During my years in the Desert Southwest, I have seen great numbers of black widows. First, in Vegas, we had a custom home built, and they showed up in our brand new garage. How, I have no idea. Later, in the Phoenix area for 20 years, two new garages, same thing. Their webs are very tough and tenacious, usually spun in an area where there is infrequent movement or activity, like behind an entrance door, where a bunch of shovels stand. Ya reach in there blindly.......but have never been bitten. Living 30 years outside of Chicago, I never saw even one. They actually are timid, and not aggressive, except in self defense. Now, scorpions, they have very poor eyesight, sense movement through vibration or sound, will attack thinking it may be food. My big Tomcat in vegas killed several in the garage, where he stayed at night. Somehow, he seemed to sense the danger present, but temptation of course got the best of him, I watched as he beat one to death, very swift, downswinging front paw strikes quickly withdrawn, the scorpion's sting blindly striking forward ineffectively. When it moved no longer, he carefully poked it a bit, satisfied, and moved away. Best of all the pets I have had! Frank
Now, @Ike Willis , I could have gone all day without having to see that picture ! ! I scrolled past all of those snakey creatures just as fast as I could; but it is one of those awful things that you just can't "unsee" once you have looked at it. It immediately reminded me of this song, and I wondered if this would have been what the girls said to you when you were a young fellow ?
Okay, it looks like we're about done with the snakes, and I'm probably going to have to ban whoever the idiot was who first brought the thread off-topic onto spiders. So here's the one still on the table. Then, I'll add a second, very brief one, and one that I have had to deal with at least once in my lifetime. You clog up the only toilet in a house where you are a guest at a get-together. Do you tell anyone?
Philosophy and snakes. Hmmmm.........let's see. The transcendentalist might attempt to levitate over it and the Buddhist might say that the snake is part of destiny and it is the snake which will make the choice and not us. The Stoic will stay emotionless while pondering why the gods have placed such an unusual obstacle of existance in the way of one's travels through life. The Christian snake handler will introduce himself into the mix believing that God put it there to prove the travelers faith, and the Hindi charmer would immediately attempt to mesmerize it with his wooden flute. A good country Cajun would think "GUMBO" and I believe the Texan would definitely go more toward BBQ. All that said, if it was something like I depicted in the link, I would back up without even taking a picture of the monster and find another route to my destination. https://www.facebook.com/AmericanOverlook/posts/929267160510053
I would put a sign on the toilet "Out of Order....Do Not Flush" and then tell the guy who knows where the plunger is kept. In other words...I would call for "Back-up".
A long time ago, when we had five teenagers using our one bathroom, a clogged toilet was a common occurrence. So after awhile my hubby purchased a heavy duty plunger, and placed it in the corner with a sign that said. "If it doesn't go under, use the plunger."
I just saw a Brown recluse spider the other day on my porch. I am not sure if any have ever gotten in the house, but we do have spiders in here from time to time. I think I would be pretty freaked out to see one in here, but as long as no one got bit I guess it could be tossed outside. Although I haven't seen any I know some spiders are huge and hairy....and those would freak me out more than a Brown recluse or Black Widow to be honest.
Okay, if no one is going to bite on those, let's try another, in three parts. Part 1 -- An eighteen year-old serial killer is convicted of multiple counts of murder and sentenced to 150 years in prison. Ten years after he begins serving his sentence, he dies of a rare disease. Before dying, he had donated his body for medical research and, upon his death, his body is transported to a cryogenics facility where it is frozen. A hundred years later, he is revived and, as the cure for the disease he died of has been found in the meantime, he is made healthy. Should he be free to go because his prison term ended with his death or does he still have a 140 years remaining on his sentence? Part 2 -- Let's consider instead, that he had been sentenced to capital punishment for his crimes, but that he died before the date of execution. When he is revived a hundred years later, is the death penalty still enforceable? Part 3 -- Let's imagine that he died while his case was on appeal. As a result, his conviction is abated because the state would not continue a case against a deceased person. When he is revived a century later, is he free to go or should the appeal be continued?
It shouldn't make a difference that he was revived. He still has a criminal mind, unless they can do a brain transplant with a brain from some gentle or mild person.
1. Hopefully society will have changed in a hundred years, and hopefully the way we handle criminals will have advanced. But the criminal's mindset will be same as the day he died, he will not have the mental advances of the ongoing society that he is revived back into. Remember he is a serial killer, a person that enjoys killing, and his thinking is unlikely to have change. So I believe is he should continue his sentence. 2. I hope that in the future we advance to the point of not needing capital punishment. A lifetime of confinement should replace the death sentence. 3. If his case was on appeal at his death, that doesn't change the fact that he was already convicted and sentenced. Abating any future legal action would make sense, but it wouldn't commute the original sentence. If a prisoner of today's time dies before a death penalty is carried out, we do not abate or commute his sentence.
I couldn't bare to run over it. You didn't say how big around it is, but if it was really big around I doubt my truck would make it over anyway. I do not like snakes, but I do like the idea of certain snakes being "the good guys" that kill dangerous species. If I did stop, I think I would turn around and go back somewhere to wait for awhile and then try again, if I absolutely had no reasonable alternate route. I don't like to hit even a bug on my windshield because I have great respect for all life, even life I am afraid of. If attacked, I'll fight back though, if I'm able. I've never understood people that purposely swerve to hit a kitty, or dog, rabbit whatever. I think they are sick, insecure people that somehow think they are powerful if they kill.
Geez Ken, it's refreshing to hear a man with a heart for animals, bugs, snakes, whatever I know guys I went to highschool with and it's really hard to see how hard their hearts are towards animals of all kinds.