The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

An extract:

"Huntsman Spider

A full-grown huntsman spider can be as big as an adult hand. The spider typically has a crab-like set of legs and can sprint up walls and across ceilings with surprising speed. Huntsmen are known to bite and may cause mild local pain. etc etc etc"


well F**K THAT!!!!!

I purchased the above book from Sandown at the weekend. I read the above extract and nearly crapped my pants!!!!

Just to recap "can be as big as an adult hand. The spider typically has a crab-like set of legs and can sprint up walls and across ceilings with surprising speed"

HOLY S**T

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Think of all the horrible insects they eat though!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

i dont give a sh** mate - big as a human hand!!!! (and i forgot to mention they are hairy). after i read it i sat all night looking at the size of my husbands hands and nearly started to cry!!!! and they can sprint!!! not as bloody fast as me they cant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :scared:

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

They really are harmless, and they have lots of bonuses, like - they eat cockroaches which are far more yucky. (I am setting up a Huntsman Post at the door of our new house to keep out the cockies!!!! )
The first couple you see are scary cos they are so big, they make you jump; after that things improve, though they still make you start a bit if you aren't expecting to see them. Biggest one I have seen was in the bathroom on enight after I had prayed to God to eliminate our roach problem somehow....walked in the bathroom and I swear the spider waved at me from its perch on the side of the bath. It was easily the size of a side plate - bread and butter plate, sort of size. Ate the roaches and left, not seen spider or and Yuckies since...... :)

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

OMG!!!!! :scared: :scared: :scared:

I am lost for words!!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

It has been a learning experience for us too. I was always taught to kill anything that didn't belong in the house, so that meant spiders, insects, anything.

Here, I've been slowly getting more tolerant. Geckos (or chit-chats) are now good, in moderation. I haven't seen a huntsman yet, and I really hate spiders, but I will try and convince myself its good when I see one.

Roaches on the other hand, are, and always will be bastards, and the brave Mrs JTL stamps on them and squishes them. I'm not good with insects :rolleyes: But they do all deserve to die.

Its all new and interesting, I hear rats scurring around in the garage roof these days, thats my next bit of 'interesting work'

Cheers,
JTL

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Hi there,
do u get huntmen spiders in sydney?
cheers

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Pollyanna

Whereabout in Oz are you living ?

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Polly Dont forget they also JUMP.

When I was over your way a couple of years ago one litterally jumoed after me down the path.

Weird how unafraid of spiders you get isn't it, I was petrified of spiders in the UK and now they are all my little friends. We have massive golden orbs in our garden they look so scary but then I look at the big trail of dead fly and mossie carcasses behind them so I wave at them everytime I go past and tell them what a good job they are doing. Same with red backs, loads in my garden but they are so dopey that they wouldn't know how to bite if they tried, they also look realy really good.

Honestly dont worry the mossies, sandflies and cockroaches are much more of a problem and they realy do piss you off.

Kala

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Yes

Huntsman spiders

Sleep well, don't have nightmares :eek:

Cheers,
JTL

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

NOWHERE IS SAFE!!!!!! :scared: :scared: ;)

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/austra...Z279_F2649.jpg

D D

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Holy Mother of God - size of a plate!! im sure i would faint

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Hi

when we got the keys to our rental, we thought we'd clean prior to moving in!

We walked through the front door and I went straight to open the sitting room blinds and let in some daylight, I opened the 1st blind - stood back and saw something wrapped in the muslin curtains like a shroud! :scared: :scared: I screamed, laughed, cried, screamed, shook, cried - then my husband appeared with a broom and bucket and took the dear 'little' spider out to the back of the garden.

Ten minutes later I was walking through the hall with a brand new bathroom cleaner spray, when there was a strange, strangled, high pitch scream - my husband had picked up a couple of buckets left in the hall and had been bitten on a finger (he must have squashed the Huntsmans head or something), the buckets went flying, the air turned Blue and I jumped so much that I the cleaner top flew off and the liquid squirted up the hall walls!! :eek:

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

hi DollyDaydream,
please tell me that your picture is a plastic spider, or i wont sleep for weeks-months-years
please put me out of my misery-its not real surely?
OMG

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

HOLY F**KING SHITE

no way, forget it. keep it, shuv it im staying put. i thought you only saw those on tv!!!!! its straight from harry potter!!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Oh My God!!!!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

I'm in Brisbane, you get them in all the eastern states, and as far as I know in WA and SA as well. The first ones I saw were in Tassie - just as big.
Their favourite trick.......hiding behind the sunvisor in the car; you pull the visor down, spider lands in your lap. I had a mate in Hobart who after 20 years still checked the visor every time he got in the car :eek:

First one I saw.......lying in a backpackers bunk in Tas, looked up at the base of the bunk above me....and there it was, saucer size. I remember thinking "Oh F***, I've seen my first one, get me outta here!!!!"

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

It's real, just think of it as a mouse or something.

Kala

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Someone did tell me once that the spiders in Arachnophobia were Huntsmen; and I'm sure the Harry Potter ones are digitally-enlarged ones.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks and im also having asthma attack!!!! help *gasp*

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Yep I came across one of those Huntsman one night after I been to the pub in Brisbane. Didn't know what to make of it. Fair scared the shit out of me. I through a glass ashtray at it, clipped its leg (more like a claw) and the bloody thing just stared at me as if to say "what the hell you think you're doing"

I ran to my room and locked the door and had great difficulty sleeping that night, I can tell you. True story.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

defo harry potter spiders. our daughters freaked at that part of the film - how on earth am i going to explain........

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Must admit I am not a spider fan, and I will ALWAYS be checking my sun visor before I get in the car!

You must get used to them after a while though surely?

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Well, if its all the same to you, I'll still kill the redbacks, I don't care how 'dopey' or attractive you think they are

Redbacks

No thanks, if wasps deserve to die, then redbacks deserves to die 10 times over. :mad:

Cheers,
JTL

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

I heard that too, and yep we definately get them here in WA.

The thing that stops you from being scared is that they are sooo big they look more like mammals then insects, I really wouldnt be able to kill one even if I was still scared.

Kala

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

oh my god - that is it - NO F**KING WAY!!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

threlly

'Fraid not. It's the real thing. And just to let you know, I had my first session with a behavioural therapist yesterday to help me cope with them. I am utterly terrified (as a lot on here are). I trapped a spider for the first time yesterday (which is a big deal for me). It was only a small one, but it's a start. Only problem is that the beaker I used on it wouldn't come close to covering a huntsman - perhaps a bucket would be better :eek: - but I really doubt whether I could get that close to it!!!! (You cant squish them coz they make such a mess!).

D D

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

They're probably too big to squish under foot anyway!!!!!!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

D D

I am so glad I have just had my lunch, otherwise I would have been well put off, actually, I think I may bring it back!!!

I have a huge fear of spiders, I do not know how I will cope if we do make the big move! I have been to oz twice now, I was not as paranoid on visit 2. I did see a huntsman on my first visit, but none to my knowledge on the second trip!

For our first couple of nights in Oz, I could not sleep, the house we stayed in had polished floorboards and I used to dream at night the spiders were coming up through the floorboards, sometimes I would lie there in the dark waiting for dawn to come so I could escape the darkness and room full of spiders I had imagined were surrounding me!!!!

As I scrolled down I caught the top bit of your photo, I could not bring myself to continue to move down and look at the whole photo, eventually after much muttering to myself I have looked.......I am just off to find a toilet roll to actually see in reality how big it was.

Please tell me toilet rolls in Oz are 10 times the size of the ones we get in the UK!!!!

Regards

Nikki

P.S. What are Gekhos (will I be sorry I asked....??)

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Dont get me wrong they can kill you so once I have had a good look I squish it good and propper but they aren't fast moving, I poke them off the fence all the time to show the backpackers and they dont move an inch once down, I also never see one just goin for a wander they just sit in there little hidey hole all the time.

My Father in law picks them up and then squishes them, bloody mad farmer bloke, he also chases king browns with a shovel :scared: :eek: :scared: :eek: :scared:

Kala

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

oh God - i cant cope with that, i really cant. we have 2 daughters - they will be traumatised!!!!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

I think you do. I've seen 5 or 6, they make me say "OMG" and stop short, but the last one - in the bathroom - didn't make me shriek, and I just left it there. The thing to do is remember they are harmless, just big, and they eat things that are nasty - like roaches.
Check the sunvisor cos the shock of it landing on you will make you jump, but thats all it is, the shock value. Whenever I think of them now, I think "Bye bye nasty germridden flying roaches" - they are worse, believe me. Throw one of those at your daughter, Rooksie, she'll go to bed cuddling a Huntsman. :)

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

im on the verge of tears - i cant believe you are so calm. im shi**ing bricks already.

i cant believe you left the one in your bathroom - that would beg the question "where the hell is he now?" oh my god oh my god oh my god.

and if one fell on my lap id be on the next plane back to UK i just know it.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

You mean ten times smaller.....

Gekhos are small (most of the time) wall climbing lizards that make a strange clicking sound.....



Please tell me toilet rolls in Oz are 10 times the size of the ones we get in the UK!!!!

Regards

Nikki

P.S. What are Gekhos (will I be sorry I asked....??)[/QUOTE]

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

I've never seen or heard of a huntsman in perth. Only those pesky little redbacks. Its the funnel webs in sydney and blue mountains etc u got to watch. those suckers can kill u. they creep into ur home and love to snooze in ur shoes overnight. so check ya footwear before u put them on.!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Geckos are really cute little lizards - we get loads on the outsides of the windows at night when the lights are on, they chase the moths.

And OK, I have counted - 3 Huntsman in Tas, 3 in Brisbane - thats during 6 holidays backpacking in Tas, and 17 months living here. And 2 of the 3 times we have had them in the house here, we had a big roach problem - they were looking for food. No roaches now = no spiders.

Don't panic.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

I have same approach as that here in the UK.....hence why our cat never comes in !...........

Can some cat lover tell me why it is "clean and ok" to have a cats nose that has been out smelling ours and our neighbours rubbish, wheelie bins, other cats "spray", other cats arses, dog poo, cat poo, you name it......walking around my kitchen and lounge ?.........without first cleaning it ?.......

I'd sooner have a house of Huntsmans than a cat !!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

thanks so much everyone - im so glad i started this thread. i seem to have lost the power of speech and my mouth feels dry. :scared: just looked in the mirror and ive gone very white all of a sudden.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Definately huntsman in Perth, seen a few so far but mostly in out of the way places...seen a number of red backs and loads of Black Window spiders.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Never knew a redback could kill ya. Never heard of anyone dying from a redback bite here. The one place they love to nest in and will bite u if u rnt careful, is in ur letterbox. spray the insides of it regularly during warmer months.