Under the correct circumstances, I could see one of these things triggering a level 10 pants crapping event.
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/01/article-2068547-0F02AA4600000578-402_634x436.jpg)
http://deadspin.com/5864276/holy-shit-monster-carrot+eating-cricket (http://deadspin.com/5864276/holy-shit-monster-carrot+eating-cricket)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2068547/Meet-worlds-heaviest-insect-weighs-times-mouse.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2068547/Meet-worlds-heaviest-insect-weighs-times-mouse.html)
Have any of our local kiwis ever encountered one of these things??
WHAT. THE. make the beast with two backs.
Not to self: buy bigger boots.
Quote from: Rameses on December 01, 2011, 02:07:30 PM
Under the correct circumstances, I could see one of these things triggering a level 10 pants crapping event.
If the "correct circumstances" include sitting at my computer then I may just have reached level 10.
HOLY SHIT
[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]
Hate to hit a swarm of those on a bike.... :P
Quote from: Speedbag on December 01, 2011, 02:25:32 PM
Hate to hit a swarm of those on a bike.... :P
Hate to hit ONE of those on a bike.... :)
Quote from: hbliam on December 01, 2011, 02:26:46 PM
Hate to hit ONE of those on a bike.... :)
Paging fastwin...
fastwin to the "abomination of nature" thread...
WTF... why did i click on this thread :-\
(http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRPCjiSC6vfeXkfn_A72Amkie5SarxRv_HZ21wAIidEy9hTLtiSnenwOKE)
Made me think of this, I just watched it yesterday. Nice timing hu?
Quote from: spolic on December 01, 2011, 03:21:46 PM
Nice timing hu?
It's ALWAYS a nice time for a Phoebe Cates reference. [drool]
Okay, now who else has "Moving in Stereo" stuck in their head?
Quote from: Buckethead on December 01, 2011, 02:29:47 PM
Paging fastwin...
fastwin to the "abomination of nature" thread...
Damn... makes all the Ti and cadaver bone in my neck hurt! :o [laugh] That's the wild turkey gobbler of the bug world!! ;)
I saw one in the entrance to an old mine in New Zealand. Was a big bastard, but not quite as fat as the one in the carrot photo. Creepy.
Funny how people get so grossed out by bugs, but lobster and crab is considered such a delicacy.
If by "under the right circumstance" you mean anytime, anywhere, doing anything, then yes...level 10 it is.
Quote from: Grappa on December 01, 2011, 04:32:18 PM
Funny how people get so grossed out by bugs, but lobster and crab is considered such a delicacy.
Now that you mention it......
...........
I'm still grossed out [puke]
Ahhhh Wetas...the scariest make the beast with two backsing cricket bug on the planet.
I have a Kiwi friend who regales me with stories about how her cat brings dead ones to her all the time as gifts.
I also warned a buddy of mine who has a bug phobia that is going to NZ for Christmas that these things exist. He was reconsidering the trip after a few pics...
:o
wetas are actually pretty harmless
they eat mice and bugs and vegetables
not harmful to humans at all
they are a protected species in NZ
one of the professors I knew in college studied them and had a license to have several. i've actually held one, it made my skin crawl, but they are pretty slow and dopey.
apparently they can be put into a deep freeze and they go into some kind of hibernation. Take them out for a slow thaw and they come right back to life.
Quote from: ducatiz on December 01, 2011, 08:35:39 PM
apparently they can be put into a deep freeze and they go into some kind of hibernation. Take them out for a slow thaw and they come right back to life.
make the beast with two backsin' great.
Giant zombie crickets. [roll]
Quote from: Buckethead on December 01, 2011, 08:54:33 PM
make the beast with two backsin' great.
Giant zombie crickets. [roll]
nah, they are very harmless. truly. i mean, look at that big fat dumb looking cricket eatin' a carrot.. zombie? maybe, but they eat bugs and plants.
I know, I know. I just hate them right now cause the little normal-sized grasshoppers ate my whole garden this summer.
I can't imagine the foliage havoc a horde of those things could wreak.
Hm. I'd be okay with one or two inhabiting my basement or garage. They look like gigantic cave crickets, and I'm generally fine with those critters.
Quote from: Buckethead on December 01, 2011, 09:06:50 PM
I know, I know. I just hate them right now cause the little normal-sized grasshoppers ate my whole garden this summer.
I can't imagine the foliage havoc a horde of those things could wreak.
yeah, they would come in and eat the trees too lol
Quote from: zarn02 on December 01, 2011, 09:24:21 PM
Hm. I'd be okay with one or two inhabiting my basement or garage. They look like gigantic cave crickets, and I'm generally fine with those critters.
that's RIGHT! they do look like cave crickets.
not all of them do, some look like giant ants, some are giant centipedes.
the centipedes were the ones that made my skin crawl. i held on, it was about 7 inches long. my professor didn't thin it was funny when i held it up to my face and said "Would you rub some of this powder on my lips?"
can they eat rats?
Quote from: RAT900 on December 01, 2011, 09:49:30 PM
can they eat rats?
no, in fact it was the european rat invasion that has made them endangered. rats came over on the ships and found the wetas very tasty.
Quote from: ducatiz on December 01, 2011, 09:59:08 PM
no, in fact it was the european rat invasion that has made them endangered. rats came over on the ships and found the wetas very tasty.
not sure if that is a bad thing or a good thing
Quote from: RAT900 on December 01, 2011, 10:13:08 PM
not sure if that is a bad thing or a good thing
Rats= invasive species, carries lice and bubonic plague
wetas = essentially harmless omnivores, good pets, no diseases non poisonous.
Yeah, I think one of the articles said that after the rat invasion there were 4 left in the world?
And did you say they eat mice?? How do they catch them??
question is...if you encountered it....what caliber of weapon would you find most appropriate to use?!?!?
Quote from: Rameses on December 01, 2011, 10:36:03 PM
And did you say they eat mice?? How do they catch them??
I don't know that for a fact, I've only been told that by Kiwis. I'm not a weta-specialist, just a big kid who found out about them when I was about 9 or so and always wanted one as a pet, so I did the next best thing and tried to learn all I could. It was my crazy luck that a biology prof at my school was a bona fide specialist else I'd never have seen one in person.
Quote from: zooom on December 02, 2011, 06:43:29 AM
question is...if you encountered it....what caliber of weapon would you find most appropriate to use?!?!?
a shoe. they are harmless to people.
I think that lobsters are gross too. If they lived on land, people wouldn't be able to kill them fast enough. An acceptable defense for the crime of arson would be: "I'm sorry judge, I thought I saw a lobster in the building." The judge would reply "well, its too bad about the 12 people that died, but case dismissed"
also these are lots bigger than wetas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab)
Quote from: 77south on December 02, 2011, 09:50:57 AM
also these are lots bigger than wetas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab)
Probably taste better, too. [drool]
I liked the flying "B-29" bugs from the first On Any Sunday movie! ;)
Speaking of riding into critters, in a eerie likeness to my turkey attack the last day long ride I took with a friend I got popped by a Meadowlark. It flew from the road side ditch straight at me and hit me right in the heart/chest area. Buddy behind me said it was DRT... dead right there. We were running 85-90 on back roads so it felt like taking a fast ball right to the chest. A few inches higher it would have been in the neck! :P
What the hell did I ever do to birds? Oh yeah... dove season. [roll]
Didn't Corser take on a big ass sea gull at full speed a few years ago at Phillip Island?
They've seen the Randy Johnson video and they're fighting back.
Both Corser and Edwards (when he was ln the YZF), took out seagulls at the Island in '96. Corsers clutch resi and Edwards screen got smashed. Edwards shoulder nearly got dislocated as a hit the bird at top speed on the main straight. That was a great weekend watching Corser wrap up the title and Gobert ride the wheels of the Kawasaki.
Quote from: Buckethead on December 02, 2011, 09:59:29 AM
Probably taste better, too. [drool]
Not so fast.
I bet those wetas would be good deep fried and topped with melted cheese :D