"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 16/9/08 17:10, in article , "Spider"
wrote:
"Sacha" wrote in message
...
I've just read about this one in Hyams's book and it's a new one to me.
Is
anyone growing it? He loved it for its thorns!
http://woodlandrosegarden.com/latest...0pteracantha%2
02005-05-22%200002.jpg
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)
I don't grow this one, but I've known about it for a long time. I've
often
thought of using it to supplement patchy areas in my pyracantha hedge.
It
would give the burglar something to think about!
Incidentally, I couldn't raise your link. Don't know why. Fortunately,
there is a picture of this rose in my brain. :~)
Spider
I think the sun shining through the thorns looks beautiful but Ray's not
too
keen on it. I think he envisages clients and their ankle biters being
impaled!
And thinking of spiders, we think - well I do, he's indifferent! - that
Ray
was bitten on the lip by a spider yesterday. He didn't feel a thing, it
didn't itch and it didn't hurt. But it swelled up like nobody's business,
very quickly and then the area went as numb as if he'd had a dentist's
injection. I took him to the local cottage hospital and then to the
doctor
at their insistence. Nobody could be sure what it was and Piriton seems
to
have helped it go down. But looking at the inside of his lip today I can
see two small parallel 'cuts'. My guess is that he brushed his hand
against
his mouth and that either there was a spider on his hand or his mouth and
it
reacted accordingly! Do you know of a spider that would enjoy living on
trays of laurel plugs in a nice warm tunnel and that would have that
effect
if it bit someone? ;-)
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)
Mmmm. I can't think of a specific spider, but it would have to be a fairly
chunky beast to pierce human tissue. I have heard of Dysdera crocata biting
people, but it prefers woodlice. Sorry Ray! :~)) My Richard was once
bitten by an Amaurobius ferox (where 'ferox' means fierce!), and I think he
was also bitten by a Tegenaria gigantea on a separate occasion. All
Theridiids have strong venom (the U.S. Black Widow, Latrodectus mactans is a
Theridiid), but there are not many big enough in this country to bite a
human ... as far as I know. Pity you didn't see the varmint. Have a look
in the poly tunnel and see what you find ... it may very well have a
friend. Yes, I know, you probably aren't it!!
Most spider venom is some form of neurotoxin. It is worth knowing that the
more you move about - well, let's be honest, prey insects struggle! - the
more quickly the venom works. The good news is that scientists are
studying spider venom as a potential treatment for stroke victims, so it has
its uses.
Spider