Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

Something bit me on the leg one summer some years ago, HERE in Northamptonshire in my local park which has a brook, and I had the same reaction as you. I made the mistake of walking the dog in shorts (me, not the dog) in the late afternoon, alongside the brook .Its also affected my lymph gland and had a nasty raised red welt which went from knee to groin. Took ages to heal too.

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

Are these spiders harmfull to Cats ?
Im in the Process of applying for permanent visa, will be taking my three cats - 1 of which Harvey is absolutely mental - he will kill any insect / spider he can get his Paws on.
Except bees that is - he decided to nurse one for about 3 days till it was well enough to fly again ;) - honestly!
As you can probably understand to us people that don't have Kids, we replace these with Cats .
:rolleyes: Any info would be grateful for.

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

That was probably the pollution from the water :D

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

Pets do get bitten over here our Vet keeps anti venom for local snakes as these are the usual problem especially with dogs. Not sure which insects you particularly have to watch for with animals but I suppose that it depends on where you are living.
Just be aware and get them to the vets at the first sign of any sort of bite and they should be OK.
Nicky

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

what is a whitetail spider as we are only coming over next year so i am curious

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

This link was put onto the site a while back and is very useful.
http://www.termite.com/spider-identification.html
Nicky :D

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

thanks 4 that i will have a look now

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

So when you have your house sprayed does it actually stop spiders coming into the house, all types?

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

Those white-tails are bloody horrible bastards. Kill on sight immediately! :scared:

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE !!!
I propose we ban spider threads...i take one step forward and three back when i read them!!
I think ARKON's idea of a flame thrower and a space suit is a whopper of an idea....only i'll be wearing mine when i get off the plane!! ;) :D

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

Programme on last night Aus most deadly destinations there was a part about whitetail spiders turned out to be little bastards

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

Rental companies should spray but usually try to get out of it. Ours told us it was a grey area as to who should pay. I went on the RTA website and found a link to rulings by a judge. He said that they had to provide accommodation that was clean and fit to live in. Premises that were infested were not fit to live in. I emailed them this and next thing you know we had a pest company round. Haven't seen anything since. The company were very good and told me how non toxic their stuff was. They don't spray for cockroaches now but put traps down so they take the poison back to the nests. They sprayed round all the edges of floors and asked me not to wash the edges for about a week.

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

Hi, It's the landlords responsibility to ensure the house is fumigated and if it's through an agent they will usually arrange it. We found several red-backs and the occasional cockroach appearing after we moved into our rental. Initially, the agents tried to explain that this was normal. However, I kept pushing them as I certainly didn't want my 12month old daughter to be bitten and the whole house was fumigated a couple of days later.

I think your landlord is taking the p*** by saying he can't get it done until next year, there are so many pest extermination companies out there!!

Antney & the Gang

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

We don't have any spray or anything within the house. I see spiders and I either kill them or move them outside immediately. You'll find that you become rather good at spotting them.
Saying that, there's a huntsman behind a picture frame here in the lounge and we've left it there because it's a hunter and eats the nasties. We never see him out and about. I think he's pretty timid.
We have a couple of black house spiders in the kitchen window frame, but they're eating the bugs which enter through the windows... so ... :o
As long as they stay where they are and don't bother me, it's fine. I have found that a damn good vacuum is the way to go, around the edges of the room.

After a rainy few days we find the odd one on the floor, which I put a glass over and remove to outside, unless it's a highly recognisable poisonous one. Mostly they're garden spiders which can give you a nip and make you feel a bit nauseous for a day or so.
The thing is with spiders is that once you have removed one, you get another taking it's place, so with our black house spiders it's better to know what they're up to and where they are than shift them out and end up with something taking over it's territory that I don't know about.

I'm really against the bombs because these really do go on every single surface and in fibres and there's no way on this earth anyone can convince me they don't poison humans too. Years ago when I was here originally, a friend set off 6 of these in her house (as recommended on the instructions) and she was ill with mystery virus for months after that. Constantly tired etc - They said she had chronic fatigue syndrome. She was eventually referred to a poisons unit in some university hospital for treatment and her recovery took approx 3 years to regain full health although she still has problems now.
I believe white tails carry a bacteria that can lead to necrotising tissue but it's very rare indeed.
I live in a high bush area and really don't get them that often.
The outside sprays are excellent and are fairly weather resistant if you want to use them. Also, bait traps for roaches that poison the whole community of the little suckers are excellent.... Basically if you see a roach in the daytime, you have a problem and you need intervention. If there's the odd one at night, then a bait will sort it.


Someone mentioned cats further up this thread. My cat seems to be avoiding killing these things since we got here. I think possibly instinct takes over and they avoid things they don't recognize.

Re: Whitetail Spiders
 

We had a run-in with some whitetails earlier in the year, Nicky. Started with me finding one on the drainer next to the rubber gloves I was about to put on. :eek: We found about six more in the following few days, but having killed that lot, we haven't seen any more.

We haven't sprayed our house at all. Apart from those few whitetails, and one redback on the patio shortly after moving in, I've only seen a few odd spiders indoors, none of which I've killed. They get chucked outside. We've got loads of house spiders out on the fence, but we leave them alone and they don't bother us. I've had a few ants, but nothing to bother us, and I had one cockie hitch a lift inside in some cardboard and that's the extent of our creepy-crawlie miseries. So plainly failure to spray our house hasn't caused any trouble at all. I think the spiders keep other nasties under control.

I would not take my chances with insecticides if I didn't have kids with asthma, but as you have got asthmatic children, I'd avoid sprays at all costs. All they do is make the bugs resistant over a period of time, which ultimately means more of them and stronger and more toxic chemicals to kill them. Short term, they'll poison you instead.

The issue with whitetails is more the infection they can spread. I think they carry staph. bacteria on their fangs, which are sometimes injected when they bite, but it's not a given and even if they do inject them not everyone is going to react. But they're not going to bite for the hell of it, so I would just tell your children to keep their eyes open and make sure they tell you if they see any, and not to pick them up.

I worried a lot about spiders when we first came here, but I now think the worry was misplaced. It's not a big issue.

HTH.

Sue