Darcy, the interpid spider hunter

dandysmom · 25-08-2008, 07:54 PM

I read once that spiders and snakes were the pets of aliens whose spacecraft crashed on Earth millennia ago; the aliens perished but the pets thrived; that's why so many of us have an instinctive loathing of them ...... they're not Earth's children ......

Silly theory, but it amused me, thought I'd pass it on..

angieh · 25-08-2008, 08:20 PM

Thought you might like this - I had to hunt on YouTube for the singer but I remember the song when it first came out!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4lYdD9DdLNY

[The snake is over in Mags' thread about Paignton Zoo!)

dandysmom · 25-08-2008, 08:31 PM

OMG, Angie, that took me down Memory Lane...haven't thought of it in donkeys years!!

calismum · 25-08-2008, 09:31 PM

I'm with you all on the spider front, terrified of them. My first cat Shanti, used to catch them and for some reason always came trotting towards me - you know the way they do sweet little face and tail curled in a question mark - with eight legs dancing out of his mouth. He obviously thought it was a great game making me squeal. The longer the legs the higher the squeal and the faster I ran.

Eughh.

CM

dandysmom · 25-08-2008, 09:38 PM

Eughh indeed, CM! He obviously enjoyed it, but what a perfectly horrid game! I cringe at even the bitty ones, and the big hairy ones give me the horrors!

angieh · 25-08-2008, 10:16 PM

That's a great story calismum! You know how cats make a bee-line for people in the room that don't like them (Merlin always headed straight for my dad!) - I wonder if what you describe with Shanti had a similar basis. You squealing and waving your arms about made him think oh mum likes this, I've been a good boy - here you are mum!

Eughhhh - I'm with you both there!

(Glad you liked the video Eileen!)

calismum · 25-08-2008, 10:21 PM

Thank goodness none of my cats since have tried that.

I'm sure he thought it was a great game, but I couldn't have let him near me in case he dropped it near/on me.

Poor wee guy just trying to please me.

CM

meep · 26-08-2008, 09:41 AM

Awh CM it does sound like he was just trying to please you! When a cat has a great trust and love for their 'owner' they do bring them 'gifts'. My cat at home, Sophie, used to leave shrews on my bedroom windowsill (outside), bless! But I have to admit that the site of 8 hairy legs sticking out their mouth is not a pleasant site. Darcy managed to pull one of the legs off and seemed especially pleased with himself.

I've read that cats go up to people that don't like cats because naturally, cat to cat, if a cat stares another cat in the face it's being slightly aggresive and dominant, whereas if a cat looks away or not in the other cats eyes, it's a sign of friendliness and submission. I guess in the same way dogs greet each other by sniffing their behinds! But anyway, people who don't like cats tend to avoid looking at them or bending down to pet them so in cat language that's "i'm friendly!" So I've heard.

Will check out the link later on my lunch break

And that theory of snakes and spiders is so funny DM! I actually read an article online last week where apparently some archaeologists have discovered an alien space craft that crashed in the dinosaurs time. They found the decomposed bodies of two aliens and also some small dinosaurs inside, as if they were taking them away to examine. So maybe that's where spiders and snakes originated from!

It is strange that we do have such an inherent fear of both of them. I have waking nightmares that I can 'see' a snake or spider on my bed or on the wall beside my bed. It's like my eyes are open, I can see the real room but I dream onto it a snake or spider, like a hallucination. But because I've been asleep I still have a dream-like state so I think it's very very real and only when I've screamed, jumped out of bed and turned on the light do I start to realise it wasn't real. I've kicked the cats off the bed doing that before

But I only have those dreams about spiders and snakes; am I being visited by aliens?!

angieh · 26-08-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meep

And that theory of snakes and spiders is so funny DM! I actually read an article online last week where apparently some archaeologists have discovered an alien space craft that crashed in the dinosaurs time. They found the decomposed bodies of two aliens and also some small dinosaurs inside, as if they were taking them away to examine. So maybe that's where spiders and snakes originated from!

That's probably the "God is an Astronaut" school of archaeology meep!

I've also heard the theory about non-cat people not looking directly at them and therefore cats thinking they are in fact inviting friendship!

And I'm so sorry about you nightmare - do you have it often? I always think if there's a cat on your bed everything is OK in the world and it's quite safe to go to sleep.

meep · 26-08-2008, 02:12 PM

I was a bit sceptical of the article myself.

The nightmares aren't proper, 'waking in a sweat' nightmare. Just the same terror you experience when you see a large spider on your bed! I seem to get them in phases, so I'll go through a month of having them frequently then a few months of none at all. Only had one once since I got the cats, and having them on the bed really does help me get a good night's sleep

Afterwards I always wonder "what on earth is my brain doing?" Its the fact I'm dreaming onto reality, and my eyes are open and I can see but I'm still asleep that is weird

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