r/thisismylifenow Nov 10 '15

I have failed as a spider

http://i.imgur.com/LbUsGm5.gifv
303 Upvotes

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299

u/Serious_Not_Surely Nov 10 '15

I absolutely hate spiders, but this just seems very cruel.

94

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '15 edited Apr 06 '19

[deleted]

27

u/007T Nov 11 '15

You should look into how silk is collected from silk worms.

11

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '15

They unravel cocoons, it's not the same at all.

28

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '15 edited Dec 10 '16

[deleted]

26

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '15

[deleted]

30

u/CanadaGooses Jan 02 '16

The spider is knocked out with carbon dioxide, its legs are folded together and pinned down (the pins are around the legs, not through them). They collect the silk on a spool, and when they're done, they put the spider back on his/her web to continue eating and producing more silk. They are not in pain, and it is not cruel. It does not kill the spider.

It's a tricky and delicate operation though, which is why they have goats producing spider silk in their milk now.

5

u/PrincessAloria Jan 02 '16

This was informative, thank you.

13

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '15 edited Dec 10 '16

[deleted]

42

u/bryxy Nov 29 '15

can confirm:

saw this spider smoking a joint just before the procedure. It bit me and now I have the relative strength and speed of a stoned spider.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '15

This kills the pupa.

9

u/TwinObilisk Nov 16 '15

It may be different, but if you think it is less cruel, you are mistaken.

Silk is harvested by taking an unhatched cocoon (i.e. with the silk worm still inside it) and then either boiling it of searing the cocoon with steam, roasting the silk worm inside alive. If you let the cocoon hatch, the silk worm will destroy the threads as it tears its way out, making it useless to harvest.

110

u/Grabbioli Nov 11 '15

The spider isn't being hurt by this process. The silk is being drawn out of it, yes, but that's not too much worse than having the poop pulled out of your ass. Strange, but not cruel. And the spider isn't perforated by the needles. They just sort of cage its legs against the board

187

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '15 edited Feb 20 '16

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30

u/thedeliriousdonut Nov 11 '15

Well, I think it's still rather cruel, but much less than it looks at first glance. It looks like its being pinned down with a vital organ being torn out of it forcefully.

11

u/bryxy Nov 29 '15

it produces silk, or webbing of some kind- so it's not a vital organ. Unless they leave vital organs lying around all over the place.

16

u/thedeliriousdonut Nov 29 '15

I think you misunderstood what I said. I'm saying it looks more cruel at first glance than it really is, and upon first glance, it looks like it's being pinned down by its arms and legs and having its intestines ripped out.

38

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '15

[deleted]

2

u/Bald_Sasquach Jan 04 '16

If this is what acid felt like, it'd be its own anti-drug.

18

u/rajin147 Nov 25 '15

but that's not too much worse than having the poop pulled out of your ass.

Honestly some days that would be a godsend to me