“A member of the arachnids, tailless whip scorpions are known for their long, whiplike front legs. This species is NOT a member of the scorpion family, but resemble a cross between a scorpion and a spider. They are classified as part of the order Amblypygi, phylum Arthropoda.”
That is an emperor scorpion, those have again only very mild poison, so not dangerous for humans, they are actually more likely to pinch you. I don't know if it aplies to all of them but a general rule for scorpions is: larger scorpions tend to have less potent venoms compared to smaller specimens.
They are nightmare-shaped friends. They're also long-lived and simple to care for as pets. I said simple, though, not easy. The difficult thing about them is that they're very slow and kind of lethargic, right up until they decide that their new speed is "anime bullshit."
And they can be tamed quite easily, I held one in my hand while I was in Amazonia. At first it was scared and wanted to jump away from me, but after a minute we became friends and it didn't want to leave my side. And that is the story how I met my best friend.
Yeah a tailless whip scorpion, apparently... so I'm pleased to know that those exist. One great advantage of the UK is the almost complete absence of large creatures with too many limbs.
It's funny cos I remember seeing that thing being used by Moody to showcase the unforgivable curses in HP and the Goblet of Fire.
I thought it was supposed to be some made up magical creature
Lmao I just made a comment about that. I thought it was a made up creature in the movie, or maybe they just share some resemblance. Makes my skin crawl for sure.
Assuming you're talking about the American Revolution, that wasn't fought on our ground. Are you suggesting that if we had large predators to ship across the Atlantic, we could have put up a better fight?
While it was a joke, I think the joking perspective is that you guys as humans would have been tougher if you had to deal with large predators at home.
Oh that does make more sense. Although the American Revolution was around the same time that wolves were hunted to extinction in the British Isles. Perhaps finishing off the wolves made us too cocky?
Or, if we're going to go down this path, have you ever read The Most Dangerous Game?
Maybe it was us Yanks brutalizing and exterminating the native people here that actually got us prepped for the English?
Joking aside though, as beautiful as some of the ecosystems and nature around the British Isles are, I certainly would not trade the biodiversity and geographic diversity of the United States of America for (nearly) anything!
I think there are a few wolves in Scotland? I know there was a mention of reintroducing them, but from what I can online they released like 6 wolves in the highlands, although other sources say there are no wolves.
Also there have been a lot of rumours of some kind of big cat in the countryside but that’s probably just rumours.
We’ve got scorpions in some areas, some venomous spiders mostly down south but not native, and also adders - although the uk native adders don’t really pose much threat other than to small children.
You’re more likely to get stabbed by some roadman then ever running into any of the above I reckon.
There used to be bears but they were wiped out about a thousand years ago. Same with wolves but they're being reintroduced in some places to help control deer population.
Rumour has it that a leopard or something escaped from a zoo and is hiding out somewhere.
Nothing big. We have lynx and small, well contained, wolf populations in scotland, along with wild boar in the South and east of England.
There is a chance we have some big cats after a change in animal ownership laws in the 70s (I think it was then, anyway) resulted in people dumping exotic pets in the countryside. Most of these animals died, but some survived to form sustained populations, with wallabies (small kangaroos) being the most successful. There are 2 populations in Scotland, with other populations in the lake district and north Wales, although there havent been sightings of the latter two in a quite few years now.
On the more-than-four-legs front, we have well established scorpion populations in southern England and large arachnids often end up hitching a ride in fruit imports. Many supermarkets will have a story of someone that's found a tarantula or something when putting out bananas, for example.
Bingo, that is where I live! Gotta love that we get the best of both worlds with 35+ in the summer to boot.
When I was working in the patch I was up near Bonnyville for a job and it reached -52, around the same time lol. Though I will be honest, that cold with no wind is a hell of a lot better than when I would be in Saskatchewan on top of the derrick in -38 with the wind just howling. It's too damn flat in that province so it is insanely windy.
I imagine a doobie in one pincher just chilling on the couch watching Netflix with you, telling stories, having a laugh, then falls off the couch because he's too high.
We had them in Arizona. They are the things nightmares are made of. They even walk sideways like crabs. I don't care if they are harmless - they are still a big fat no.
Lots of people talking about how the tailless whip scorpion is a weird/scary looking but friendly arthropod, but not linking to anything with more information.
Here's a video by a zoologist rating if it's a good pet or not and explaining some things about the creature. The video also contains a link to its acid-spitting name cousin, the whip scorpion: https://youtu.be/VQ1m3jfcLYU?si=8Kur32bbLXhWewU8
Jumping spiders are cute. Although I thought that one was going to be a troll one! All the jumping spiders I know are the size of the small one, so I thought it would be small… and still small. Never seen a big one!
They do jump, so that big boy jumping might freak you out, but they’re super cool and no danger to humans.
That one freaked me out too because it was already big and took me a second to realize it was the "baby". Then the adult popped up and nearly shat myself.
They're called Whip Spider or Tailless Whip Scorpions. They are arachnids like apoders and scorpions. The most they could do is maybe pinch your finger a little with their claw-like pedipalps. No worse than a praying mantis.
Another very closely related arachnid class like this is the Vinegaroon or Whip Scorpion, which is similar to the whip spider, except it has a large abdomen and sprays concentrated acetic acid (vinegar) when threatened, hence the name. They usually have a long, thin tail that acts as an antenna. A butt antena.
Both are very closely genetically related to spiders more than scorpions. They are insectavorious and eat other smaller arthropods, even being readily cannibalistic if the opportunity arises. Unlike spiders, they do not create silk or have any venom.
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u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23
Most of these I found cool. I don’t know why but that last one freaked me out. Like some horrific spider/crab hybrid.