Dimorphic Jumper

Emma, I appreciate your concern for the animal and I want you to know that I would never purposely hurt one. On the other hand, your treatment of the human animal leaves a lot to be desired. I don't appreciate your coming on here and scolding me as if I was your child. You could have researched first and then politely questioned me about my methodology. You could also have stated your concerns in a polite manner as if you were an adult talking to another adult. You have the right to disagree with my methodology and say that you were worried about the safety of the animal but I'm new here and jumping right in and telling me what I am not supposed to do is bossy, childish and rude. My feelings are hurt very easily so try getting to know someone before you say that they are "an unfeeling and selfish individual" and try having a conversation with someone and not just snap out commands. Having said that, I was concerned that some of my "clinical" photos were not appropriate for this particular site, I also post on an entomological site and these may be more appropriate for that setting, but thought that I would give it a try. If the owners of the site want me to remove them for that reason I will do so with no hard feelings and only post my photos taken in a natural setting. I don't think it is your call though. As far as stress is concerned, I gently get the critter to climb into a small container, being very careful not to hurt it and trying very hard not to stress it. As far as hurting the spider by putting it in the refrigerator, I live in Michigan and we get temperatures well below freezing, so chilling invertebrates happens in nature. Insects are cold-blooded, which means that their body temperature rises and falls with the outside temperature. Insects that don't migrate enter a dormant stage during winter conditions and they produce special "anti-freeze" chemicals to stop themselves from freezing. These chemicals are called polyhydroxy alcohols and they work with other components (thermal hysteresis proteins) to prevent ice forming. The "anti-freeze" chemicals are found in both freeze tolerant and freeze intolerant invertebrates. The refrigerator is much warmer than our winter freeze and the spider is not hurt. It does slow down with the decrease in temperature but warms up quickly. The chill also helps so that they don't stress out. One little thing, nowhere does it state that "you are not to touch the wild life". I will send a message to the ones running the program and ask if they would like me to remove the photos. It may well be that they ask me to remove them but I don't think they will say I am unfeeling or selfish. I have no problem removing them if they feel they are inappropriate for what they are trying to do with Project Noah. You should message them with your concerns, also, as should anyone that has problems with it. You are always free to express your concerns to the appropriate people and let them handle things. I kindly ask that you keep your complaints out of the comment section for my photos, in other words, if you don't have something good to say don't say anything at all. Thank you, Sharon

Thanks so much, Karen. Can you believe this is the same species as the first one I posted :)