.\n\nYou should also realise that rabies is present in an extremely low proportion of bats. Bat biologist Edward Stashko of Oakton College, Des Plaines, Illinois, estimates that less than one-half of 1 percent of bats are rabid. He says many common misconceptions about bats, such as that they can carry rabies and infect humans without themselves being affected by the disease, grew out of faulty scientific research from the 30s, no doubt conducted at the behest of the rat lobby.\n\nAccording to a 1982 report in National Wildlife, only ten people in the U.S. and Canada have contracted rabies from bats in more than 30 years. Exclaims Dr. Stashko: "More people have died from lawn mowers than from bats. Statistically you have a better chance of being hit by lightning than being bitten by a rabid bat."\nAccording to the CDC, by far the highest incidence of rabies among animals tested occurs not in bats but in skunks.
51954
In some countries spiders are considered good luck, and killing them is inviting trouble.\n\nThere are special insecticides for spiders that could be sprayed in corners and along baseboards, usual happy dwellings for spiders.\n\nBear in mind that if you have spiders, they aren't going to spin webs where there isn't a food source, so they are killing insects to survive.\n\nIf you have someone in your household who isn't afraid of spiders and you want them out of your house, the kindest thing is to catch them in a jar and let them loose outside where they can either respin a web or become food to lizards and birds.
269447
Since when is the posession of teeth a requisite for biting?\nMany insects with hard, sharp, chitinous mouthparts can really get your attention.\nSince yellowjackets are meat eating scavengers (they can be a real hazard at a cookout -- ALWAYS look at your burger before you take another bite -- trying to swallow a yellowjacket is potentially lethal!) they're certainly capable of biting. However, some creatures capable of biting use it only for feeding and not for offence/defence (owls for example, 'tho they COULD bite the heck out of you, will only use their talons as weapons). \nSo, the upshot of all this babble is that I don't really know if yellowjackets WILL bite you -- only that they could if they were so inclined.
70855
Mmm... there are many kinds of legless lizards. I don't know where you live, but if it looked like its tail was missing, then it _was_ a lizard, because snakes do not autotomize their tails. Another good detail is if it looked like it had eyelids. Snakes don't have mobile eyelids, but snake-like lizards do.\n\nDid it look anything like this?\nhttp://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/f/f6/200px-Anguidae.jpg\nhttp://homepage.mac.com/jmdelacre/.cv/jmdelacre/Sites/.Pictures/reptiles-geniez/Chalcides-minutus2-web.jpg-thumb_269_202.jpg\n\nI'll check back :-)\n-------------------\nI'm back! Hey, that's great. If what you saw is indeed an Anguidae, the common name is "glass lizard" (glass, because they seem fragile, as they autotomize their tails really easily).\nThe most common species in Florida seem to belong to genus Ophisaurus. I suggest you do an image search using the genus name, you'll probably find the right species.\nOh, glass lizards are not dangerous, but they can bite!\nSee description of common Florida lizards here:\nhttp://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW061\nThis species is common:\nhttp://www.wildherps.com/species/O.ventralis.html
279376
I live in ILL as well, I catch them using corn and nightcrawlers.  If they are spawning snag them with a treble hook.
117917
I am not sure where you live, but you can never get rid of them.  You can, however, control them by regular pest control measures.  I realize you are only renting the house, but I do not think you can hold the property owner responsible for the bites.  The things are just out there in massive numbers.  I would suggest you look into alternate housing if possible, especially with the children in the household.  I had a brown recluse bite about a month ago and am still battling them in my house.  I have a bad infestation of them.  I feel for you.  God bless.
506863
I can't see your images (it says I am forbidden/don't have permission to view the site), but from the description it sounds like the spider is likely a spiny orbweaver or spinybacked garden spider (Genus Gasteracantha).\n\nHere's some pictures of spiny orbweavers http://www.floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Gasteracantha_cancriformis\n\nhttp://bugguide.net/node/view/1982/bgpage\n\nThese species are harmless, even beneficial garden spiders that build typical spider webs to capture flying insects, including flies, mosquitoes and other nuisance species.\n\nThey do possess venom, but their venom is formulated for effectiveness against insects, and is not very potent against vertebrates, even if their bite was strong enough to break human skin (which it may not be).\n\nThey are not aggressive, and would only bite if the spider were injured or undergoing extreme harassment.\n\nUnless you were allergic to the toxin (unlikely, but remotely possible) the bite would probably be no worse than a mosquito bite, at worst it would be similar in pain and severity to a wasp sting.  Annoying, but certainly not life threatening.  The greatest danger would be infection caused by scratching the wound with dirty fingernails.
406692
Your spider is absolutely positively a Zoropsis spinimana. \n\nPhoto here: \nhttp://www.calacademy.org/science_now/invasive_species/zoropsis_spinimana.html\n\n"These large spiders are currently invading the San Francisco area."\n\nPhoto here:\nhttp://spiders.ucr.edu/images/zorspi.jpg\n\nDiagram of identifying marks and patterns:\nhttp://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v29_n1/arac_29_01_0111.pdf\n\nArticle and photo:\nhttp://www.physorg.com/news10271.html\n\n"San Francisco Bay-area residents are being asked to help keep track of a new arrival -- the Zoropsis spinimana spider.\n\nThe spider, a native of Mediterranean and northern Africa coastal countries, is brown with grayish spots. It's about two inches in length when it stretches its legs. \n\nScientists aren't certain when or how the arachnid migrated to Northern California, but they told the San Francisco Chronicle it is an apparently harmless spider."\n\nArticle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/26/BAGHRGT0E11.DTL\n"House spider migrant setting up in Bay Area \nScientists ask public for help in studying how species adapts\nZoropsis seems to be harmless: Calm and slow-moving, it didn't try bite or otherwise hurt Darrell Ubick, an expert at the California Academy of Sciences, who placed a member of the species on his arm. \n\nStill, Ubick and his academy colleague, entomologist Charles Griswold, are asking Bay Area residents to watch for Zoropsis as part of a long-running research project to study how the spider species is settling down in the Bay Area. \n\nThey ask anyone who spots something that looks like Zoropsis around the house to avoid the temptation to squish it. Rather, let them know about the sighting by e-mailing a description of the creature to dubick@calacademy.org. A digital photo of the spider is even more helpful, Griswold said."\n\n\nThis is NOT a brown recluse. A brown recluse has a fiddle shape on is back as you can see here: http://z.about.com/d/p/440/e/f/19570.jpg See how there is a brown tiny little violin/fiddle shape on it?\n\nAlso, the recluse has a distinctive eye pattern; "A more definitive diagnostic feature is the eye pattern -- brown recluses have a semi-circular arrangement of 6 eyes in 3 groups of 2 while most other spiders have 8 eyes."\n\nhttp://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef631.htm\n\nEdit Note: Member bo_fra did not have the Zoropsis spinimana listed in their list of possibilities until after I posted this answer. I went over every single post with a fine toothed comb to see if anyone mentioned the Zoropsis spinimana to make sure I was not duplicating someone else's effort if the answer had been found. The Zoropsis spinimana and one of the links I posted with this answer appeared in bo_fra's altered answer after I'd posted my own. I also posted on the Flicker account as "weheartjon" at ten to 7pm central time. Since there are no time stamps, anyone who posted before me can copy the answer I posted and pose it as their own original answer when that is not the case. The name of the spider isn't exactly common and stands right out. Plus everything else on his list are simple spider names, not specific species names. Also a clue is the Spinimana was added to the bottom of the list and he took one of my links. All for a few silly points. At least Google Answers pays real money so there isn't juvenile sniping. It would be nice if people were honest.
97217
Absolutely - and in fact, I'm encouraging the swordfighting with wooden swords.  I have to say though, I will be supervising it, nobody's getting a concussion on my shift.  Piñatas can be pretty bad as well.  \n\nBasically, any kind of physical running around is good, I'm just going to try and keep my kids from killing themselves or each other.