# Even the zoo is stumped...?



## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

H.mac?

Mystery online shopper hands in large hairy tarantula to Chessington Zoo | Mail Online


----------



## Biggys (Jun 6, 2010)

Yeah H.mac imho, a stunner aswell 

If I got that mixed in with my order I would be a happy man


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

kris74 said:


> H.mac?
> 
> Mystery online shopper hands in large hairy tarantula to Chessington Zoo | Mail Online


so obvious! how could supposed invert experts at a zoo not suss this one?


----------



## Timor (Oct 21, 2009)

Has anyone seen the comments? One person said it's a chile rose... Although I still don't understand how no one at the zoo would be able to identify it.


----------



## Biggys (Jun 6, 2010)

Timor said:


> Has anyone seen the comments? *One person said it's a chile rose...* Although I still don't understand how no one at the zoo would be able to identify it.


*face palm*

I love how people that don't know anything make comments like that:lol2:

I was watching a RSPCA show this afternoon and they had a little corn snake on it, and they said it could constrict you to death....a part of me died a little...:|


----------



## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

I saw it in the Independent on line but they didn't have a pictures so I searched elsewhere and this came up. I want to contact them and let them know what they have but it seems impossible! 

Need to tell them to stop calling it poisonous as well and stop handling it and that if they want I'll have it off them at no cost to myself :flrt:


----------



## DeborahR (Aug 27, 2011)

"Mr Ward said that it is only handled with gloves, because it might be poisonous, which makes it harder to find out the sex because they are prevented from manipulating it in such a way to find out."

A zoo keeper who doesn't know what 'poisonous' means... how did he get the job?


----------



## Biggys (Jun 6, 2010)

DeborahR said:


> "Mr Ward said that it is only handled with gloves, because it might be poisonous, which makes it harder to find out the sex because they are prevented from manipulating it in such a way to find out."
> 
> A zoo keeper who doesn't know what 'poisonous' means... how did he get the job?


Surely finding the species of the spider is a hell of alot more important than the sex ? :lol2:


----------



## Xx-lilith-xX (Sep 2, 2011)

Just :lol2:, thats all i have to say . Very nice t though. X


----------



## RW97herps (Apr 17, 2011)

*face palm* 

This is why all the decent rep keepers with Good knowledge of everything should make a zoo, half the people that work there have had a 5 minute course on reps and inverts and then are just told - clean, feed, display. i probably know more then them:lol2: *Setups aimed at the persons enjoyment primarily rather then the animals*.
Anyway ive strolled off topic... All that can be said is - *FAIL*


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

> Mr Ward said that it is only handled with gloves, because it might be poisonous


i highly doubt it


----------



## Paul c 1 (Sep 30, 2009)

Tis a sub adult female Het mac.
-P


----------



## empirecook (Sep 1, 2009)

RW97herps said:


> *face palm*
> 
> This is why all the decent rep keepers with Good knowledge of everything should make a zoo, half the people that work there have had a 5 minute course on reps and inverts and then are just told - clean, feed, display. i probably know more then them :lol2:
> Aimed at the persons enjoyment primarily rather then the animals.
> Anyway ive strolled off topic... All that can be said is - FAIL


In theory, It would work.

But it seems like many of those involved with working in a zoo are aimed towards money.


----------



## liz200898 (Oct 13, 2008)

Idiots..! grr


----------



## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

Why do reporters find the thickest person on site at the time & 'accuse' him of being an expert?

In Bristol zoo they have a GBB labled as the Green Bottle Blue BIRDEATER! How thick do people have to be?


----------



## Harbinger (Dec 20, 2008)

............................................________
....................................,.-‘”...................``~.,
.............................,.-”...................................“-.,
.........................,/...............................................”:,
.....................,?......................................................\,
.................../...........................................................,}
................./......................................................,:`^`..}
.............../...................................................,:”........./
..............?.....__.........................................:`.........../
............./__.(.....“~-,_..............................,:`........../
.........../(_....”~,_........“~,_....................,:`........_/
..........{.._$;_......”=,_.......“-,_.......,.-~-,},.~”;/....}
...........((.....*~_.......”=-._......“;,,./`..../”............../
...,,,___.\`~,......“~.,....................`.....}............../
............(....`=-,,.......`........................(......;_,,-”
............/.`~,......`-...............................\....../\
.............\`~.*-,.....................................|,./.....\,__
,,_..........}.>-._\...................................|..............`=~-,
.....`=~-,_\_......`\,.................................\
...................`=~-,,.\,...............................\
................................`:,,...........................`\..............__
.....................................`=-,...................,%`>--==``
........................................_\..........._,-%.......`\
...................................,<`.._|_,-&``................`\


----------



## ducks (Mar 28, 2010)

Biggys said:


> Surely finding the species of the spider is a hell of alot more important than the sex ? :lol2:


It's all in the reporting... Q:"Is it a dangerous spider?" A: "Well, we need to treat it as if it is, many species have a fairly nasty bite" - gets reported as "It might be poisonous", and Q:"Is it male or female" get the very patient answer described above...


----------



## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

Of all of these stories that seem to come up regularly, this is by faaar the stupidest of them all. Months? Really? Siiiiigggghh


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

spidersnake said:


> Why do reporters find the thickest person on site at the time & 'accuse' him of being an expert?
> 
> In Bristol zoo they have a GBB labled as the Green Bottle Blue BIRDEATER! How thick do people have to be?


whipsnade has a red kneed birdeater
but when you think about it, vogelspinnen..
that means " bird spider" in german, so one could argue that all Theraphosids are in fact bird eating spiders 
but still, it's stupid. these establishments need some proper keepers


----------



## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> whipsnade has a red kneed birdeater
> but when you think about it, vogelspinnen..
> that means " bird spider" in german, so one could argue that all Theraphosids are in fact bird eating spiders
> but still, it's stupid. these establishments need some proper keepers


So does avicularia. Sure i read when they were discovered they were originally described as being bird eating spiders by sensationalist Victorian explorers, some things never change.


----------



## Biggys (Jun 6, 2010)

dEsSiCaTa_UK said:


> ............................................________
> ....................................,.-‘”...................``~.,
> .............................,.-”...................................“-.,
> .........................,/...............................................”:,
> ...


 

That is amazing :gasp:

:notworthy:


ducks said:


> It's all in the reporting... Q:"Is it a dangerous spider?" A: "Well, we need to treat it as if it is, many species have a fairly nasty bite" - gets reported as "It might be poisonous", and Q:"Is it male or female" get the very patient answer described above...


Yeah I get what you mean, they just twist stuff to go with their reports :|


----------



## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

Tarantula are known as bird eaters because they have been observed doing so by some very eminent scientists. I did have a list of those who observed this which I posted in weird science a while back but it escapes me. How often they do this and to what size bird is subject to a good healthy discussion, and as Andrew Smith or Stanley Schultz might say "more research is needed"


----------



## septicrazorwire (Aug 2, 2011)

I've only briefly seen a H.mac and dont know anything about them and after one glance at the pic i knew straight away that it was a H.mac

its amazing how you dont need to know anything to be classed as an expert

here's anothert classic qoute from a pet shop i visit now and again 

"No no the chile rose doesnt need water as it doesnt like humidity so just give it bug gel which we sell, and you'll need a heat mat" :devil::devil::devil:

lol

i asked him if he could order in any juvie C.fasciatums , looked at me like i'd walked into a bakery for a spark plug lol


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

septicrazorwire said:


> i asked him if he could order in any juvie C.fasciatums , looked at me like i'd walked into a bakery for a spark plug lol


that annoys me

shop- "what are you looking for?"

me- "Hadrurus arizonensis"

shop- "duuuuuuuh"


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

septicrazorwire said:


> I've only briefly seen a H.mac and dont know anything about them and after one glance at the pic i knew straight away that it was a H.mac
> 
> its amazing how you dont need to know anything to be classed as an expert
> 
> ...





spinnin_tom said:


> that annoys me
> 
> shop- "what are you looking for?"
> 
> ...


 well bad! if i were to ask my local rep shop (scales & fangs) for either of those, they'd say they'd see what they could do. even if they couldn't get them, at least they'd have tried- & they would know what those 2 species are.


----------



## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

to be fair, most Zoos dont have a 'bug guy', but it seems i may be able to add Chessington to my workload :2thumb:



> Dear Mr. Dye,
> 
> Thank you for your email; the response we have had offering assistance to identify this species has been astounding. All have said the same thing: Heteroscodra maculata!
> 
> ...


----------



## Harbinger (Dec 20, 2008)

Ah bugger i was going to email them and get all the glory


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> to be fair, most Zoos dont have a 'bug guy', but it seems i may be able to add Chessington to my workload :2thumb:


 
wait, you're steve dye :whistling2:


----------



## bulkupman (Aug 16, 2011)

septicrazorwire said:


> I've only briefly seen a H.mac and dont know anything about them and after one glance at the pic i knew straight away that it was a H.mac
> 
> its amazing how you dont need to know anything to be classed as an expert
> 
> ...


 
dont use water at home, buy it from my shop! :roll2:

i smell saleman!

i get the same thing when i go to pc world and ask for a j45!


----------



## empirecook (Sep 1, 2009)

It's wild alright!

They even let you guess the species of tarantulas. :crazy:


----------



## hazza12 (Apr 16, 2009)

Heteroscodra maculata indeed i will bee giving them a call tomorow and let them know 

Harry


----------



## Kamike (Aug 3, 2009)

hazza12 said:


> Heteroscodra maculata indeed i will bee giving them a call tomorow and let them know
> 
> Harry


Wouldn't bother, they have already received emails confirming what sp it is


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

spidersnake said:


> Why do reporters find the thickest person on site at the time & 'accuse' him of being an expert?
> 
> In Bristol zoo they have a GBB labled as the Green Bottle Blue BIRDEATER! How thick do people have to be?


Because it IS. 

I would also like to kindly point out that the media love to misquote.


----------



## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

when i worked at chessington zoo the head keeper was well into his spiders. he had loads in his office, they used to scare the :censor: out of me charging at the side of the tanks. :blush:


----------



## mtyrrell (May 24, 2011)

wilkinss77 said:


> well bad! if i were to ask my local rep shop (scales & fangs) for either of those, they'd say they'd see what they could do. even if they couldn't get them, at least they'd have tried- & they would know what those 2 species are.


gotta love scales and fangs great shop and nice people had so many t's from there


----------



## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

i was wondering if anyone else saw this :2thumb:
i reckon h. mac too n i also reckon a msg to the i is a good idea, seeing as it's a big mystery n all that... :hmm: lmao


----------



## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

vawn said:


> i was wondering if anyone else saw this :2thumb:
> i reckon h. mac too n i also reckon a msg to the i is a good idea, seeing as it's a big mystery n all that... :hmm: lmao


if you read my post earlier in this thread you see their reply to my email


----------



## vawn (Jul 1, 2008)

oops :blush:


----------



## My8legsVladimir (Jul 18, 2011)

I certainly don't consider myself a T expert, but I recognised it as heteroscodra maculata once I saw it cause I looked up this specie when I was looking at someone's "for sale" list a couple of months ago... I didn't even know what the H.mac stood for in the original post, it dawned on me when I saw the pic. Complete and utter fail on the zoo's part! but then again, I know how "special" reporters can be...

Zoos seem to be extreme failures at entomology in general; I was in Longleat whilst on holiday (about 3 weeks ago) and in the part of the zoo where you could handle the animals, they had a chile rose which I held for a while. I said to the person in charge of the T: "aww, this is cool, none of my grammostola species are big enough to handle" and she just looked at me with a completely blank expression on her face for a second and then said "your what?". I responded with "my tarantulas; I have one of these but it's too small to handle". I went on to say "do you keep any brachypelma species? they're probably calmer when handling" and she said "no", although I'm really not sure she even understood the question. 

It's plain old ridiculous. 

[in the article] I found it funny that the woman remained unnamed and wouldn't reveal what she had ordered in the first place. some unscrupulous sex shop that ran out of stock just made a killing!


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

My8legsVladimir said:


> I certainly don't consider myself a T expert, but I recognised it as heteroscodra maculata once I saw it cause I looked up this specie when I was looking at someone's "for sale" list a couple of months ago... I didn't even know what the H.mac stood for in the original post, it dawned on me when I saw the pic. Complete and utter fail on the zoo's part! but then again, I know how "special" reporters can be...
> 
> Zoos seem to be extreme failures at entomology in general; I was in Longleat whilst on holiday (about 3 weeks ago) and in the part of the zoo where you could handle the animals, they had a chile rose which I held for a while. I said to the person in charge of the T: "aww, this is cool, none of my grammostola species are big enough to handle" and she just looked at me with a completely blank expression on her face for a second and then said "your what?". I responded with "my tarantulas; I have one of these but it's too small to handle". I went on to say "do you keep any brachypelma species? they're probably calmer when handling" and she said "no", although I'm really not sure she even understood the question.
> 
> ...


Completely unrelated to your post, but Bristol Zoo have a very good entomologist. Okay I am biased,but still.


----------



## TEENY (Jan 4, 2008)

They need to sack those experts imo


----------



## My8legsVladimir (Jul 18, 2011)

MissCat said:


> Completely unrelated to your post, but Bristol Zoo have a very good entomologist. Okay I am biased,but still.


Point taken, one shouldn't generalise. 

When I was at London Zoo two years ago they had one brachypelma and they even did a persentation, although it was severely dumbed down, slightly exagerated, but not necessarily incorrect... and he cupped the spider in his hand and let people poke the underside of the carapace. No idea why he was doing that tbh, might as well have let us handle the B.smithi (might have been B.auratum). Needless to say that I didnt bother poking/stroking it. They may well have had a good entomolist department, can't really say one way or another.


----------



## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

empirecook said:


> it seems like many of those involved with working in a zoo are aimed towards money.


You couldn't possibly be further from the truth. No one works in a zoo for the money, because we're paid absolute peanuts!


----------



## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

I happen to be friends with Rob Ward, suffice to say he's been misquoted and misrepresented to the max, as many people in many walks of life have been and will be again in the future by newspapers and poor journalism...


----------



## Guest (Sep 22, 2011)

What a terrible excuse for journalism.


----------



## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

Saedcantas said:


> You couldn't possibly be further from the truth. No one works in a zoo for the money, *because we're paid absolute peanuts*!


Yeah well, you need to get out of the monkey house :whistling2:

Just kidding, I love ye really!


----------



## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

Saedcantas said:


> You couldn't possibly be further from the truth. No one works in a zoo for the money, because we're paid absolute peanuts!


Yes anyone with any sense sticks to academia :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------

