The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I thought spiders were present only inside some soundboxes, but such evidence contradicts my thoughts. The photographed one is not that itsy-bitsy, but certainly must enjoy music.

Perhaps we could rent some of these to live inside our phonographs as guardians, to prevent future bug invasions. From time to time we open the machine to feed our guardians and that's all!

ya know, i could see that. also how do I add photos in a post?

phonograph guy3435 wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 7:17 pm ya know, i could see that. also how do I add photos in a post?

Below the reply text box, there is a tab, Attachments. Click it. You will see an Add Files button. Click it. It will open the file manager for whatever OS you are using. Browse to the picture or pictures you want and upload them.

Note that if you are uploading multiple files, they may display in an order the reverse of what you might expect.

There will also be a Place Inline button next to each item in the list of files you have uploaded. If you move the cursor to the location in the text box where you would like a particular picture to appear and then click the Place Inline button, the picture will appear in the post there.

If you just upload pictures and do not use the Place Inline buttons, the pictures will all appear at the end of the post as attachments. probably in the reverse order you selected them.

i drew an edison add for the bug army

Inigo wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 2:40 am Perhaps we could rent some of these to live inside our phonographs as guardians, to prevent future bug invasions. From time to time we open the machine to feed our guardians and that's all!

Seriously though: spiders as well as centipedes are carnivores and as such are devourers of larvae of various pests as well as catchers of various flying bugs and mosquitos. I understand that their appearance is so different by that of mammals that getting accustomed to them may prove an impossible path for many; however here across the rice fields of vercellese they are (better: should be) considered allied of healthy living. I'm not saying I breed them, but surely I take care to do them no harm unless strictly necessary. Of course from time to time I have to clean up webs in the corners of the rooms, but I do it always reluctantly, aware of destroying a sort of natural pest control device.

Marco Gilardetti wrote: Wed Jan 24, 2024 2:51 am Seriously though: spiders as well as centipedes are carnivores and as such are devourers of larvae of various pests as well as catchers of various flying bugs and mosquitos. I understand that their appearance is so different by that of mammals that getting accustomed to them may prove an impossible path for many; however here across the rice fields of vercellese they are (better: should be) considered allied of healthy living. I'm not saying I breed them, but surely I take care to do them no harm unless strictly necessary. Of course from time to time I have to clean up webs in the corners of the rooms, but I do it always reluctantly, aware of destroying a sort of natural pest control device.

Totally the same here Marco. I will try to avoid removing a cobweb until the inhabitant has died a natural death, if I can. Spiders are helpful friends, and who's to say my life is more important than any other creature's?

In western Canada, we are lucky that we have very few dangerously venomous spiders, and the ones that we have are only dangerous if one is careless. The brown recluse can be nasty, but as its name suggests, it is reclusive and just wants to be left alone. And we do have the occasional black widow, but despite the horror hype, bites from these are unpleasant and painful but are seldom fatal.

The most venomous spider in my yard and garden is Phidippus johnsoni, Johnson's Red Back Jumping Spider. It's bite is comparable to a wasp sting. Like all jumping spiders it has excellent eyesight and seems to have a highly developed sense of curiosity. Some people keep them as pets, and in captivity they can become quite friendly depending upon their personalities. In the garden and yard, I watch them, and they watch me.
My daughter, who lives in a no pet apartment building, keeps a number of smaller jumping spiders as pets. You would not think that spiders would have personalities, but they do even within the same species. Some are bold, curious, neophilic , and friendly. Some are timid and cautious. Some are aggressive. Her spiders will eagerly jump onto her hand to be taken out for exercise. They will sit on her hand and watch TV with her, although sometimes what is on the TV upsets them and makes them anxious and she has to turn it off and put them back in their enclosures.

One of her favourite books when she was young:
With spiders in the house, I generally put them outside carefully if they are an outdoor species. If they are one of the indoor species that has evolved to cohabit with humans, I move them out of harms way, usually releasing them in the crawl space under my house. In the garden, I observe and enjoy them and let them do their thing.

If you have a habitual problem with spiders in your house, generally the spiders are not the problem. They are the symptom of an ingestion of other insects that the spiders are eating. No food. No spiders.

Would this be like de-bugging the program?

Another spider aficionado. Seen at our annual church festival...