Tag: Spiders

Dispelling Wildlife Myths- Halloween Edition

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With Halloween right around the corner, I thought it the perfect time to address some common misunderstandings about wildlife.  We have all heard them.  Whether they are called myths or Old Wives Tales most false accusations conjure up fear that sometimes result in the persecution and death of many innocent species. How many times have you heard someone say that toads give people warts?  I myself have been told this on more occasions then I care to remember.  The idea that touching or just looking at a toad can cause a skin malady is simply not true.  Although some species, …

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Let’s Hear it for Arthropods!

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Like a lot of you, I used to be quite fearful of a number of arthropod species.  That was until one chance encounter with an Argiope aurantia named Matilda and a visit to the Cockrell Butterfly Center in Houston.  The biggest problem with fear is that it clouds our understanding.  Although a lot of arthropods have the potential to act as disease vectors, the vast majority actually helps rather than harms humans. A big misconception is that arthropods are just insects.  The word insect simply implies six legs.   Regardless of leg number, there are over 1,000,000 species of arthropods.  This …

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Snakes, Spiders, and Bats…Oh My!

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In preparation for my favorite holiday, I was recently perusing through the Halloween decorations at a local megastore.  For me, Halloween standards are carved pumpkins, bed sheet ghosts, and candy; lots of candy.  However, for others, the scariest of holidays is all about fear.  Some of the most iconic Halloween characters that makes ones blood run cold and stand frozen in fear, i.e., bats, spiders, and snakes, are the same creatures I find most fascinating.  Unfortunately, it is this very fear that has served as a death sentence for those same misunderstood species that actually do a great deal to …

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