Let's play a game.

[Jammrock]

It's called, "Identidfy the big ass spider in my front yard."

The spider has a body about 3-4 cm long and from leg tip to tip about 10 cm or more. Any ideas?

[Helevitia]

It's called a Black and Yellow Argiope.

http://www.fareshare.net/photos/black_and_yellow_argiope.htm

Black and Yellow Garden Spiders are harmless to humans. Because they are large, many people fear them; however, not only are they harmless, but they do a lot of good.

It is very freaky looking though. Kill it before it spreads! kidding!

[Jon P. Inghram]

They're all over the place here:

[Dr Mordrid]

One lives next to our front entrance. Large, but harmless.

Goldie would eat her.

[Technoid]

I'm so happy I live in a country where 1cm spiders (including legs) are the norm, and 5cm's are RARE, and 10 or more usually begs the question "Where the F*** did that escape from?"

[Dr Mordrid]

10 or more usually begs the question "Where the F*** did that escape from?"

And 25+ cm get kept as pets

(BTW: you measure from the tip of a front leg to the tip of the corresponding rear @ full extension)

[Lizzard[MPE]]

we have them in Indiana too, this was in my parents yard last summer

[Jon P. Inghram]

You've found Clock Spider?

[Dr Mordrid]

thats huge doc!

I'd freak, even if I saw that here in Perth

what is it?

None the less, amazing creatures even if they look vastly scary!

Goldie is our 25+ cm Goliath Bird Eater (theraphosa blondi), a very large S. American species of tarantula that can exceed 30 cm. She's 7 years old and they mature at ~10, so she could well get to 30+ cm.

Most good pet shops here have tarantulas, and a few handle Goliaths and train new owners. We bought her as a baby and now she lives in a paludarium.

She's tame unless mishandled, but the same could be said for a poodle. If someone were bit it's their own fault for ignoring her threat display; she rears up, bares her 2.5 cm fangs, throws up her urticating hairs (like quills) and "screams" (noise from rubbing her legs together). We've only seen that 2-3 times, usually when she's near molting & irritable.

She's allowed to run for an hour each night, but spends most of it napping on either my shoulder or Margie's leg. Sometimes she just climbs under a potted plant stand and waits for a snack.

Earlier this summer Goldie was exploring near the couch then came to a halt and went 'on point'. A few seconds later a mouse came out from around the end table.

Bad move

Turns out Erik left the rear entrance open long enough for the field mouse to get in.

[Brian Ellis]

We have a common fairly big'un here, up to 8 cm long, more usually ~5 cm. I don't have a photo but found this rather poor one on the 'Net:



I haven't identified it but nicknamed it the tiger spider because of its brown and yellow striped legs. Its venom is not dangerous but can bite causing irritation for a day or two. I don't know whether it is legend or not, but it is said to be able to discard legs if attacked. What I do know is that we find legs of the beastie from time to time but this may be that the hard exoskeleton of the legs rot slower than the comparatively soft body. They can run quite fast.

We have reptiles in and around the house, though: two species of gecko, three species of lizard, one of chameleon, + 2 species of amphibians. I've not seen any snakes in our property, although neighbours have. The dog may have seen one in the garden, judging from behaviour on one occasion, but it had disappeared by the time I got there. There are eight species, but only two in the neighbourhood, one of which, the Blunt-nosed Viper, being very dangerous (30 mm fangs):



The other is a large (3-5 m long) constrictor which is harmless, the Cyprus Whip Snake:

[Technoid]

And 25+ cm get kept as pets

Naahh, 25+ is when I get a shotgun!

[Dr Mordrid]

@GuchiGuh

Yeah, she's a pet. So is Zeus, Erik's 18 cm Emperor scorpion. Moderately common to have tarantulas as pets over here.

Back to Goldie;

1. Insects, meal worms, grubs, anoles, moths, small feed frogs & mice. Small birds will also be taken, but they're too expensive. We just drop the critter into the paludarium live and she does the rest. She's about as subtle as a baseball bat when it comes to food.

2. Only her own

3. No, we're careful when she's uncaged plus she's damned near a foot across and hard to miss. Besides, she's usually hitching a ride on someones shirt or napping on the back of the couch.

4. Poisonous; yes..about the same as a wasp..but they don't use it for anything but food so virtually all other bites are "dry" and defensive. None of us has really come close to being bit in the 7 years we've had her.

The only house resident to really see her bad side was Spike, our dog. He got too close while sniffing her and got a nose full of quills. He's left her alone ever since.

Aggressive; other than with her prey not really unless provoked and then you get the Oscar-worthy performance of rearing up, screaming, baring the fangs etc. More often than not this is around molting time.

5. Gentle handling when young plus they imprint on their owners. Even so strangers can handle her if they're careful not to panic and make her feel threatened.

[Admiral]

I'd bloody panic if Goldie was hitching a ride on my shirt. I understand spiders have a role in the ecosystem, but I'd rather have them do their thing away from me.
Can you take it I don't like spiders, my brother would be thrilled to have one as a pet though

[Fat Tone]

Very timely! Today I stroked a python and HELD A TARANTULA for the first time. For me the spider was a MAJOR event!

[Dr Mordrid]

Do you remember what kind of tarantula? How big?

Just curious as there are dozens of types kept as pets.