Man smuggled tarantulas into the US

Just keep any kind of spider away from me that is all i ask!

the tarantula is a particularly virulent poisonous spider

Me thinks thou knowest next to nil about the tarantula. They are not any more venomous than any common spider and are known to be harmless to people. They're just big.

I was working on a passenger train between Halifax and Montréal when I noticed that there was a bit of a stir and there was a lot of attention to one guy's Tupperware sandwich box. When I went over, what he had in the box was his pet tarantula.

Good mornings ladies, and where there is a demand there will always be a supply, legal are not. As for as I am concern this should be a multiple felony charges, and the German man should start working on his tan, because it will be a long time before he sees the sun again.

Another time I was walking through a sleeping car and heard screaming. Some guy's pet snake had wriggled off and slid in with someone else.

Maybe terrorists might consider using poisonous creatures instead of explosives, they will only get a few months in jail for it. I can think of a couple of targets right now.

Again, tarantulas, while big, are no more poisonous than a common garden spider. Because the spider is big, you think the guy should do more time than the guy who sneaks chinchillas into the country? He was busted for black marketing, not for bringing in a dangerous weapon. You city folks need to get out more, or see fewer spy movies.

Tarantulas look scary and hairy but are not particularly harmful. I have picked them up barehanded and moved them to safer places, away from boots, while hiking in the French Guiana rainforest. And, I'm a girl.

In the face of a threat or a perceived threat, a typical American tarantula has two lines of defense. It can use its fangs to inflict a bite, or it can use its "urticating" (barbed and mildly venomous) abdominal hairs to cause soft tissue or eye irritation. Fortunately, while painful and aggravating, the tarantula's fangs or or hairs appear to cause no long term damage in most cases....

If a tarantula should bite you – probably after warning you to back off by raising its front legs and displaying its fangs in a "threat posture," – it will likely inflict a pain comparable to that resulting from a bee or wasp sting.

http://www.desertusa.com/july96/are-tarantulas-poisonous.html

Lots of children in Tucson have tarantulas as pets. They come out in droves during the monsoon season (August). I was there once for the season -- and they all laughed at me running from such a gentle spider ...

Tarantulas may look scary, but they are very gentle creatures. You need not be afraid.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/wryheat/2009/08/24/who%E2%80%99s-afraid-of-tarantulas/

Well.... gee thanks! I do appreciate substance in friendships, and we have that. And so quick to flush it out!

Glad to come to a non-contentious article for a change. Thanx for posting. And yes, they gave me the shivers. They liked sleeping while hanging on the drapes. And under the alcove-like area where we entered the casita. It was bad enough when they were just there, but then I'd panic and they would m-o-v-e!