denhim

i bet im not the only one on here who has arachnophobia. but for those of you living in australia, just how do you manage when you see them. i get the jitters just looking at pictures of them on the net as ive been trying to do a bit of research into the redback.
i know the huntsman is harmless but the size of the thing is enough to make a grown man scream like a little girl, ive not seen one for real but the photos are enough to know that they are big son of a b**ches.
anyone out there got any intersting stories about their encounters with these little or big 8 legged critters?

Mumto4

Hi,

Like you say the Huntsman looks more fierce than it is. I have never seen a funnel web, so can't comment on that (I believe they are found a lot around Sydney and I'm in Regional NSW). I have seen plenty of Redbacks though. They love the postbox for some reason and garages. In a previous house we were renting I was having a shower one morning when I spider came dandling down on a web right in front of me. It had got through the fan in the bathroom in the roof space. My husband was in work at the time (he's Australian and doesn't bother him) so I caught it in a jam jar and left it for him to deal with.

We get our house professionally sprayed for all creatures big and small every 12 months because we have 4 young children. Cockroaches are my worst fear as they are dirty things. Try to be caeful of leaving any food around the house. Always do the dishes before bedtime and pick up all crumbs off the floor or you'll be in trouble. Also your pets food can attract them. The flying one's you can't stop because they fly in the door when you open them at night. It's the small one's you have to watch because they breed so quickly.

Not as bad as peope make out really, so don't worry too much!

Mumto4

PS:

Watch out for bush ticks in long grassy areas - they can make you very ill if you get bit by one. Also your pets (dogs) need to be treated for ticks every few months as if they get bit it can paralyse them.

wolfens_wife

Any spiders that come into the house, I suck up the hoover. The problem is going to be if the spider is to big to suck up the hoover noozle!!
I watched a problem once where a woman stuck her foot in a slipper and got bitten by a funnel web and very nearly died. The huntsman spider is huge with two big bogglie eyes - are they found in all parts of OZ?
I've only ever seen these big furry things in the zoo or behind glass in pet shops... I dont know quite how Im going to react when we finally get to OZ, hubby is at work and kids are at school .... only to be faced with something gross on my wall!
If you have your house sprayed, is it effective?
what can red backs do to you if you are bitten?
What can you do to get over a fear of spiders before you get there?

Any info greatly appreciated.

mich.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

pupster

Having arrived here in melbourne in august i had heard loads of stories about spiders so woz quite worried...
All i can say is listen to what people tell you ...Dont pick up any you find anywhere...most will make you very ill if you are bitten..
While viewing a house the first week we were here i lent against a window and what i thought wos a wasp dropped down the arm of my jacket as i screamed running in circles to shake it out i felt the hottest sting and burning pain ever...
i went to the hospital and had seven viles of antivenom coz it wos no wasp but a redback and they said i had 12 - 18 hrs and i could have died.
So yes they bite and can kill but you have to be quite unlucky to incounter lots of them. spraying the house properly lasts up to 12 months but you will still find a few walking around.
My answer......just kill em. unless its a huntsman they keep away mosquietos...

Garland

Bristol Zoo do a seminar on "Living with Spiders"
Its for an evening an covers a talk, hypnosis and handling..if desired!! They are running some in March. You can reach them on 0117 9747369 or
[email protected]
see you there!

renth

What's the story with antivenom, I heard you can only be given it once, if you get bitten at a later date it won't work?

I hope it's not true.....

SteveBannister

The spiders aren't so much of a problem as the snakes eat a lot of them.

Oh yeah, watch out for the snakes !

Steve.

jockney

Hi,After a day visit to the barossa we called into friends who live in gawler,adelaide for an evening meal.Iam not to keen on any of the crawling species.After dinner we had to drive back to glenelg with my wife,neice and her boyfriend in the car.I was doing about 70 when my wife said she was going to be sick and to pull up on the side of the road quickly.What was really happening was a large huntsman clinging on to the window of the car,drivers blindside,I looked over my shoulder only to see the thing take what looked like 2 steps onto the roof of the car.I WAS SHITTING A BRICK and refused to open the car door as I had a vision of it landing on my head as I got out.My wife was very calm when she said she was going to be sick,she obviously new I would have thrown a wobbly and crashed the car had I seen it when I was driving,especially because in a flash I would not have realised it was on the outside!!I will have to get rid of this phobia need to sqish a few I think!! jockney:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

Jacqui

My sister lives in the bush, so she gets to see many more creepy crawlies than I do living in the city. Two days ago she pressed the remote for the garage roller door and was horrified to see a huntsman sitting on it as it rolled down! Yesterday she went to friends for dinner and encountered another one. They sprayed it with insect killer but that just made it run around really fast (they run sideways like crabs) until someone stamped on it. I know once she opened a cupboard door and one dropped down on her, she screamed until someone came to her rescue. She knows of someone who had one drop down into their lap while driving, it was under the sun visor, so if you're going to park the car under a tree for shade, don't leave any windows open!!

I found a redback in our house the week we moved in, so we put it in a jar to show the kids, make sure they knew exactly what they looked like - we also have a chart on the fridge with pictures and information on Oz venomous spiders and snakes. Get yourself an Oz first-aid book when you arrive, the UK ones don't cover emergencies with snake and spider bites. One of the rules in our house is to always check inside your shoes before putting them on - just as well too, last week there was a redback sitting inside my trainer, thank god I never put it on without checking. We took a photo of it then killed it by whacking it with the trainer.

We have plenty of cans of spray to zap all these little blighters with and there are heaps to choose from in the supermarket. We bought a surface-spray which last 6 months, to do all around the eves and doors and windows and anywhere else they could come in, but you can get it done professionally too. We have sprays to use indoors, quick-acting ones and longer-lasting ones to spray around the ceiling/wall edges and in the corners. Cockroaches scuttle off quick when you spray them so an insect catcher gadget or hoover is handy to have nearby! A handy thing to have is a cobweb broom, you'll see them in the stores, usually blue-coloured, better than an ordinary broom for sweeping the cobwebs away, ladies you will have to sweep your washing-line regularly to clear the webs away, and check you don't bring anything in with the washing, like the cockroach which hitched a lift on a tea-towel the other week and got crushed under the iron!

We get a lot of grasshoppers too, they really leap and make you jump, but are harmless. You'll notice lots of little sandy heaps in the lawn outside, and in the paving cracks, that will be ants, 1000's of them! So we've had to stock up on Nippon too. The ants here are bigger, and give a nasty nip so beware! Mosquitoes, you'll need to buy insect repellant, and you can buy plug-in repellant that goes in an electric socket. The bushflies/blowflies are really annoying and you'll soon be practising your Ozzie wave, there's not so many of them around at the moment but it was really bad for a couple of months last year, they try to get up your nose, and in your ears and eyes!

On the beach, we got bitten by sandflies once, never saw them though. My daughter got stung by a stingray on New Year's Day, her leg came up in a rash and it was painful, but it went down the following day. Jellyfish sting too, luckily we don't get the venomous box-jellyfish around here.

And if you've got kids, check their heads more often than you would in the UK, the headlice breed prolifically here and I'm speaking from experience yuk my poor daughter has had every treatment going to eradicate them before the new term starts next week! Our school has a policy of excluding the child if treatment is not given promptly.

The insects here you just learn to live with I'm afraid. Don't forget the chances of being involved in a car accident are very much higher than being killed by a spider or snake (sorry not that reassuring I know!)

SteveBannister

Sounds fun, why am I going again?

Houdini

Useful info:

http://www.austmus.gov.au/factsheets/spiders.htm

mashiraz

Thanks Jaqui, we've just eradicated lice twice in the last month so that was helpful....the rest I'm going to ignore and pretend I didn't read.......ignorance is bliss!!!

Mash:scared:

cresta57

>On the beach, we got bitten by sandflies once, never saw them though. My daughter got stung by a stingray on New Year's Day, her leg came up in a rash and it was painful, but it went down the following day. Jellyfish sting too, luckily we don't get the venomous box-jellyfish around here.<

Our son was badly affected by the sand flies [noseeums] to the extent that he had to seek medical attention. The doc reckons they dont bite but urinate on you and it's so acidic it burns the skin. Gross or what?

Mandy Bale

we've had lots of encounters with Cock roaches. The house we are renting, the previous tennants didn't clean or take out the rubbish for 3 years so it was pretty infested. They are mostly gone now but you still get the odd one or two! As for spiders, my son left his trainers outside, he was just about to put them on when I said, no I'd better check first, just as I banged it out a red back jumped out, after showing the kids it got squashed! There was another one living in our storm drain grill which I discovered after picking it up to clean the drain, after that encounter I always wear gloves when gardening or doing anything like that! We have these plug in insect repellents where they send a signal round the wiring that is supposed to affect the insects nervous system and send them running. Since plugging this in we have killed 3 white tails indoors! But we haven't seen any since so we are hoping they were just trying to vacate!

Haven't seen any funnel webs yet (we are near Sydney) but I'm sure they are out there somewhere. As for snakes, haven't seen any at all not even on our bush walks. Seen lots of lizards though.

I don't mind spiders so much, they are easy to squash. The cockroaches on the other hand have a knack of seeing you and running before you can get them!

Mandy