BABIES

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by Medikor

I'm not big on spiders but I do enjoy seeing people have them as pets. I heard that spiders are really intelligent, so do they recognize their owner, like a dog or cat would or are they just really aloof, like a fish?

Most spiders really aren't bright animals at all. Tarantulas do not appear to recognize people, though I do have some that will actually voluntarily walk out onto my hand without coaxing, and seem to enjoy just sitting on my hand, probably due to the warmth. They have horrible eyesight, in spite of having eight eyes(really TEENY eyes), and are pretty much instinct-driven animals. It doesn't bother them at all if you never handle them, as long as they get fed, lol!

Now, JUMPING Spiders, on the other hand, are a whole different ball game, but keep in mind that even though tarantulas are spiders, they are classified as primitive spiders, while Jumpers are much more highly evolved. Comparing a tarantula to a Salticid(Jumper) is like comparing a 'possum to a Chimpanzee; yeah, they're both mammals with four limbs and lots of fur, but it's hard to find similarities when it comes to brain power! Jumping spiders have acute eyesight, and are capable of learning. Unlike my tarantulas, which just sit there when I come in or say anything, my two Jumpers(females, Phidippus audax and Phidippus regius, respectively) will actually turn to look at me and will jump to whichever side of their enclosure I put my finger on, so they definately respond to a person. Since no one else lives there but me, I really don't know how, or if, they'd react to someone else, or if they'd know the difference. Jumping Spiders are among the few animals, aside from humans, that can recognize their own reflections in a mirror, which indicates a sense of "self" that most animals do not possess. Even my brightest dogs, for instance, still reacted to their reflection as if it was another dog, usually be trying to attack it, or at least walk behind it to sniff its rear end, and were quite surprised that they couldn't find the rest of the dog! A Jumping Spider will react to another Jumper by either attacking it, or trying to court it, but will actually sit and watch their own reflection, turning this way and that, as though "stylin' and profilin'", admiring their appearance, or will just quickly get bored and scurry away. They seem to know that this is not another spider. I wish that Jumpers got the size of tarantulas; with their personality, that would make a great pet! As it is, even a big one is too tiny to actually pet without squashing it. Jumpers also have a very complex system of communicating, using gestures of their front legs, and can learn to immitate gestures of a computer-generated spider on a screen in labratory tests. We just haven't cracked their code, yet.

pitbulllady