Picture of the day. (Taken by you)

[Dadio]

ME: Welcome to 2023. It can't possibly be as bad as the last two years, can it?

THE UNIVERSE: Day 1 of 2023....
2023.jpg


For those that can't quite make it out, or maybe have not heard much about Australia.... this photo, taken inside my house, shows a young Redback Spider - also known as Australia's Black Widow.

To quote my Google mates: "How dangerous is a Redback spider? The bad news is that, as mentioned above, the female Redback is one of the world's most venomous spiders and one of the few spiders known to have killed humans with a bite. Its venom is highly neurotoxic – meaning it attacks the nervous system."

So yeah, Australia..... woo hoo! And if you're wondering why the photo is not up to my usual standard (and definitely not up to Thumbs' standard).... I was too busy preparing to move as far away as possible

Two minutes later, the spider was safely released in the park next to my house.... can't see how that could possibly come back to bite me.



Can't wait for the rest of the year now!

When I travelled around Australia as a younger man I stayed at a hostel in Coober pedy , I saw a spider on the floor in front of the counter when checking in and thought I saw a little red stripe on its abdomen so I asked the stout slow moving old woman who was checking us in "is that a red back ?" She padded round the counter , pulled of one of her flip flops and whacked it saying " yea tha's a red back " it's an enduring memory of your fine country .

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

We have Black Widow's around here but they're not too common. Very hidden usually. The Brown Recluse is much more common as far as poisonous spiders go around here. Our pests are generally safer than those in Australia though...

[1911Colt]

I only know what I learned watching Steve Irwin's show, but it does seem that Australia has a disproportionate number of deadly creatures. He did a "world's deadliest snakes" show once and pretty much every snake on the list was native to Australia. Even so, it is still safer than, say, Chicago...

[romulus22]

[Frankentruck]

You saw a spider! Highly approve of your spider squashing tool!

[Dadio]

Very Hollywood

[1911Colt]

39D24C61-32C0-4DF2-A518-F99A5B2DA1C4.jpeg

Awesome! 357? What is the brand?

[romulus22]

Awesome! 357? What is the brand?

S&W .460

[juicedcoupe]

What's all that white stuff?

It's 75° here.

[R6cowboy]

S&W .460

Very nice. My brother-in-law's dad has a S&W .460. I had the pleasure to fire it a handful of rounds.

[1911Colt]

S&W .460

Very nice. My brother-in-law's dad has a S&W .460. I had the pleasure to fire it a handful of rounds.

I got to fire a Model 29 once. It was very well balanced for an artillery piece I am guessing the .460 is similar?

Smith makes fantastic revolvers.

[Frankentruck]

What's all that white stuff?

Those are the bodies of all the spiders he shot. The force of the impact knocked the pigment out of their mangy carcasses.

[romulus22]

What's all that white stuff?

It's 75° here.

It’s actually pretty warm here again. Wet and 60° here today. It was cold that day, teens I believe.

S&W .460

Very nice. My brother-in-law's dad has a S&W .460. I had the pleasure to fire it a handful of rounds.

I got to fire a Model 29 once. It was very well balanced for an artillery piece I am guessing the .460 is similar?

Smith makes fantastic revolvers.

The .460 has a nice thump but no where near uncontrollable. I have the 8.375” model with the changeable comp. It has the mild comp tip on it and it’s still mild. The .460 is the X-frame which is the largest frame of S&W. A smaller N-frame .44 mag with no comp and short barrel will probably feel worse than the .460. I’ve only shot one .44 when I was much younger. I don’t remember the model but it had a decently long barrel on it so I remember it being quite mild as well. I’m also a laboror and use my hands everyday so I do have a decent grip….. I’ll see if my friend still has the slow mo and try to turn it into a GIF if that’s still a thing.

Edit: gif


Gif ruined the frame rate but anyways….

F58741B0-F470-46B1-912F-564DD88799EE.gif (2.78 MiB) Viewed 730 times

F58741B0-F470-46B1-912F-564DD88799EE.gif (2.78 MiB) Viewed 730 times

[coxbros1]

Had it made for a race we are putting on

[Dadio]

Sun rising behind the blasted oak.