October 25, 2024 • 37 mins
In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco are learning all about our eight-legged friends, spiders! To find out more, they are speaking with Taylor Cook, the wildlife care supervisor for the entomology department at the San Diego Zoo. Some people might find arachnids a little scary, but there’s also a lot to appreciate about them. Join us to learn about tarantulas, how spiders help balance our ecosystems, and the Arachnid Rescue Center.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi, I'm Rick Schwartz.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
But 's see this world. I'm Marco Wentz.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of
wildlife from around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts.
This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio and
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, an international nonprofit conservation organization
which oversees the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So, you know, Rick, we wrapped up our last episode
teasing out today's topic, and I know it might make
some people a little uncomfortable, right to have a whole
episode dedicated to spiders.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yes, yes, I agree, and dear listener, please hang in
there and listen to the full episode. I know there
are plenty of people who like, appreciate, or at the
very least tolerate spiders, but I am also aware there
are plenty of people who do not like them at all,
and some who have a physical, actual physical reaction to
spiders due to a phobia. In fact, when I was
looking into it, a rachnophobia is listed as the most
(01:02):
common phobia, affecting four to fifteen percent of the population.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Wow, I didn't know that, but you know, I guess
it's important that we preface this episode with letting everyone
know that we're not planning on doing anything you know, creepy,
we're scary, right or unsettling.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We just want to take the time to get to
know more about.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
These really cool animals and hopefully shatter any myths or misconceptions.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Exactly we need to learn more, like do we even
need spiders here on planet Earth? Or why do some
spiders make webs in dark corners while theres make them
right the way where we walk? Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, right, I mean it's never fun walking into a
spider web.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Spider web dance, spider dance.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
You know, I'd like to know if there's any truth
to the power of the venom right of certain species,
and oh is it dangerous to humans?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Or why does a spider even need venom? You know?
There's so much more now.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And speaking of more, do you know how many different
species of spider there are? Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
No, I don't even know how to guess that number.
I would totally be wrong.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, you and me both. I don't know either. But
the good news is we can find out because we
are fortunate enough to have some of the best of
the best at the San Diego Zoo. When it comes
to entomology, which is the study of insects in the
relationship with the environment, humans and other organisms in the ecosystem.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Oh, I know, and they are over at Wildlife Explorer's
Base Camp at the San Diego Zoo. If our listeners
want to really be immersed in the fascinating world of entomology,
they must visit the Spineless Marvels Building at base Camp.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yes, yes, I completely agree, Marko. And no matter how
you feel about insects, bugs and spiders, the Spineless Marvels
Building allows you to explore the diversity of animals you
normally wouldn't see, and maybe some of you wouldn't want
to see. But when you get to learn more about something,
you tend to understand it better. And when you do that,
the fear tends to become less powerful.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Oh, I personally love spider. I know, right?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
And when Rick, you know the word in Spanish for
a spider, it's a lot of fun. It's a rangya, right,
isn't that cool? So kids, roll your and oh, you're
absolutely right. We should head over to Wildlife Explorer's Base
Camp to learn more about the misunderstood and sometimes unappreciated spider.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
It's true. You know, you said you love spiders. I
guess it'd be fair to say spiders don't bug you. Okay,
all kidding aside, let's do this. We have questions. En
Oer Entomology Department has answers.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
All right, let's go to the San diego Zo Bays camp.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Here we come.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
I am Taylor Cook. I am the Wildlifecare supervisor for
the Entomology Department.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Taylor, thank you so much for taking time. I want
to let our audience know we are sitting in your office.
We are not that far away from where everyone could
come and see a wide variety of spineless marvels as
a building said.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
But we are here to learn about a particular animal
group or species, several species.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That a lot of people seem to have.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
A fear of.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
But I'm not going to think of maybe the he
be gb.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Gbs to put it scientific.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I mean right, I'm very scientific symptimes.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I've made a joke prior because my husband, Kobe, he
also works at the organization. He doesn't have a little
bit of a fear, let's say, of spiders, you know,
but that's the thing we want to talk about today,
you know, because we work with amazing wildlife, from pandas
to hornbills, but people often forget to the diversity of
insects in the world.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I mean it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I mean, isn't a fact that there are more beetles
in the world than there are same mammals, you know,
on their entire planet.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
That's crazy, right.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
So I mean speak a little about that. What do
you guys do here? What's the official name, let's say,
of this area here.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yeah, so we're currently at the Invertebrate Propagation Center, and
so the key there is invertebrate because there's so many
animals that are considered invertebrates. Yeah, insects or what you
know of that have you know, six legs, three segments,
and then we also have a rap nudes that have
more like two segments and eight legs.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Okay, to separate for anyone losening who may not know, invertebrate.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Me thank you.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Invertebrate means that they do not we have bones like
we do. They have exoskeletons, so they have to go
through a molting process to get much bigger. It's very
different than our bones. That grow from the inside, so
they don't have vertebrae I think of the backbone, so
they are in as and they do not have that,
So it's a little different.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So for kids who are listening, you can feel on
your arm that you have muscles around the bone of
your arm. Whereas our friends were talking about today, if
you're to touch in their heart on the outside, that's
their skeletal structure based on the outside, and all their
muscles and organs and everything else are on the inside.
So it's kind of a cool comparison. And to what
Marko was saying earlier about this fear or dislike of spiders,
(05:37):
I would love to spend some time with you debunking that.
Letting our audio not debunking it, I mean, because I
think somebody's fear is legitimate to them. But I also
know the more we learn about things, we can get
past some of the things we fear, or at least
have a healthy respect for, right exactly a little bit,
first and foremost, why do you think a rachnophobia or
(05:57):
fear of spiders is a thing?
Speaker 4 (06:00):
You know, spiders and ratnas in general, they end up
in the corner of your room and they're just kind
of sitting there. You don't know what's going on. You
just see a lot of leggs, and I think.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
A lot of legs.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
The legs is what I believe is kind of what
turns people away from them.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
And you know, some of them tend to be a
darker color.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And again they're just in the corner of the room
with cobwebs everywhere. And you know, we hear about how
they're venomous they're going to bite you, but anything with
them out can bite.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And we were just talking with Nikki right about the
job pressure of general. But it's a good point that
you're saying too, because I mean, we're mammals and we
have this tendency when we see something big and fuzzy
with big ears and big eyes, it's really easy to
connect with, right And you guys know, being a bird guy, like,
it's always been a passion of mind to try to
(06:51):
get people just as excited for the non mammals out there.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So I would imagine it's the same thing, Oh yeah
with a spider, right, yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
So in my case, I grew up love spiders just
because I loved animals. So the closest animal I can
get to were the spiders in my home. And luckily,
my mom she always loves spiders and tranchllas. Growing up,
she'd tell me she's from San Diego and that's where
I am too, and she'd go out and catch translas
in her backyard and play with trapdoor spiders by tapping
(07:18):
in front of them, and so I just wanted to
be like my.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Mom, so I do the same thing.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
So I'd collect the spiders in the house and I
would go outside all the time look for traandlas, and
sadly I never really saw them, and that's a whole
issue with habitat loss as well. But so I luckily
grew up in an environment where spiders were very welcomed. However,
my friends did not have their response, and they would
crush them, and I'd be very sad. So I do
(07:44):
think it does have to do with perspective, people having
fear of the venom, fear of you know, them crawling
on you with all the legs. But honestly, spiders do
not like us right now.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
And they're sensitive.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
If they touch something they don't like, they're a little
diva and they just go, I don't want that if
it's on you. They're really just in one place to
the next and hoping you don't notice them. So I
think that's why, you know, people don't really like them,
because they're word it's gonna crawl.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
On them, they get off. Yeah, And I think it's
another part too, is a learned fear. We see it
in movies and TV shows. I mean, I'm old enough
to remember The Brady Bunch and one of there was
a big episode about this talisman that was cursed and
that the curse was this giant spider would it was
a translate, right, And like there was a whole like
back to back two episodes special with the It's horrible Wow,
(08:32):
and then of course the racnophobia the movie, and then
just it's perpetuated throughout all of our scary movies in general.
And I think, like you mentioned, yes, the legs, you know,
and they're in the corners. They prefer the dark spots
because that's where their food's gonna usually end up, where
they can catch it. But yeah, they're so fascinating, and
I think there's an opportunity that when so you grew
(08:53):
up with the exposure of they're cool and they're interesting,
other people grow up with someone who thinks, Eh, they're
gross and they want to squish them, right, But if
we can take the time to watch them, observe them,
respect them, or realize they're not there to hurt us, because,
like you said, we're giant mammals.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I mean, could you.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Imagine the scale difference if we as humans saw another
living creature as big in comparison as we are to spiders, right,
I mean, we'd be terrified. So there's a matter of
opportunity of also getting some perspective like, yeah, they're in
the corner and they might have multiple eyes and creep
you out, but realistically you're huge compared to them, so
they'd rather you just leave them alone so they can
have their snack.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
And that's why I love this episode too, I mean,
just so we can showcase the other aspects of wildlife
with spiders.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I mean, luckily I grew up with Spider Man.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
So if that's where it started with, absolutely love that
whole story.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
And that's what my passion for spiders was.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And like you, I'm a native Sandy Agan and I
remember being a kid and seeing our native tarantelas all about.
But every year, less and less and less of them
can you speak a little bit about what are some
of the obstacles that spider species are facing, not only
locally but in other parts of the world.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
So habitat loss impacts a lot of species, and especially
in San Diego other parts of California, that's been a
big impact. So I grew up on the canyon, there's
been tons of development, so we're just seeing less and less,
both spiders translas, also frogs. I used to grow up
with frogs everywhere, and I don't see them anymore. But
besides habitat loss and pesticide use is also really big.
(10:21):
A lot of translas around the world are impacted by
wildlife trafficking, So I know when I learned about wildlife
trafficking is usually mammals people employing tigers, but translas are
heavily collected illegally and especially really endangered species as well,
and that is decimating their populations.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Is that for the pet trade or is there other things?
Like some species they're collected for theoretical medicinal purposes. People
think there's something medicinal about body parts or whatever. What
is the draw for people to try and do this
with tarantulas?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Yeah, primarily for translas it is for the pet trade,
so a lot of people do want to collect the coolest,
newest rarest thing, and a lot of those from South America.
It's usually where they collect a lot of those arachnids,
but also can spread into Asia as well. But yeah,
it's mainly for the pet trade. So wild caught ones,
(11:10):
you know that a lot of them are not legally
able to come into the United States or being sold
as pets. There are lots of people who legally breed
them in captivity and translis do make great pets, but
there are certain species that again do make those wonderful
pets and are legally and ethically bred for that purpose,
not collected from their native habitas.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Right before the interview, we're just talking. I actually have
a curly head trains.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Her name is Tara.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I love her so much and she's got great personality.
But to your point, and especially all the kids listening
right now, like I just got back from a trip
place in Mexico called Tlahomulco, and they have a big
issue with wildlife trafficking as well native species, crocodiles and.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Insects as well.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I tell these kids in the area, you know you
have the power right every day with your dollar that
you buy, we're communicating to these people whether we want
to support something or not. And when I acquired Tara
to be part of our family, and we did the
research to make sure that this wasn't a traffic animal.
Could you give a little tips and little advice Maybe
kids out there who are thinking of you know, maybe
I do want to try to Ranta like something to
(12:09):
think about in that regard.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, and how would they find out if it's that
we thank you raised and source? You know, what is
the research someone should do? And maybe a kid could
ask their parent to help them.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Right, So you can always ask where you're purchasing your
transla from. You know, where did this come from? If
they said, oh, we got this straight from Brazil, you
might want to start questioning that. And you can easily research,
you know, what is allowed in California. US Fish and
Wildlife will have information about the species that are allowed
here and recommendations as well. So there's a little bit
(12:39):
of your own research you should probably do because there's
lots of species we can keep and lots that we cannot.
So if you're interested in you know, curly hairs or
Pinto's just making sure that you look up if that's allowed,
and usually what the history of the reader is. So
if they've been doing generations of that transla, they're probably
in good hands. But if it's something new and exciting,
(13:01):
that's where the red flags.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Right, ask the question right where dig a little.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Bit right, it's too good to be true?
Speaker 4 (13:07):
If that's too good to be true, like wow, this
is so rare and special, really expensive, and things like that's.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Maybe not And I want to encourage too the other
side of the research. Once you've found out if it
is through a breeder with multiple generations, also do a
lot of work and research on what this animal needs.
Sometimes we just think, oh, I'll bring it home and
I'll love it and it'll be fine. But certain species, regardless,
they need a drier condition than maybe than where you live,
or a damper condition than where you live. So you
(13:34):
have to be able to create a responsible environment for
them to make sure that they have everything they need,
and you can provide that. It's not just as simple
bring it home and put it in an aquarium exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And also you know, having a torrenso I don't know
what you think, but it's not the same thing as
maybe having a dog, you know, or having a cat.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
So I mean, do your research.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I mean I loved hair, but I don't really handle her,
you know, give her the environment she needs, and it's
great just to watch with their natural behaviors. Actually, I
wanted to go back a little bit. Can you talk
about like what makes a tarantula taransula? Like why are
they different than other spiders?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
You know, yeah, so are rappids you have, you know,
your spiders, your scorpions, mites, and ticks are even in that.
Once you start to break down that class, you also
start to have spiders, and within spiders you have your
tree spiders, and then you also have translas. So I
would say all tarantulas are spiders, but not all spiders
are trantulas, right, and so they still both have eight legs,
(14:28):
but with translas they're pretty hairy. They're very big as well.
And also translas the females can live up to twenty
five years, so they're very long lived, but then spiders
maybe one to two years. And they do take on
different roles, but primarily the biggest difference is their size,
the role that they play, and then also a lot
(14:49):
of hair on the translas. Spiders have hairs too, but
much finer and.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
A little different I would imagine, more terrestrial than other spiders.
Or are there some that actually a little more boreal there?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, there are boreal translas, but most of the ones
I'm familiar with they burrow as well, and you're going
to find there's trap door spiders that hang up underground.
But most of the spiders you see are not going
to be living underground quite as much as translas are.
But yes, there are our boreal translas as well, and
they do their web being much differently than spiders as well.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Actually, can you highlight a little bit of that, you know,
because the hairs are for a reason, right, for maybe
defense as well.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Yeah, So some of our New World tranchlas, so New
worlds come the Western hemisphere. So a lot of the
Americas New World translas have they're called irritating hairs, okay,
and they use that as a defense mechanism. They can
kick those hairs and it's pretty irritable. It's going to
make your skin itch. If it gets into your airways,
you're going to start coughing. You do not want to
be around a transla kicking its hair, no kidding, So
(15:44):
that's our first line of defense. And usually they're not
one to want to bite you if you really got
to be doing something to provoke that. And their venom
is not very potent either, So yes, Transella's not in
the New World at least not super venom is very
hairy and can have some irritate eating hairs. The other
thing for tarantulas is they don't have very good eyesight
(16:04):
and they primarily rely on vibrations, and so having lots
of hairs is going to help them sense that vibrations.
So if you're hanging out underground, something crawls near them,
they can feel that vibrations and then strike from their burrows.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Oh cool.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Do they use some of that webbing because Hara will
put out webbings all around the ground, you know, and
I figure that's her sensory perception in a way, right,
feeling out what's going on in the environment.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, webbing totally helps with that, and you know, or weavers,
so kind of going back to spiders will also create
webs that when prey flies into it, they can sense
the vibration and then go catch their food from that.
So spiders are very sensitive to vibrations. That's a really
wonderful trait that they have.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
So eyesight maybe not so much.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
You know, dragonflies have incredible eyesight for insects, but arachnids
at least, but the case for spiders and translas, it's
not as good.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Even multiple eyes, that's a good point.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yeah, most of them can have about eight eyes.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Might help out, but not necessarily.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
It's decent.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
It usually helps for light receptions, so they're going to
notice if there's a change in light, change of light
to dark, then that's going to help them. Since their
surroundings have a little bit more of that three sixty view,
so again we're still in the more limited scope. They
have much wider so they can see things coming from
behind them by having those multiple eyes.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Yeah, well like the birds both right totally.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
But I was going to say, like you mentioned New World,
is there some differences with the Old World like Europe, Asia, Africa.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah, we've tend to find that the Old World translates
are not quite as hairy and they don't have their
ridicating hairs that they kick out, but they do tend
to be slightly more venomous and very fast.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, I mean it would make sense.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
They don't have that same deterrent, right, Yeah, see New
World translors, right, so.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
They believe that, you know, a lot of the Old
World translas developed to be faster and more venomous because
they have a lot more predators out there versus New World.
They mainly adapted for their own protection, but didn't have
to worry.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
About those horn bell you other bird species, and I
like a little spider snack.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
So this episode comes out late October, right before Halloween.
Of course, big Halloween decorations. People have to put the
fake webbing out and the giant spiders. It's just part
of the theme of the fun of Halloween. And honestly,
this time of year, at least here in San Diego,
we see the orb weavers really going to town. You
can walk into your house at night and there's no
spider webs. You come out first thing in the morning.
And also you're got a face full you're feeling on
(18:29):
why do orb weavers make these big webs across the
spaces we like to walk What is that attraction for them?
Because clearly we destroy their work.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
We walk through.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It's annoying to us, but it really has to ruin
their day, I will.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
And you know, sometimes you're giving them a headstart. There's
certain orb weavers that will remake their web every.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Single day, so we are helping.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Orb weavers.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
They're wonderful predators that catch a lot of our flying
insects that come through. So or beavers are a really
good indicator of environmental health. You have a lot of
orb weavers, I'm they're going to catch tons of other insects.
They also in some cases can catch birds. Yeah, they
are helping with that ecosystem balance, which is very important.
(19:12):
And so they do come out around this time because
they laid their eggs that were hatching due to the
warm weather and now they're moltinge they're getting bigger and bigger,
and now everything else is also grown at this point
and it is their time to shine and collect all
of that. And they do provide food for other animals
including birds and reptiles as well. So you'll see lots
of orb weavers at this time. But do not fear.
(19:33):
They do have that really sticky web that just never
feels I can get it off of you. Spider silk,
so spiders have spinnerets and they can make almost like
seven different types of spider silk. Wow, and it's all
for different purposes. In the orb weaver web, you have
some that anchor it down into these structures again, so
they can get across your whole pathway.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
Yeah, and then they.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Have the sticky parts that is going to be there
to catch through the prey. So the tensile strength of
some of that webbing is even stronger than steel, So
it's incredible fiber.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I was going to ask you.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I've read a research paper ones where people were trying
to replicate like artificial or synthetic spider web you because
of how strong your reda is.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
And it's an incredible use that we can have for
I've been reading it's anti microbial, so it could be
used for medicinal purposes. But we still don't quite understand
everything about spider silk or so the recreation of it's
going to be very challenging because even for the animal itself,
we're still trying to learn as much as we can
about it and it's somewhat limited.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah. No, that's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And you mentioned or weaver spider and I was so
excited when Wildlife Explorers based camp opened up because so
many really cool animals, but mainly the Spineless Marvels building
where if you guess, we haven't visited yet, it's an
amazing array of different insects from all over the world.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
But you have a really cool orb weaver display as wow. Right,
can you speak a little bit about that that process.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
So when you visit Spinless Marvels, there's two floors and
you have the bottom floor which represents the ones that
tend to live underground. But we do have our golden
orb weavers there and they do not have any glass
in front of them.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
It is open air.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
People sometimes ask me sometimes like what's going on there?
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Can that spider get out?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Some people think that they're not real. Oh, they're real,
but they just like to stay in place. If you
look at their bodies, they're very bottom heavy and so
they can't really walk on the ground very well. They're
made to keep up in that web, keep their face
down and sense those vibrations, so they don't really have
an interest in going anywhere else but their web. And
we provide food for them daily for them to get
(21:33):
the nutrition they need, and it's a wonderful view for
people to see.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
It is really cool.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Yeah, we love it.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
It is a little bit to break that fear though,
you know, thinking about one of the animals that we
have here. Everything else is behind glass, but the one
that we don't need to is a spider. Yeah, so
it's one of our safest ones there that I want to.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Lean into that a little further too, because although we
see orb weavers outside and we're talking about translos also outside,
but inside our homes we some times, especially if things
cool down, spiders tend to be seen a bit more
inside the home. Not orb weavers, though. There tend to
be the jumping spiders, a little spiders, or you know,
a wide variety of other species. And I know most
(22:12):
people prefer not to look at them. They don't want
to know that they're so they're they're going to catch
them up and throw them outside, or they're going to
squish them. My personal knowledge about how predators work, and
spiders are predatory species. They aren't going to be there
if there isn't a food source. And so if you
see them, that means there's other bugs in your house
you probably don't want.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yes, they're eating.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Can you tell us a bit more about some of
the species we might find in our house?
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Yeah, I have a issue with fruit flies all the time,
and drain flies, and I adore those jumping spiders that
come in and you will see in the corners these
you know, wrapped up little tiny flies, and that's usually
from our jumping spiders.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
So yeah, if you have fruit flies.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Even they're called house flies as well drain flies, so
tons of different flies. But even earwigs can.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Make it into your house sometimes. Yeah, and we may
not like it.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
But also cockroaches and your spiders are going to be
the ones to handle those cockroaches that come through.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I tend to name mine sometimes thank you I see them. Yeah, exactly.
I appreciate the good work that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
My daughter will call it dad. There's a spider in
the tub, like, what's its name?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, exactly, because if.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
You can name it now, it's a friend. You know,
they're there for a reason. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Made me think, actually, if you can speak to this,
it'd be great, because I hear it all the time,
the myth of the daddy long legs. You know, you
hear that, you know, really their bite is so venomous
and lethal, but they don't have their fangs as long.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
You have to really penetrate the human skin.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
I hear.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
I don't know why I hear that myth so many
different times growing up here. Can you just.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Light straight for us the truth? What is really going
on with that?
Speaker 5 (23:44):
I have heard that too, Honestly.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Spider venom across the board is not as lethal as
people think it is, and that is still the case
for this one as well.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
In fact, one of the most venomous.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Spiders is the black widow spider, and for that as well,
if they were to buy us, you can have a
medical concern, but rarely.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Is that the case.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Usually if you have an allergic type of use.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Just going to say or something.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
So, I think it's true that you know they're probably
not going to be able to be bit by one,
but the venom case, that is not true.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Yeah, no, exactly right.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It speaks to what would you say to a kid
if they see a spider, what's your recommendation.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Yeah, if you see a spider, they do not want
to touch you, and if they do, they're going to
run away eventually, at some point they are not going
to bite you unless provoked, And the best method is
just the cup and paper. You can designate one in
your home and cup and paper to move them outside
if they make you uncomfortable. But sometimes I even use
a stick, Especially for black widows, you want to be
careful around them. I love black widows. They are welcome
(24:41):
in my outside of the house. But if they do
need to be relocated at all, I usually just take
a long stick, put some of their web on the
end of the stick, move the spider elsewhere. They're not
going to climb up the stick and come running at
you or anything, And that way you keep a little
bit of a distance as well. But I do not
spray or crash them at all.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
You can easily pick them up.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
They will get startled and start to run around your cup,
and I know that's like, oh my gosh, what's going on.
They will settle down and once they're outside, it's it's
totally I.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Mean, they're a little scared right again, the big mammals
coming over. I also want to talk because we mentioned
Wildlife Explorers base camp, but I know the public can't
see it, but there is an amazing area where we're
at right now, we're in the area. Can you describe
to our guests really what's going on back here? We're
in your office right now, but anyone across the way,
you got some really incredible space happening.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
So in order to put the spiders out on habitat,
and we do have the Propagation Center back here where
we have a room bigger than this office full of
those golden or weaver spiders and.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
I've been in the once, you guys, and for those
who love spiders, it's great, But don't imagine maybe for others,
maybe a different experience better for that than you know.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
I do think it can be a very transformative experience
for people because it is a beautiful room. It is
very illuminated with natural light, tons of plants in there
to help with that humidity. This species of golden or
weaver is found in Florida, and so they need that
tropical light with high UV and so sometimes we feed
them with flies that can go around. But we could
(26:07):
also throw crickets at their web as well. And I
do tell people this, which might be a little odd,
but I'll just sit in the middle of the floor
and just throw crickets there. It's very peaceful, and then
one just starts moving one at a time to go
get to its food and it's a I think that's
very beautiful experience. But sometimes there's thirty plus spiders in there. Yeah,
and you look, you see the big females hanging there.
(26:29):
Those are the big ones. The males are actually really
tiny and they will be hanging out on the web
with the females. They don't spin their own web, so
they let the females do all the work. They just
kind of hang out, let her eat and then they
can hopefully mate eventually.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Yeah, I know, right, Well, it makes me think like
we're raptors. The females are larger than the males. Is
that generally the case for most spider species, or the
females larger.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Yes, females will be larger for both spiders and tangelas.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Ah cool, very cool, very cool. Well, I know we've
got to wrap it up, getting close to time here,
and I know you've got more to do with your day.
But there's also one other thing we have to mention.
It's and I might say it wrong, where the Irakans
land when they've been confiscated for illegal trade. We don't
do confiscation, but when the government does and it basically
intercepts these illegal transports, we are one of the first
(27:17):
places usually at least on the West coast, it gets
called to see if we can house. Can you tell
us a little bit about what our role is San
Diegoo Wild Left Alliance for taking care of spiders that
have been illegally taken from the wild and then also
maybe add why can't we just send them back?
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Yeah, so the San Diego Zoo is home to our
Irakneed Rescue Center. And so we were talking about those
confiscated trantelas. Oftentimes US Fish and Wildlife will find them
being smuggled and they'll smuggle in little tiny spider links,
so baby transliz.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Or spy spider links. That's adorable.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
And they will transport them in soda straws. You know,
it's very unassuming. You just think it, yeah, trash almost,
but there's little spy in there. And so they'll find
those and then they all need a place to go.
So once they confiscate that, they're not going to put
them in other people's homes. Again, these are illegal species
to own, and a lot of them are susceptible to disease.
(28:12):
We've had a case of a Tranchela that came to
us with only four legs. Yeah, so they're also not
treated very well in that process, and so we give
them lots of love and attention here, and that transula
came in with four legs with enough care has now
been able to regenerate all eves it can regenerate.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Else spiders can do that or just depending on the
species or.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
It does depend And with insects they molt up to
a certain period of adulthood and then they're done. But
tranchlas can still keep molting in their adulthood and once
they do that molting process, they're able to regenerate.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yah, I or the oxlotow does it, but I know
like spiders can do it that well as well.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
Yeah, so we've had some amazing success stories here, but
we've had.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Over three hundred come through here.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
So it's a lot of Translas spiders that have been
confiscated that did need a home. So they're here at
the San Diego Zoo and it's hard to keep all
three hundred.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
So other easy institutions can help us out with that
as well.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
But we have learned so much about translas just from
watching these and also those success stories.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
It sounds so cool.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Wow, it all you know, went from four legs to
eight likes. But actually watching that happen is an incredible
thing to do, and it makes us feel very good
about it too.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, obviously the optimal care is allowed that to be
an optimal health so it can do that. One question
I know we sometimes get from people who are like, well, Okay,
they were confiscated and they're having problems in the wild,
why can't you just send these guys back into the wild.
So what's the reasoning behind that.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
Yeah, once they're here, there's also part of an investigation
that happens. It is a illegal crime, so that needs
to be investigated. But you cannot send them back because
they've also just been exposed to who knows what kind
of disease, and invertebrates in general just have very low
immune systems. So if you send them back, we don't
know exactly where they came from, we don't know how
they're going to survive, and they could spread lots of
(30:05):
other pathogens to their wild counterparts. So they do have
to remain with us or another institution throughout their pretty
long lived lives.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Yeah, but commitment, thank you for doing.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yeah, that's great, That's why it's really important to try
to end that wildlife trafficking because most of the times
they cannot go back into the wild. So it's not
as easy as you know, releasing the spider from your
house back into the Yeah, it's not the same thing.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
They're packaged in really weird materials with lots of other specimens.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Travel halfway around the world. Yeah, Like you said, who
knows what they've been exposed to and then what they'll
bring back to their environment if theory put back.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Yeah, and there's you know, not really a vaccine or
cure that we can get to help prevent that, so
we have to monitor them on our own.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
That's so cool.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
That's so cool.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Well, last question, we'll let you go. If you could
give any young listener out there listening right now, I'm going, ooh,
I want to work with the ractids. I want to
work with invertebrates. What would be your recommendation for that
young kid to say, are setting their sights on to
end up in the seat you're sitting right now.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
I mean, observation just does wonders. So head out to
your backyard and if you see a spider, just watch
from a pleasant distance, or you can get close. I
did that a lot. I found many a black widow
in my backyard wanted to really get a close look
at that red hourglass. So maybe would not fully recommend
(31:24):
doing that, but just be safe. But yeah, just watching
those spiders in your backyards. Honestly, you can put a
cup over them, watch them crawl around, and then nicely
let them go afterwards. Learning about them and their behavior
and just through observation is wonderful and that's going to
help spark a lot of inspiration. And then you can
even own a transla if you'd like.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
But keep doing.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, the commitment. I was going to say, long lived animal.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Yeah, it's a very long lived animal. So just knowing
what you're getting into, and also one that requires you know,
live food to be fed to it quite often too.
A lot of people aren't quite comfortable with that. But
if people are interested in entomology, you know, entomology is
accessible everywhere, so just keeping your eyes out, reading lots
of books. I know it's a studious one too, but
a lot of what entomologists do is keeping up with
(32:11):
research because things change every year. I would say, you know,
keep talking about spiders and your interest with them with
other people, because the more you talk about it, you
also start to make a name for yourself. You get
known as the hey, that's the bug lady or girl.
I was totally that person in school. I used to
bring spiders I found in my backyard to school, which
people did not really appreciate it. But it became no
(32:33):
surprise when I started to pursue entomology, and even here
at the Zoo, I started driving the double decor tour
buses for a bit, I told everybody there I love entomology,
and eventually I was able to make my way here
at the zoo as well. So just be loud and
proud about it, keep your eyes feeled, and like.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
You said, entomology in general. As far as education, there's
many colleges out there too which can pursue learning more.
And one thing we've talked about on this podcast before
is follow your passion, and as you do that, you
might get exposed to things you didn't even know existed
that you could then have more passionate about and fall
in love with. So yeah, follow the passion, kids. I
love the fact that we're sitting here with you. You
grew up loving spiders so much. And then on the
(33:12):
other side of everything. I put in a request to
page your boss, like, hey, when you talk to somebody
about spiders, and here you are sitting in this office,
that young little girl who's in the backyard looking at
spiders is now at one of the leading facilities in America,
San Diego Zoo, taking care of Oraknin's and other invertebrates.
I think it's a great story. I really appreciate you
taking the time down body.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (33:31):
Yeah, thank you so much. This was wonderful.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
I'm really happy to share this with all of you
and everybody else listening as well.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Excellent, appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
Don't fear your spiders this Halloween.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
They make great decoration, but they're also great for your
house and your backyard.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Right, maybe the Halloween decoration should be looked at us
a celebration. Yes, how awesome. They are getting rid of
other books we don't want.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
This is the only time of year I can find
good spider decor.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
All right, Thanks Taylor, Thank you so much. Marco. I
love that we get to talk to people who know
a bunch of stuff about things we don't know nearly
as much about.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Oh man, I know what you mean.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
I mean, I love that Taylor's knowledge is rooted in
her natural passion about spiders.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
When she was a little kid.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
It just goes to show you that when we follow
our natural curiosity, we can learn so much. And I
really appreciate that Taylor shared that spiders aren't as big, bad,
and scary as the movies make them out to be.
I mean she even said spiders don't want to be
touched by us and would rather not touch us. I mean, right,
there goes to show you just how silly some of
these scary movies are.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
Oh totally friends. I mean, who would have guessed spiders
had a fear of us? I knew, and I was
surprised to hear how much spiders are impacted though, you know,
by the illegal wildlife trade. I mean, yes, I need
schar Angela's were threatened by this, but I didn't know
the number of spiders that are impacted and confiscated.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, and it's really interesting you think about it. Spider
is something that some people would rather avoid and have
a true phobia. Are also something people want to illegally
import just because they're unique or unusual. Just another good
reason to learn more about what's impacting wildlife at all levels,
and how we can help by not supporting these activities.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
You know, there was something I forgot to ask her.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Oh what's that?
Speaker 2 (35:11):
No, I wonder if you can train a spider. Huh,
I mean I bet you could.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Last episode, you know, we talked with Nikki about the
work that they do with pandas and how they participate
in their own care through outcome based husband.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
True. Yeah, right, exactly. So we should have.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Asked Taylor there's anything like that with spiders.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well, we did miss our opportunity on that one asking
about spiders, but I did just confirm our actual interview
with someone who knows a lot about working with smart
animals that participate in their own carrots a safari park.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Wait wait, wait, we're heading back to the We are
to talk about smart animals. Okay, so it's probably one
of my friends. It takes care of parents. I mean,
you know, they're wicked smart and like.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
The African gray parent.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
I worked with one of the smartest feathered coworkers I
had ever.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Worked with, Marco.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Ye, you're right, this one will be gray in color.
But no, no, no feathers this time?
Speaker 2 (36:03):
What Okay?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Okay, smart, but not feathered Okay gray in color Well.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
While Marco takes a moment to think about this, be
sure to subscribe and tune into our next episode, in
which we learn more about packet terms that participate in
their own care at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Now, Marco went and I'm Rich Schwartz.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Thanks for listening. For more information about the San Diego
Zoo and San Diego Zoosafari Park, go to SDZWA dot org.
Amazing Wildlife is a production of iHeartRadio. Our supervising producers
are Nikkia Swinton and Dylan Fagan, and our sound designers
are Sierra Spreen and Matt Russell. For more shows from iHeartRadio,
(36:47):
check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Hi, I'm Rick Schwartz.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
But 's see this world. I'm Marco Wentz.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of
wildlife from around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts.
This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio and
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, an international nonprofit conservation organization
which oversees the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So, you know, Rick, we wrapped up our last episode
teasing out today's topic, and I know it might make
some people a little uncomfortable, right to have a whole
episode dedicated to spiders.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yes, yes, I agree, and dear listener, please hang in
there and listen to the full episode. I know there
are plenty of people who like, appreciate, or at the
very least tolerate spiders, but I am also aware there
are plenty of people who do not like them at all,
and some who have a physical, actual physical reaction to
spiders due to a phobia. In fact, when I was
looking into it, a rachnophobia is listed as the most
(01:02):
common phobia, affecting four to fifteen percent of the population.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Wow, I didn't know that, but you know, I guess
it's important that we preface this episode with letting everyone
know that we're not planning on doing anything you know, creepy,
we're scary, right or unsettling.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We just want to take the time to get to
know more about.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
These really cool animals and hopefully shatter any myths or misconceptions.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Exactly we need to learn more, like do we even
need spiders here on planet Earth? Or why do some
spiders make webs in dark corners while theres make them
right the way where we walk? Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, right, I mean it's never fun walking into a
spider web.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Spider web dance, spider dance.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
You know, I'd like to know if there's any truth
to the power of the venom right of certain species,
and oh is it dangerous to humans?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Or why does a spider even need venom? You know?
There's so much more now.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And speaking of more, do you know how many different
species of spider there are? Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
No, I don't even know how to guess that number.
I would totally be wrong.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, you and me both. I don't know either. But
the good news is we can find out because we
are fortunate enough to have some of the best of
the best at the San Diego Zoo. When it comes
to entomology, which is the study of insects in the
relationship with the environment, humans and other organisms in the ecosystem.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Oh, I know, and they are over at Wildlife Explorer's
Base Camp at the San Diego Zoo. If our listeners
want to really be immersed in the fascinating world of entomology,
they must visit the Spineless Marvels Building at base Camp.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yes, yes, I completely agree, Marko. And no matter how
you feel about insects, bugs and spiders, the Spineless Marvels
Building allows you to explore the diversity of animals you
normally wouldn't see, and maybe some of you wouldn't want
to see. But when you get to learn more about something,
you tend to understand it better. And when you do that,
the fear tends to become less powerful.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Oh, I personally love spider. I know, right?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
And when Rick, you know the word in Spanish for
a spider, it's a lot of fun. It's a rangya, right,
isn't that cool? So kids, roll your and oh, you're
absolutely right. We should head over to Wildlife Explorer's Base
Camp to learn more about the misunderstood and sometimes unappreciated spider.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
It's true. You know, you said you love spiders. I
guess it'd be fair to say spiders don't bug you. Okay,
all kidding aside, let's do this. We have questions. En
Oer Entomology Department has answers.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
All right, let's go to the San diego Zo Bays camp.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Here we come.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
I am Taylor Cook. I am the Wildlifecare supervisor for
the Entomology Department.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Taylor, thank you so much for taking time. I want
to let our audience know we are sitting in your office.
We are not that far away from where everyone could
come and see a wide variety of spineless marvels as
a building said.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
But we are here to learn about a particular animal
group or species, several species.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That a lot of people seem to have.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
A fear of.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
But I'm not going to think of maybe the he
be gb.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Gbs to put it scientific.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I mean right, I'm very scientific symptimes.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I've made a joke prior because my husband, Kobe, he
also works at the organization. He doesn't have a little
bit of a fear, let's say, of spiders, you know,
but that's the thing we want to talk about today,
you know, because we work with amazing wildlife, from pandas
to hornbills, but people often forget to the diversity of
insects in the world.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I mean it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I mean, isn't a fact that there are more beetles
in the world than there are same mammals, you know,
on their entire planet.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
That's crazy, right.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
So I mean speak a little about that. What do
you guys do here? What's the official name, let's say,
of this area here.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yeah, so we're currently at the Invertebrate Propagation Center, and
so the key there is invertebrate because there's so many
animals that are considered invertebrates. Yeah, insects or what you
know of that have you know, six legs, three segments,
and then we also have a rap nudes that have
more like two segments and eight legs.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Okay, to separate for anyone losening who may not know, invertebrate.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Me thank you.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Invertebrate means that they do not we have bones like
we do. They have exoskeletons, so they have to go
through a molting process to get much bigger. It's very
different than our bones. That grow from the inside, so
they don't have vertebrae I think of the backbone, so
they are in as and they do not have that,
So it's a little different.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So for kids who are listening, you can feel on
your arm that you have muscles around the bone of
your arm. Whereas our friends were talking about today, if
you're to touch in their heart on the outside, that's
their skeletal structure based on the outside, and all their
muscles and organs and everything else are on the inside.
So it's kind of a cool comparison. And to what
Marko was saying earlier about this fear or dislike of spiders,
(05:37):
I would love to spend some time with you debunking that.
Letting our audio not debunking it, I mean, because I
think somebody's fear is legitimate to them. But I also
know the more we learn about things, we can get
past some of the things we fear, or at least
have a healthy respect for, right exactly a little bit,
first and foremost, why do you think a rachnophobia or
(05:57):
fear of spiders is a thing?
Speaker 4 (06:00):
You know, spiders and ratnas in general, they end up
in the corner of your room and they're just kind
of sitting there. You don't know what's going on. You
just see a lot of leggs, and I think.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
A lot of legs.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
The legs is what I believe is kind of what
turns people away from them.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
And you know, some of them tend to be a
darker color.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And again they're just in the corner of the room
with cobwebs everywhere. And you know, we hear about how
they're venomous they're going to bite you, but anything with
them out can bite.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And we were just talking with Nikki right about the
job pressure of general. But it's a good point that
you're saying too, because I mean, we're mammals and we
have this tendency when we see something big and fuzzy
with big ears and big eyes, it's really easy to
connect with, right And you guys know, being a bird guy, like,
it's always been a passion of mind to try to
(06:51):
get people just as excited for the non mammals out there.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So I would imagine it's the same thing, Oh yeah
with a spider, right, yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
So in my case, I grew up love spiders just
because I loved animals. So the closest animal I can
get to were the spiders in my home. And luckily,
my mom she always loves spiders and tranchllas. Growing up,
she'd tell me she's from San Diego and that's where
I am too, and she'd go out and catch translas
in her backyard and play with trapdoor spiders by tapping
(07:18):
in front of them, and so I just wanted to
be like my.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Mom, so I do the same thing.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
So I'd collect the spiders in the house and I
would go outside all the time look for traandlas, and
sadly I never really saw them, and that's a whole
issue with habitat loss as well. But so I luckily
grew up in an environment where spiders were very welcomed. However,
my friends did not have their response, and they would
crush them, and I'd be very sad. So I do
(07:44):
think it does have to do with perspective, people having
fear of the venom, fear of you know, them crawling
on you with all the legs. But honestly, spiders do
not like us right now.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
And they're sensitive.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
If they touch something they don't like, they're a little
diva and they just go, I don't want that if
it's on you. They're really just in one place to
the next and hoping you don't notice them. So I
think that's why, you know, people don't really like them,
because they're word it's gonna crawl.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
On them, they get off. Yeah, And I think it's
another part too, is a learned fear. We see it
in movies and TV shows. I mean, I'm old enough
to remember The Brady Bunch and one of there was
a big episode about this talisman that was cursed and
that the curse was this giant spider would it was
a translate, right, And like there was a whole like
back to back two episodes special with the It's horrible Wow,
(08:32):
and then of course the racnophobia the movie, and then
just it's perpetuated throughout all of our scary movies in general.
And I think, like you mentioned, yes, the legs, you know,
and they're in the corners. They prefer the dark spots
because that's where their food's gonna usually end up, where
they can catch it. But yeah, they're so fascinating, and
I think there's an opportunity that when so you grew
(08:53):
up with the exposure of they're cool and they're interesting,
other people grow up with someone who thinks, Eh, they're
gross and they want to squish them, right, But if
we can take the time to watch them, observe them,
respect them, or realize they're not there to hurt us, because,
like you said, we're giant mammals.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I mean, could you.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Imagine the scale difference if we as humans saw another
living creature as big in comparison as we are to spiders, right,
I mean, we'd be terrified. So there's a matter of
opportunity of also getting some perspective like, yeah, they're in
the corner and they might have multiple eyes and creep
you out, but realistically you're huge compared to them, so
they'd rather you just leave them alone so they can
have their snack.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
And that's why I love this episode too, I mean,
just so we can showcase the other aspects of wildlife
with spiders.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I mean, luckily I grew up with Spider Man.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
So if that's where it started with, absolutely love that
whole story.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
And that's what my passion for spiders was.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And like you, I'm a native Sandy Agan and I
remember being a kid and seeing our native tarantelas all about.
But every year, less and less and less of them
can you speak a little bit about what are some
of the obstacles that spider species are facing, not only
locally but in other parts of the world.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
So habitat loss impacts a lot of species, and especially
in San Diego other parts of California, that's been a
big impact. So I grew up on the canyon, there's
been tons of development, so we're just seeing less and less,
both spiders translas, also frogs. I used to grow up
with frogs everywhere, and I don't see them anymore. But
besides habitat loss and pesticide use is also really big.
(10:21):
A lot of translas around the world are impacted by
wildlife trafficking, So I know when I learned about wildlife
trafficking is usually mammals people employing tigers, but translas are
heavily collected illegally and especially really endangered species as well,
and that is decimating their populations.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Is that for the pet trade or is there other things?
Like some species they're collected for theoretical medicinal purposes. People
think there's something medicinal about body parts or whatever. What
is the draw for people to try and do this
with tarantulas?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Yeah, primarily for translas it is for the pet trade,
so a lot of people do want to collect the coolest,
newest rarest thing, and a lot of those from South America.
It's usually where they collect a lot of those arachnids,
but also can spread into Asia as well. But yeah,
it's mainly for the pet trade. So wild caught ones,
(11:10):
you know that a lot of them are not legally
able to come into the United States or being sold
as pets. There are lots of people who legally breed
them in captivity and translis do make great pets, but
there are certain species that again do make those wonderful
pets and are legally and ethically bred for that purpose,
not collected from their native habitas.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Right before the interview, we're just talking. I actually have
a curly head trains.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Her name is Tara.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I love her so much and she's got great personality.
But to your point, and especially all the kids listening
right now, like I just got back from a trip
place in Mexico called Tlahomulco, and they have a big
issue with wildlife trafficking as well native species, crocodiles and.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Insects as well.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I tell these kids in the area, you know you
have the power right every day with your dollar that
you buy, we're communicating to these people whether we want
to support something or not. And when I acquired Tara
to be part of our family, and we did the
research to make sure that this wasn't a traffic animal.
Could you give a little tips and little advice Maybe
kids out there who are thinking of you know, maybe
I do want to try to Ranta like something to
(12:09):
think about in that regard.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, and how would they find out if it's that
we thank you raised and source? You know, what is
the research someone should do? And maybe a kid could
ask their parent to help them.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Right, So you can always ask where you're purchasing your
transla from. You know, where did this come from? If
they said, oh, we got this straight from Brazil, you
might want to start questioning that. And you can easily research,
you know, what is allowed in California. US Fish and
Wildlife will have information about the species that are allowed
here and recommendations as well. So there's a little bit
(12:39):
of your own research you should probably do because there's
lots of species we can keep and lots that we cannot.
So if you're interested in you know, curly hairs or
Pinto's just making sure that you look up if that's allowed,
and usually what the history of the reader is. So
if they've been doing generations of that transla, they're probably
in good hands. But if it's something new and exciting,
(13:01):
that's where the red flags.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Right, ask the question right where dig a little.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Bit right, it's too good to be true?
Speaker 4 (13:07):
If that's too good to be true, like wow, this
is so rare and special, really expensive, and things like that's.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Maybe not And I want to encourage too the other
side of the research. Once you've found out if it
is through a breeder with multiple generations, also do a
lot of work and research on what this animal needs.
Sometimes we just think, oh, I'll bring it home and
I'll love it and it'll be fine. But certain species, regardless,
they need a drier condition than maybe than where you live,
or a damper condition than where you live. So you
(13:34):
have to be able to create a responsible environment for
them to make sure that they have everything they need,
and you can provide that. It's not just as simple
bring it home and put it in an aquarium exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And also you know, having a torrenso I don't know
what you think, but it's not the same thing as
maybe having a dog, you know, or having a cat.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
So I mean, do your research.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I mean I loved hair, but I don't really handle her,
you know, give her the environment she needs, and it's
great just to watch with their natural behaviors. Actually, I
wanted to go back a little bit. Can you talk
about like what makes a tarantula taransula? Like why are
they different than other spiders?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
You know, yeah, so are rappids you have, you know,
your spiders, your scorpions, mites, and ticks are even in that.
Once you start to break down that class, you also
start to have spiders, and within spiders you have your
tree spiders, and then you also have translas. So I
would say all tarantulas are spiders, but not all spiders
are trantulas, right, and so they still both have eight legs,
(14:28):
but with translas they're pretty hairy. They're very big as well.
And also translas the females can live up to twenty
five years, so they're very long lived, but then spiders
maybe one to two years. And they do take on
different roles, but primarily the biggest difference is their size,
the role that they play, and then also a lot
(14:49):
of hair on the translas. Spiders have hairs too, but
much finer and.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
A little different I would imagine, more terrestrial than other spiders.
Or are there some that actually a little more boreal there?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, there are boreal translas, but most of the ones
I'm familiar with they burrow as well, and you're going
to find there's trap door spiders that hang up underground.
But most of the spiders you see are not going
to be living underground quite as much as translas are.
But yes, there are our boreal translas as well, and
they do their web being much differently than spiders as well.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Actually, can you highlight a little bit of that, you know,
because the hairs are for a reason, right, for maybe
defense as well.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Yeah, So some of our New World tranchlas, so New
worlds come the Western hemisphere. So a lot of the
Americas New World translas have they're called irritating hairs, okay,
and they use that as a defense mechanism. They can
kick those hairs and it's pretty irritable. It's going to
make your skin itch. If it gets into your airways,
you're going to start coughing. You do not want to
be around a transla kicking its hair, no kidding, So
(15:44):
that's our first line of defense. And usually they're not
one to want to bite you if you really got
to be doing something to provoke that. And their venom
is not very potent either, So yes, Transella's not in
the New World at least not super venom is very
hairy and can have some irritate eating hairs. The other
thing for tarantulas is they don't have very good eyesight
(16:04):
and they primarily rely on vibrations, and so having lots
of hairs is going to help them sense that vibrations.
So if you're hanging out underground, something crawls near them,
they can feel that vibrations and then strike from their burrows.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Oh cool.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Do they use some of that webbing because Hara will
put out webbings all around the ground, you know, and
I figure that's her sensory perception in a way, right,
feeling out what's going on in the environment.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, webbing totally helps with that, and you know, or weavers,
so kind of going back to spiders will also create
webs that when prey flies into it, they can sense
the vibration and then go catch their food from that.
So spiders are very sensitive to vibrations. That's a really
wonderful trait that they have.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
So eyesight maybe not so much.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
You know, dragonflies have incredible eyesight for insects, but arachnids
at least, but the case for spiders and translas, it's
not as good.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Even multiple eyes, that's a good point.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yeah, most of them can have about eight eyes.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Might help out, but not necessarily.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
It's decent.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
It usually helps for light receptions, so they're going to
notice if there's a change in light, change of light
to dark, then that's going to help them. Since their
surroundings have a little bit more of that three sixty view,
so again we're still in the more limited scope. They
have much wider so they can see things coming from
behind them by having those multiple eyes.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Yeah, well like the birds both right totally.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
But I was going to say, like you mentioned New World,
is there some differences with the Old World like Europe, Asia, Africa.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah, we've tend to find that the Old World translates
are not quite as hairy and they don't have their
ridicating hairs that they kick out, but they do tend
to be slightly more venomous and very fast.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, I mean it would make sense.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
They don't have that same deterrent, right, Yeah, see New
World translors, right, so.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
They believe that, you know, a lot of the Old
World translas developed to be faster and more venomous because
they have a lot more predators out there versus New World.
They mainly adapted for their own protection, but didn't have
to worry.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
About those horn bell you other bird species, and I
like a little spider snack.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
So this episode comes out late October, right before Halloween.
Of course, big Halloween decorations. People have to put the
fake webbing out and the giant spiders. It's just part
of the theme of the fun of Halloween. And honestly,
this time of year, at least here in San Diego,
we see the orb weavers really going to town. You
can walk into your house at night and there's no
spider webs. You come out first thing in the morning.
And also you're got a face full you're feeling on
(18:29):
why do orb weavers make these big webs across the
spaces we like to walk What is that attraction for them?
Because clearly we destroy their work.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
We walk through.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It's annoying to us, but it really has to ruin
their day, I will.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
And you know, sometimes you're giving them a headstart. There's
certain orb weavers that will remake their web every.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Single day, so we are helping.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Orb weavers.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
They're wonderful predators that catch a lot of our flying
insects that come through. So or beavers are a really
good indicator of environmental health. You have a lot of
orb weavers, I'm they're going to catch tons of other insects.
They also in some cases can catch birds. Yeah, they
are helping with that ecosystem balance, which is very important.
(19:12):
And so they do come out around this time because
they laid their eggs that were hatching due to the
warm weather and now they're moltinge they're getting bigger and bigger,
and now everything else is also grown at this point
and it is their time to shine and collect all
of that. And they do provide food for other animals
including birds and reptiles as well. So you'll see lots
of orb weavers at this time. But do not fear.
(19:33):
They do have that really sticky web that just never
feels I can get it off of you. Spider silk,
so spiders have spinnerets and they can make almost like
seven different types of spider silk. Wow, and it's all
for different purposes. In the orb weaver web, you have
some that anchor it down into these structures again, so
they can get across your whole pathway.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
Yeah, and then they.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Have the sticky parts that is going to be there
to catch through the prey. So the tensile strength of
some of that webbing is even stronger than steel, So
it's incredible fiber.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I was going to ask you.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I've read a research paper ones where people were trying
to replicate like artificial or synthetic spider web you because
of how strong your reda is.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
And it's an incredible use that we can have for
I've been reading it's anti microbial, so it could be
used for medicinal purposes. But we still don't quite understand
everything about spider silk or so the recreation of it's
going to be very challenging because even for the animal itself,
we're still trying to learn as much as we can
about it and it's somewhat limited.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah. No, that's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And you mentioned or weaver spider and I was so
excited when Wildlife Explorers based camp opened up because so
many really cool animals, but mainly the Spineless Marvels building
where if you guess, we haven't visited yet, it's an
amazing array of different insects from all over the world.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
But you have a really cool orb weaver display as wow. Right,
can you speak a little bit about that that process.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
So when you visit Spinless Marvels, there's two floors and
you have the bottom floor which represents the ones that
tend to live underground. But we do have our golden
orb weavers there and they do not have any glass
in front of them.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
It is open air.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
People sometimes ask me sometimes like what's going on there?
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Can that spider get out?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Some people think that they're not real. Oh, they're real,
but they just like to stay in place. If you
look at their bodies, they're very bottom heavy and so
they can't really walk on the ground very well. They're
made to keep up in that web, keep their face
down and sense those vibrations, so they don't really have
an interest in going anywhere else but their web. And
we provide food for them daily for them to get
(21:33):
the nutrition they need, and it's a wonderful view for
people to see.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
It is really cool.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Yeah, we love it.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
It is a little bit to break that fear though,
you know, thinking about one of the animals that we
have here. Everything else is behind glass, but the one
that we don't need to is a spider. Yeah, so
it's one of our safest ones there that I want to.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Lean into that a little further too, because although we
see orb weavers outside and we're talking about translos also outside,
but inside our homes we some times, especially if things
cool down, spiders tend to be seen a bit more
inside the home. Not orb weavers, though. There tend to
be the jumping spiders, a little spiders, or you know,
a wide variety of other species. And I know most
(22:12):
people prefer not to look at them. They don't want
to know that they're so they're they're going to catch
them up and throw them outside, or they're going to
squish them. My personal knowledge about how predators work, and
spiders are predatory species. They aren't going to be there
if there isn't a food source. And so if you
see them, that means there's other bugs in your house
you probably don't want.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yes, they're eating.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Can you tell us a bit more about some of
the species we might find in our house?
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Yeah, I have a issue with fruit flies all the time,
and drain flies, and I adore those jumping spiders that
come in and you will see in the corners these
you know, wrapped up little tiny flies, and that's usually
from our jumping spiders.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
So yeah, if you have fruit flies.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Even they're called house flies as well drain flies, so
tons of different flies. But even earwigs can.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Make it into your house sometimes. Yeah, and we may
not like it.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
But also cockroaches and your spiders are going to be
the ones to handle those cockroaches that come through.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I tend to name mine sometimes thank you I see them. Yeah, exactly.
I appreciate the good work that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
My daughter will call it dad. There's a spider in
the tub, like, what's its name?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, exactly, because if.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
You can name it now, it's a friend. You know,
they're there for a reason. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Made me think, actually, if you can speak to this,
it'd be great, because I hear it all the time,
the myth of the daddy long legs. You know, you
hear that, you know, really their bite is so venomous
and lethal, but they don't have their fangs as long.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
You have to really penetrate the human skin.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
I hear.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
I don't know why I hear that myth so many
different times growing up here. Can you just.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Light straight for us the truth? What is really going
on with that?
Speaker 5 (23:44):
I have heard that too, Honestly.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Spider venom across the board is not as lethal as
people think it is, and that is still the case
for this one as well.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
In fact, one of the most venomous.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Spiders is the black widow spider, and for that as well,
if they were to buy us, you can have a
medical concern, but rarely.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Is that the case.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Usually if you have an allergic type of use.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Just going to say or something.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
So, I think it's true that you know they're probably
not going to be able to be bit by one,
but the venom case, that is not true.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Yeah, no, exactly right.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It speaks to what would you say to a kid
if they see a spider, what's your recommendation.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Yeah, if you see a spider, they do not want
to touch you, and if they do, they're going to
run away eventually, at some point they are not going
to bite you unless provoked, And the best method is
just the cup and paper. You can designate one in
your home and cup and paper to move them outside
if they make you uncomfortable. But sometimes I even use
a stick, Especially for black widows, you want to be
careful around them. I love black widows. They are welcome
(24:41):
in my outside of the house. But if they do
need to be relocated at all, I usually just take
a long stick, put some of their web on the
end of the stick, move the spider elsewhere. They're not
going to climb up the stick and come running at
you or anything, And that way you keep a little
bit of a distance as well. But I do not
spray or crash them at all.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
You can easily pick them up.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
They will get startled and start to run around your cup,
and I know that's like, oh my gosh, what's going on.
They will settle down and once they're outside, it's it's
totally I.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Mean, they're a little scared right again, the big mammals
coming over. I also want to talk because we mentioned
Wildlife Explorers base camp, but I know the public can't
see it, but there is an amazing area where we're
at right now, we're in the area. Can you describe
to our guests really what's going on back here? We're
in your office right now, but anyone across the way,
you got some really incredible space happening.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
So in order to put the spiders out on habitat,
and we do have the Propagation Center back here where
we have a room bigger than this office full of
those golden or weaver spiders and.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
I've been in the once, you guys, and for those
who love spiders, it's great, But don't imagine maybe for others,
maybe a different experience better for that than you know.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
I do think it can be a very transformative experience
for people because it is a beautiful room. It is
very illuminated with natural light, tons of plants in there
to help with that humidity. This species of golden or
weaver is found in Florida, and so they need that
tropical light with high UV and so sometimes we feed
them with flies that can go around. But we could
(26:07):
also throw crickets at their web as well. And I
do tell people this, which might be a little odd,
but I'll just sit in the middle of the floor
and just throw crickets there. It's very peaceful, and then
one just starts moving one at a time to go
get to its food and it's a I think that's
very beautiful experience. But sometimes there's thirty plus spiders in there. Yeah,
and you look, you see the big females hanging there.
(26:29):
Those are the big ones. The males are actually really
tiny and they will be hanging out on the web
with the females. They don't spin their own web, so
they let the females do all the work. They just
kind of hang out, let her eat and then they
can hopefully mate eventually.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Yeah, I know, right, Well, it makes me think like
we're raptors. The females are larger than the males. Is
that generally the case for most spider species, or the
females larger.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Yes, females will be larger for both spiders and tangelas.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Ah cool, very cool, very cool. Well, I know we've
got to wrap it up, getting close to time here,
and I know you've got more to do with your day.
But there's also one other thing we have to mention.
It's and I might say it wrong, where the Irakans
land when they've been confiscated for illegal trade. We don't
do confiscation, but when the government does and it basically
intercepts these illegal transports, we are one of the first
(27:17):
places usually at least on the West coast, it gets
called to see if we can house. Can you tell
us a little bit about what our role is San
Diegoo Wild Left Alliance for taking care of spiders that
have been illegally taken from the wild and then also
maybe add why can't we just send them back?
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Yeah, so the San Diego Zoo is home to our
Irakneed Rescue Center. And so we were talking about those
confiscated trantelas. Oftentimes US Fish and Wildlife will find them
being smuggled and they'll smuggle in little tiny spider links,
so baby transliz.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Or spy spider links. That's adorable.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
And they will transport them in soda straws. You know,
it's very unassuming. You just think it, yeah, trash almost,
but there's little spy in there. And so they'll find
those and then they all need a place to go.
So once they confiscate that, they're not going to put
them in other people's homes. Again, these are illegal species
to own, and a lot of them are susceptible to disease.
(28:12):
We've had a case of a Tranchela that came to
us with only four legs. Yeah, so they're also not
treated very well in that process, and so we give
them lots of love and attention here, and that transula
came in with four legs with enough care has now
been able to regenerate all eves it can regenerate.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Else spiders can do that or just depending on the
species or.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
It does depend And with insects they molt up to
a certain period of adulthood and then they're done. But
tranchlas can still keep molting in their adulthood and once
they do that molting process, they're able to regenerate.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yah, I or the oxlotow does it, but I know
like spiders can do it that well as well.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
Yeah, so we've had some amazing success stories here, but
we've had.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Over three hundred come through here.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
So it's a lot of Translas spiders that have been
confiscated that did need a home. So they're here at
the San Diego Zoo and it's hard to keep all
three hundred.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
So other easy institutions can help us out with that
as well.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
But we have learned so much about translas just from
watching these and also those success stories.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
It sounds so cool.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Wow, it all you know, went from four legs to
eight likes. But actually watching that happen is an incredible
thing to do, and it makes us feel very good
about it too.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, obviously the optimal care is allowed that to be
an optimal health so it can do that. One question
I know we sometimes get from people who are like, well, Okay,
they were confiscated and they're having problems in the wild,
why can't you just send these guys back into the wild.
So what's the reasoning behind that.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
Yeah, once they're here, there's also part of an investigation
that happens. It is a illegal crime, so that needs
to be investigated. But you cannot send them back because
they've also just been exposed to who knows what kind
of disease, and invertebrates in general just have very low
immune systems. So if you send them back, we don't
know exactly where they came from, we don't know how
they're going to survive, and they could spread lots of
(30:05):
other pathogens to their wild counterparts. So they do have
to remain with us or another institution throughout their pretty
long lived lives.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Yeah, but commitment, thank you for doing.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yeah, that's great, That's why it's really important to try
to end that wildlife trafficking because most of the times
they cannot go back into the wild. So it's not
as easy as you know, releasing the spider from your
house back into the Yeah, it's not the same thing.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
They're packaged in really weird materials with lots of other specimens.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Travel halfway around the world. Yeah, Like you said, who
knows what they've been exposed to and then what they'll
bring back to their environment if theory put back.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Yeah, and there's you know, not really a vaccine or
cure that we can get to help prevent that, so
we have to monitor them on our own.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
That's so cool.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
That's so cool.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Well, last question, we'll let you go. If you could
give any young listener out there listening right now, I'm going, ooh,
I want to work with the ractids. I want to
work with invertebrates. What would be your recommendation for that
young kid to say, are setting their sights on to
end up in the seat you're sitting right now.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
I mean, observation just does wonders. So head out to
your backyard and if you see a spider, just watch
from a pleasant distance, or you can get close. I
did that a lot. I found many a black widow
in my backyard wanted to really get a close look
at that red hourglass. So maybe would not fully recommend
(31:24):
doing that, but just be safe. But yeah, just watching
those spiders in your backyards. Honestly, you can put a
cup over them, watch them crawl around, and then nicely
let them go afterwards. Learning about them and their behavior
and just through observation is wonderful and that's going to
help spark a lot of inspiration. And then you can
even own a transla if you'd like.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
But keep doing.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, the commitment. I was going to say, long lived animal.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Yeah, it's a very long lived animal. So just knowing
what you're getting into, and also one that requires you know,
live food to be fed to it quite often too.
A lot of people aren't quite comfortable with that. But
if people are interested in entomology, you know, entomology is
accessible everywhere, so just keeping your eyes out, reading lots
of books. I know it's a studious one too, but
a lot of what entomologists do is keeping up with
(32:11):
research because things change every year. I would say, you know,
keep talking about spiders and your interest with them with
other people, because the more you talk about it, you
also start to make a name for yourself. You get
known as the hey, that's the bug lady or girl.
I was totally that person in school. I used to
bring spiders I found in my backyard to school, which
people did not really appreciate it. But it became no
(32:33):
surprise when I started to pursue entomology, and even here
at the Zoo, I started driving the double decor tour
buses for a bit, I told everybody there I love entomology,
and eventually I was able to make my way here
at the zoo as well. So just be loud and
proud about it, keep your eyes feeled, and like.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
You said, entomology in general. As far as education, there's
many colleges out there too which can pursue learning more.
And one thing we've talked about on this podcast before
is follow your passion, and as you do that, you
might get exposed to things you didn't even know existed
that you could then have more passionate about and fall
in love with. So yeah, follow the passion, kids. I
love the fact that we're sitting here with you. You
grew up loving spiders so much. And then on the
(33:12):
other side of everything. I put in a request to
page your boss, like, hey, when you talk to somebody
about spiders, and here you are sitting in this office,
that young little girl who's in the backyard looking at
spiders is now at one of the leading facilities in America,
San Diego Zoo, taking care of Oraknin's and other invertebrates.
I think it's a great story. I really appreciate you
taking the time down body.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (33:31):
Yeah, thank you so much. This was wonderful.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
I'm really happy to share this with all of you
and everybody else listening as well.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Excellent, appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
Don't fear your spiders this Halloween.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
They make great decoration, but they're also great for your
house and your backyard.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Right, maybe the Halloween decoration should be looked at us
a celebration. Yes, how awesome. They are getting rid of
other books we don't want.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
This is the only time of year I can find
good spider decor.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
All right, Thanks Taylor, Thank you so much. Marco. I
love that we get to talk to people who know
a bunch of stuff about things we don't know nearly
as much about.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Oh man, I know what you mean.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
I mean, I love that Taylor's knowledge is rooted in
her natural passion about spiders.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
When she was a little kid.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
It just goes to show you that when we follow
our natural curiosity, we can learn so much. And I
really appreciate that Taylor shared that spiders aren't as big, bad,
and scary as the movies make them out to be.
I mean she even said spiders don't want to be
touched by us and would rather not touch us. I mean, right,
there goes to show you just how silly some of
these scary movies are.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
Oh totally friends. I mean, who would have guessed spiders
had a fear of us? I knew, and I was
surprised to hear how much spiders are impacted though, you know,
by the illegal wildlife trade. I mean, yes, I need
schar Angela's were threatened by this, but I didn't know
the number of spiders that are impacted and confiscated.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, and it's really interesting you think about it. Spider
is something that some people would rather avoid and have
a true phobia. Are also something people want to illegally
import just because they're unique or unusual. Just another good
reason to learn more about what's impacting wildlife at all levels,
and how we can help by not supporting these activities.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
You know, there was something I forgot to ask her.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Oh what's that?
Speaker 2 (35:11):
No, I wonder if you can train a spider. Huh,
I mean I bet you could.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Last episode, you know, we talked with Nikki about the
work that they do with pandas and how they participate
in their own care through outcome based husband.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
True. Yeah, right, exactly. So we should have.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Asked Taylor there's anything like that with spiders.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well, we did miss our opportunity on that one asking
about spiders, but I did just confirm our actual interview
with someone who knows a lot about working with smart
animals that participate in their own carrots a safari park.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Wait wait, wait, we're heading back to the We are
to talk about smart animals. Okay, so it's probably one
of my friends. It takes care of parents. I mean,
you know, they're wicked smart and like.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
The African gray parent.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
I worked with one of the smartest feathered coworkers I
had ever.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Worked with, Marco.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Ye, you're right, this one will be gray in color.
But no, no, no feathers this time?
Speaker 2 (36:03):
What Okay?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Okay, smart, but not feathered Okay gray in color Well.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
While Marco takes a moment to think about this, be
sure to subscribe and tune into our next episode, in
which we learn more about packet terms that participate in
their own care at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Now, Marco went and I'm Rich Schwartz.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Thanks for listening. For more information about the San Diego
Zoo and San Diego Zoosafari Park, go to SDZWA dot org.
Amazing Wildlife is a production of iHeartRadio. Our supervising producers
are Nikkia Swinton and Dylan Fagan, and our sound designers
are Sierra Spreen and Matt Russell. For more shows from iHeartRadio,
(36:47):
check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Rick Schwartz
Marco Wendt
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