LOL ... Tarantulas are pretty safe to handle - the only time the bite is when they feel threatened or when they are hungry ... also they are fragile - if you were holding one, standing, at about waist height and dropped it - you would probably kill it...

The "Writing Spider" is also called the Argiope Spider. Argiope spiders are very common in gardens and tend to be found in the US - particularly in Kentucky. They are large and intimidating and have freaked out many a gardner, but their bite is only dangerous to people who are allergic to insect bites in general, and they are an important part of your gardens eco-system (picture below).

We kept a spider at the place I was working as a kid called the "Goliath" from South America - biggest ones ever recorded are about 15" in diameter - our one had a body the size of a kids boxing glove and leg to leg was about 11" wide... HUGE bastard... but if it bit you - it would cause some swelling (like a bee sting), not death... it can make a nasty noise tho - by rubbing its legs together - its like its hissing at you!!

There are only a few deadly spiders in the world - and one of the worst is in Oz - the Funnel Web Spider (male in the picture below) ... amazing pretty and builder of amazing "nests", but small and deadly....

BTW - a spider in the house is considered extremely good luck, and killing a spider can badly damage your karma....


LOL .. erm .. sorry if any of this gives you nightmares... will stop my stoned rambling now and roll up another ....