| Author | Message | ||
     Danger_dave |
Sitting on my bike seat this morning. A Weta.  Cool critters - once you get to know them. | ||
| Boney95 |
That thing is nasty! Reminds me of these jumping spider things we had in the basement when I was a kid. Let's just say I never went down to the basement. | ||
| Danger_dave |
It's interesting coming from Aus - where pretty much everything is deadly poisonous - to NZ where everything - except the Aussie imports - is harmless. I was freaked by the Wetas at first, now I like 'em and handle them. They are actually a protected species. | ||
| Brumbear |
and quite tasty when carmelized and let to air cool | ||
| Danger_dave |
What we need - is a great big melting pot - and we could turn out toffee coloured bugs for folks to score. | ||
| Brumbear |
 | ||
| Ourdee |
Protein is good. | ||
| Road_thing |
Looks like they'd be good stewed with okra... rt | ||
| Jaimec |
That's a female. Just did some reading up on them. Pretty cool! Closest thing I guess we have in this country would be the Mormon Cricket:  | ||
| Danger_dave |
Cool - Mine was just a small one - a pal sent me this one in Hamilton.  | ||
| Edgydrifter |
...and that would be the exact moment that I'd blow a porthole through my wall with a 12-guage slug. Holy smokes! Please tell me those suckers don't move quickly. | ||
| Danger_dave |
He just confided that is a $500 metal sculpture. Suckered I guess. | ||
| Edgydrifter |
Whew. I've seen weta on TV before, but nothing that ginormous. As a motorcyclist, I'd just thank my lucky stars that they don't fly. Er... they don't fly, right? | ||
| Danger_dave |
I don't think they fly - for a brown guy. | ||
| Jaimec |
They're wingless, just like our Mormon crickets. Fortunately, they aren't a pest like the Mormon cricket. Then again, when Mormon crickets swarm, they're gathered and roasted over a fire and are considered a native American delicacy... | ||
| Preybird1 |
YUK! Wow if they could fly them little horned bits would really hurt! A large bumblebee hit me on the neck at 60mph man it hurt so bad for 2 hours!! | ||
| Diablobrian |
That weta looks like what they modeled the "Edgar-alien/bug" after from the first Men in Black movie. Something about the proportions and shape of the head bring it to mind. | ||
| Jaimec |
I once took a June Beetle in the Adam's apple at highway speed. I BARELY made it over to the shoulder to stop till I could stop gagging. CHRIST that hurt!! And the little bugger hit me right below the neck flap of my helmet and just above the collar of my riding suit, on the half inch of exposed skin there!! Amazing accuracy... Hope the little ****er died afterwards! Damned things are like rocks with wings! |
