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-   -   How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/australia-54/how-many-huntsmen-have-you-had-your-home-suburban-melbourne-brisbane-898247/)

ABD79 Jun 19th 2017 2:41 pm

How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 
Hello!
I've posted before but wanted to ask a more direct question regarding spiders! Possibly relocating and looks like we have the choice between Australia, Canada and the US. Australia wins for us given the climate but I have a real and very intense spider phobia (lucky me!) It's the small ugly ones and the very large ones that I'm particularly bad with. Normal small spiders (1-2 cm including legs at most) I can cope with even though they make me shudder. But I can suck them up with the vacuum! 3-4 cm and we're starting to go into problem territory with me :-/ A small (1-2cm) poisonous spider bothers me far less (go figure) than 3+ cm spiders.
So, my question is...
1) How many huntsmen exactly has everybody had in their homes over their time there? Or other spiders that are maybe 4cm plus?
2) How many of you have found spiders inside your car?
My phobia could literally keep us from relocating to Aus. And yes, I will get hypnosis and go on a desensitisation course but I'm not holding out hope as my fear is so deep seeded :-/ Thank you!:)

scot47 Jun 19th 2017 2:44 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 
Is this a wind-up ?

spouse of scouse Jun 19th 2017 2:49 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by ABD79 (Post 12276243)
Hello!
I've posted before but wanted to ask a more direct question regarding spiders! Possibly relocating and looks like we have the choice between Australia, Canada and the US. Australia wins for us given the climate but I have a real and very intense spider phobia (lucky me!) It's the small ugly ones and the very large ones that I'm particularly bad with. Normal small spiders (1-2 cm at most) I can cope with even though they make me shudder. But I can suck them up with the vacuum! 3-4 cm and we're starting to go into problem territory with me :-/ A small (1-2cm) poisonous spider bothers me far less (go figure) than 3+ cm spiders.
So, my question is...
1) How many huntsmen exactly has everybody had in their homes over their time there? Or other spiders that are maybe 4cm plus?
2) How many of you have found spiders inside your car?
My phobia could literally keep us from relocating to Aus. And yes, I will get hypnosis and go on a desensitisation course but I'm not holding out hope as my fear is so deep seeded :-/ Thank you!:)

Hi. My blunt but well meaning advice is that you need to stay in the UK. Your phobia sounds very deep seated and if you really think about it and are honest with yourself, hearing how many spiders the odd person out of over 20 million did or didn't see is not going to change a thing.

You've posted quite a bit about how good life is where you are, so it's not going to be a hardship to stay. You've also posted how you want your children to experience another country - they're not going to thrive if they have a nervous wreck for a mum.

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but as I say, it's well meaning and I think sensible advice. Look around you, be thankful for the life you have and are able to provide your children, and get on with having a great life :starsmile:

Pollyana Jun 19th 2017 4:43 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by ABD79 (Post 12276243)
Hello!
I've posted before but wanted to ask a more direct question regarding spiders! Possibly relocating and looks like we have the choice between Australia, Canada and the US. Australia wins for us given the climate but I have a real and very intense spider phobia (lucky me!) It's the small ugly ones and the very large ones that I'm particularly bad with. Normal small spiders (1-2 cm including legs at most) I can cope with even though they make me shudder. But I can suck them up with the vacuum! 3-4 cm and we're starting to go into problem territory with me :-/ A small (1-2cm) poisonous spider bothers me far less (go figure) than 3+ cm spiders.
So, my question is...
1) How many huntsmen exactly has everybody had in their homes over their time there? Or other spiders that are maybe 4cm plus?
2) How many of you have found spiders inside your car?
My phobia could literally keep us from relocating to Aus. And yes, I will get hypnosis and go on a desensitisation course but I'm not holding out hope as my fear is so deep seeded :-/ Thank you!:)

If you are this scared, you either need to find a way of dealing with the fear, or just stay away. Get a good hoover. get spray cans. Put a can in each room in easy reach, hoover often. Get a mini-hoover and keep it handy. Have an automatic spray thingy - I have one to zap the flies, it gives a zap of spray every 20 minutes, and no fly has lived longer than 30 minutes in my flat in the last 3 years!

1)In 18 years .....2 huntsmen, both in the bush in Tasmania. 1 minute redback, that I only knew was one cos the guy with me pointed it out - that was out in the sticks at a motor racing track i Queensland.
2)None. Hmmmm ok, I admit I don;t have a car ;):sneaky:

I'm not belittling your fear. I understand fear of spiders, as I've said before, because my sister suffers badly but you have to stop it ruling your life and your decisions. Understand your fear, confront it, ruleit. Don't let it rule you.

My worst fear? Fire. Trapped in a fire, dying in a fire. Pure Terror at the thought. Frozen to the spot. I am scaring myself typing it. Where do I live? In a country that has the worst bushfires imaginable. In a wooden unit surrounded by trees. Who do I work for? The Fire Service. That is how I cope. I confront it, I use logic, I weigh up the risks.
People tell me I will not have to deal with a bushfire. In my rational moments I know they are right.
Weigh up the risks. Prepare. Mitigate. YOU will not have to deal with poisonous spiders here. You can zap them, exclude them. Suck them up the hoover.
Australia will throw many many nasty things at you and challenge you and make you think WTF am I here. But I bet that 99.9999% of the reasons you scream that will have nothing to do with spiders (or any other kind of wildlife). Just as 99.9999% of the reasons I scream it are nothing to do with fire.

======================================

If you have the strength to move yourself and your family to a new country on the other side of the world, and create a whole new life for yourselves, and be happy here, then you have the strength to poke your tongue out at any passing spider :cool:

Pollyana Jun 19th 2017 4:49 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by spouse of scouse (Post 12276252)
Hi. My blunt but well meaning advice is that you need to stay in the UK. Your phobia sounds very deep seated and if you really think about it and are honest with yourself, hearing how many spiders the odd person out of over 20 million did or didn't see is not going to change a thing.

You've posted quite a bit about how good life is where you are, so it's not going to be a hardship to stay. You've also posted how you want your children to experience another country - they're not going to thrive if they have a nervous wreck for a mum.

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but as I say, it's well meaning and I think sensible advice. Look around you, be thankful for the life you have and are able to provide your children, and get on with having a great life :starsmile:

OP DO NOT READ THIS!!!!

Worst spider infestation I have seen? I visited Tassie in 2000. Flew back, opened my holdall in my flat in Brighton, next morning the whole place was full of effing whitetail spiders. Lots of insect spray and a good hoover later the place was clear, but when I sent my then OH a photo (he was in Hobart) he said, yep, white tails, they must have gone home with you!
I have not seen one in Aus to this day, only in Brighton :rofl::rofl:

ABD79 Jun 19th 2017 5:23 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 12276313)
If you are this scared, you either need to find a way of dealing with the fear, or just stay away. Get a good hoover. get spray cans. Put a can in each room in easy reach, hoover often. Get a mini-hoover and keep it handy. Have an automatic spray thingy - I have one to zap the flies, it gives a zap of spray every 20 minutes, and no fly has lived longer than 30 minutes in my flat in the last 3 years!

1)In 18 years .....2 huntsmen, both in the bush in Tasmania. 1 minute redback, that I only knew was one cos the guy with me pointed it out - that was out in the sticks at a motor racing track i Queensland.
2)None. Hmmmm ok, I admit I don;t have a car ;):sneaky:

I'm not belittling your fear. I understand fear of spiders, as I've said before, because my sister suffers badly but you have to stop it ruling your life and your decisions. Understand your fear, confront it, ruleit. Don't let it rule you.

My worst fear? Fire. Trapped in a fire, dying in a fire. Pure Terror at the thought. Frozen to the spot. I am scaring myself typing it. Where do I live? In a country that has the worst bushfires imaginable. In a wooden unit surrounded by trees. Who do I work for? The Fire Service. That is how I cope. I confront it, I use logic, I weigh up the risks.
People tell me I will not have to deal with a bushfire. In my rational moments I know they are right.
Weigh up the risks. Prepare. Mitigate. YOU will not have to deal with poisonous spiders here. You can zap them, exclude them. Suck them up the hoover.
Australia will throw many many nasty things at you and challenge you and make you think WTF am I here. But I bet that 99.9999% of the reasons you scream that will have nothing to do with spiders (or any other kind of wildlife). Just as 99.9999% of the reasons I scream it are nothing to do with fire.

======================================

If you have the strength to move yourself and your family to a new country on the other side of the world, and create a whole new life for yourselves, and be happy here, then you have the strength to poke your tongue out at any passing spider :cool:


Amazing reply, thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I am really interested in what you mean by, "Australia will throw many many nasty things at you and challenge you and make you think WTF am I here. But I bet that 99.9999% of the reasons you scream that will have nothing to do with spiders (or any other kind of wildlife)." Would love to know more just out of sheer curiosity. But as for your reply about my fear of spiders and sharing your fear of fires and how you cope, well you've managed in one post to make me feel stronger than my fear than all the other replies I have got on this site about spiders in Australia. Thank you so, so much!!! If I could do a heart emoji on here I would! x

ABD79 Jun 19th 2017 5:30 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 12276317)
OP DO NOT READ THIS!!!!

Worst spider infestation I have seen? I visited Tassie in 2000. Flew back, opened my holdall in my flat in Brighton, next morning the whole place was full of effing whitetail spiders. Lots of insect spray and a good hoover later the place was clear, but when I sent my then OH a photo (he was in Hobart) he said, yep, white tails, they must have gone home with you!
I have not seen one in Aus to this day, only in Brighton :rofl::rofl:

Oh great so basically what you're saying is one day I might turn on the news to find that in fact you didn't manage to kill them all and a couple escaped and bred and now the UK has an infestation:) Thanks!:) That sounds hideous though!!! I don't know where exactly Tassie is but it's safe to say I think I'll steer clear:) That kind of thing is literally my worst nightmare...just going about your business and BOOM masses of spiders everywhere. On another thread someone did post a video of literally thousands of spiders falling out of an air conditioning unit. THOUSANDS. In huge clumps like black snowballs they fell and then scattered everywhere. I see things like that, or read your story, and I think "is this what happens there? Is this life in Australia? For everyone?" It does fuel my fear I have to say!

Pollyana Jun 19th 2017 5:54 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by ABD79 (Post 12276338)
Amazing reply, thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I am really interested in what you mean by, "Australia will throw many many nasty things at you and challenge you and make you think WTF am I here. But I bet that 99.9999% of the reasons you scream that will have nothing to do with spiders (or any other kind of wildlife)." Would love to know more just out of sheer curiosity. But as for your reply about my fear of spiders and sharing your fear of fires and how you cope, well you've managed in one post to make me feel stronger than my fear than all the other replies I have got on this site about spiders in Australia. Thank you so, so much!!! If I could do a heart emoji on here I would! x

I hope I have helped a little :)

The 99.9999%...... well, some posters will tell you I am no great lover of this country, but I do try and get people to see the reality. not negative, not positive just real.
So the 99.9999% has nothing to do with insects (though I hate roaches with a passion) - once you are here you will not be fretting about spiders. You will be worrying about (for instance) how do i do my tax return, where do i buy decent furniture, how do i afford to fly home and see the family, who looks after the kids in school holidays, why has the country stopped because of a sodding horse race, what the heck is a state of origin match, why can't Queenslanders say MAROOOOON properly, why do people believe daylight saving means the day is 25 hours long instead of 24, and the chickens will not lay eggs if you change the clocks, WHY IS IT SO EFFING HUMID so I can't sleep and am drinking wine out of a box at 3am, why do Aussies not speak English, where can I buy decent chocolate..... what am I doing here?

When you move to a new country, the whole centre of your life changes. You find yourself standing in a shopping mall (not a shopping centre) thinking 'I need to buy a light bulb' - after an hour you discover which shop might produce such a thing, only its called a 'globe' which is why you have spent an hour getting weird looks from people when you ask them for help!
You learn how to pay to see a doctor (or not, cos you have no job, so no money)
You learn that wages are different (fortnightly not monthly) that you state pension will be means tested, that you must do a tax return every year and you might get a huge bill as a result.
Spiders? you will not have time to think about them :)

I have to say I like your approach. You seem to be going for a realistic view, and in spite of the spiders are trying to learn about the place. The one tip I will give you is to spend hours on this forum, go back, back and back into the older threads and read everything. Because a few yars ago we had a hugely active forum with a lot of people just chatting about life here. And thats what you need to read.

Pollyana Jun 19th 2017 5:59 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by ABD79 (Post 12276348)
Oh great so basically what you're saying is one day I might turn on the news to find that in fact you didn't manage to kill them all and a couple escaped and bred and now the UK has an infestation:) Thanks!:) That sounds hideous though!!! I don't know where exactly Tassie is but it's safe to say I think I'll steer clear:) That kind of thing is literally my worst nightmare...just going about your business and BOOM masses of spiders everywhere. On another thread someone did post a video of literally thousands of spiders falling out of an air conditioning unit. THOUSANDS. In huge clumps like black snowballs they fell and then scattered everywhere. I see things like that, or read your story, and I think "is this what happens there? Is this life in Australia? For everyone?" It does fuel my fear I have to say!

STOP WATCHING SPIDER VIDEOS.

I am scared of fire. I do not watch fire videos.

Tassie is Tasmania, beautiful, stunning, wild island at the southern end of Australia. if you like Wales, Scotland, the Lake district, you will adore Tassie.


That is why I live in Aus. So I can go to Tassie.

spouse of scouse Jun 19th 2017 6:58 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 12276317)
OP DO NOT READ THIS!!!!

Worst spider infestation I have seen? I visited Tassie in 2000. Flew back, opened my holdall in my flat in Brighton, next morning the whole place was full of effing whitetail spiders. Lots of insect spray and a good hoover later the place was clear, but when I sent my then OH a photo (he was in Hobart) he said, yep, white tails, they must have gone home with you!
I have not seen one in Aus to this day, only in Brighton :rofl::rofl:

Oh dear! That was a nice end to your Tassie jaunt :eek:

I'm sitting in my courtyard on the Wirral, it's been hot today (yes it has!). Our 'pet' spider is sitting in its web next to me, wafting around on the breeze. It has a solid black body, about the size of a 10p piece, and I've grown quite fond of it :cool:

ABD79 Jun 19th 2017 8:13 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by spouse of scouse (Post 12276401)
Oh dear! That was a nice end to your Tassie jaunt :eek:

I'm sitting in my courtyard on the Wirral, it's been hot today (yes it has!). Our 'pet' spider is sitting in its web next to me, wafting around on the breeze. It has a solid black body, about the size of a 10p piece, and I've grown quite fond of it :cool:


Well that's easy to say when you don't have a phobia:) I'd LOVE to feel that way about spiders. I'd love to. Wow, life would be so much easier! We'd have probably been living over there for a couple of years already:):):)

ABD79 Jun 19th 2017 8:24 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by spouse of scouse (Post 12276401)
Oh dear! That was a nice end to your Tassie jaunt :eek:

I'm sitting in my courtyard on the Wirral, it's been hot today (yes it has!). Our 'pet' spider is sitting in its web next to me, wafting around on the breeze. It has a solid black body, about the size of a 10p piece, and I've grown quite fond of it :cool:


What time is it there? Just out of curiosity, (not paranoia or anything like that!) but I was wondering what time it might be because I always had visions of as the sun was going down, everyone going inside before the mosquitoes, and whatever else comes flying around, come out and plague you:)

spouse of scouse Jun 19th 2017 8:25 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by ABD79 (Post 12276440)
Well that's easy to say when you don't have a phobia:) I'd LOVE to feel that way about spiders. I'd love to. Wow, life would be so much easier! We'd have probably been living over there for a couple of years already:):):)

It was neither easy nor difficult to say, I was just having a chat with Pollyanna. It's a public forum, people often chat with others they know.

If by 'over there' you mean Australia, I don't live there :)

ABD79 Jun 19th 2017 8:57 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 12276370)
STOP WATCHING SPIDER VIDEOS.

I am scared of fire. I do not watch fire videos.

Tassie is Tasmania, beautiful, stunning, wild island at the southern end of Australia. if you like Wales, Scotland, the Lake district, you will adore Tassie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meO1Z68yERg

That is why I live in Aus. So I can go to Tassie.


That does look beautiful! Must be a wonderful feeling to have been able to visit there and see some of the amazing places out that way. I try not to watch spider videos:) I try to make myself think though that if I can get used to watching them then that's a step in the right direction...and HOPEFULLY I'd never come across anything quite as horrific as in the videos so perhaps what I do see I migh cope with slightly better. Maybe:) Probably not but you never know:)
You write very well by the way. You should write a blog of your adventures out there and what it's like to live there...I'd read it!:) You've definitely got a way with words that would make people want to read.
By the way, looking at houses I was surprised how few people actually have swimming pools. Do you know why? Do the spiders and snakes that might find their way in put people off perhaps? I couldn't figure out why. I thought most people would have one out there, (at least if they had children). I was surprised too that they don't do what they do in Florida which is to have a pool and seating area in a giant screened room type thing. No glass, just massive screens that run half way up the house and a screened roof on it. I thought Australia could do with that more than Florida but just about everyone in Florida who has a pool seems to have these. Anyaway, just curious:)

BadgeIsBack Jun 19th 2017 9:05 pm

Re: How many Huntsmen have you had in your home in suburban Melbourne/Brisbane?
 
We probably get a Huntsman once a year.

Just appear. We have a red back that lives in a bush out the front door. One lived in my wife's car (boot sill?)but she is kind to animals (he he) and left it alone for months.

She refuses to kill flies.


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