Sagacity

...yesterday night. And the thing is, I didn't even notice the spider bite me - I only put two and two together a few hours later when I found two neat puncture marks on my hand and remembered a stinging sensation I felt when putting on some clothes.

This is not fair! I used to get so worked up about the whole spider thing before coming to Australia, imagining in painful detail a spider on me :scared:, actually biting me :scared:, etc.

It wasn't anything serious, probably just a whitetail or a house spider, but it was my first bite, and I remember hardly anything at all about it. They say that only about 50% of spiders in Australia are actually classified, and the rest are not yet known to science, so maybe it was a memory zapping spider

Timber Floor Au

is u sure ?? lol

arkon

I got bitten by a white tailed one 3 weeks or so ago and although it didn't hurt my thumb still has a big 1 inch square brown discoluration almost like a cross between a bruise and a tattoo. Its still there and not even fading after 3 weeks. Good job it didnt get me on the nose!

mr mover

Amazing all you poms getting bit by spiders , i,ve been here 40 years never been bit yet... lucky i guess ............ mm

Sagacity

Yes, as much as I can be with half my memory gone

Sagacity

I'm not a pom

mr mover

Just unlucky then..... ........... mm

kris maynard

OMG just realised my daughter had somthing similar on the heel of her foot while we were in Corfu we never thought it could have been a spider!! :scared:
She was walking in grass near the pool there was a horse in the field behind came back 2 neat holes in her foot then turned into huge blood blister thing very painful for her she couldnt put any weight on it!!!

guess we will never know!!

kris x

mr mover

do a search on the "fiddleback spider"quiet common inthe MED......... mm

Tuxtrip

Given the choice, I would rather be bitten by a Redback than a Whitetail any day. At least with the Redback there is an anti-venom. Not so for the Whitetail. These little nasties can cause the flesh to rot and there have been quite a few people who have had to have toes, fingers and beyond amputated. The Whitetail is nomadic in that it doesn't spin a web and prefers to hunt its prey rather than wait for it to appear. In the West, its common prey has become the black house spider. It is not native to the West and is believed to have come from the rainforests of Queensland - probably in potplants or other items.
Please beware of this particular spider - it will get into your clothes and shoes - anywhere that may hold the promise of prey, and there will be no web to indicate its presence. If you have a bad reaction to a bite - swelling and discoloration - see a Doctor.

Sagacity

It may actually not be quite true - check out this link: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1246437.htm
And here's the study itself: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/...b10785_fm.html

artep

EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!! It will get into your clothes???? OMG I'll never dump my clothes on the floor again.....nope scrub that...I'll just have to avoid my clothes and walk round naked....that should be enough to scary any spider off :scared:

Sagacity

Yep, but it can get in the folds of your towel or between your bedsheets as well...

artep

well that's bloody it then......I'm off .......my flamin' bed's not safe now either!!!! Anyone got a pic of these swines?....geniune ones only please...not pics of ones wearing hobnail boots....I'm freaked enough thankyou

arkon

Well, I'd read that the white tail had some kind of skin necro poison that rotted your flesh abit like MRSA. The white tale is the only nasty one that I find comes indoors. And everyone is right they don't seem to have webs as I catch them hunting around the house with no particular objective in mind.
But my bite although wierd to look at was not sore or itchy. Just 2 close together holes that turned into a bump about 5mm round. Then the skin discoloured to a brown almost tanned look for a square shape on my thumb! All very strange but not as bad as the flesh eating poison I was expecting, or maybe I'm just immune to it.