Damson

Eek. Not just you chaps having to deal with spiders you know! Excerpt from our local paper in Gloucestershire:

A COUSIN of the deadly Black Widow spider is spreading throughout Gloucestershire.
Until recently, the false widow had been contained to the warmer microclimates of Devon, Cornwall and Dorset.
But experts are warning it is spreading across Britain at an alarming rate because of global warming.
The purple and black spiders, whose abdomen is the size of a 1p piece, are now breeding and establishing colonies as far inland as Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
David Haigh, a spider recorder for Gloucestershire, said there have been two recorded sightings of the false widow species in the county. One was in a shed in Tewkesbury in June 2007 and the other was spotted last July in Longney.
Mr Haigh, of Cheltenham, said: "The false widow is established in the county now. You would have to be very unlucky to get one on your body which would bite.
"They normally live tucked away in holes in a shed.
"They don't tend to live in houses as they don't like central heating. In this country there are no spiders you need to be overly worried about."
The venomous creatures, which were introduced from Spain and the Canary Islands in the 1800s, are cold-blooded and cannot normally survive in colder parts of the UK.
But a succession of mild winters brought on by climate change has enabled the exotic arachnid to migrate steadily into other areas of Britain.
Experts say it is only a matter of time before the false widow – which packs enough venom to kill a human – infests towns and cities across the country.
Earlier this year, grandmother Lyn Mitchell, 52, almost died after she was bitten by a false widow while she was sleeping at her Cumbrian home.
Environmentalist Matt Shardlow, director of invertebrate conservation charity Buglife, is one of the world's leading experts on spiders, insects and other small creatures.
He said: ''The false widow has long been prevalent across much of the South West because of the milder temperatures.
''The spiders come from warm countries and are usually killed off by our cold weather, especially in winter.
The species – steatoda grossa – is one of 12 spider species known to bite humans in the UK.
They look similar to the true Black Widow, but are slightly smaller.
Their bite usually causes an initial sharp pain which develops into a burning sensation.
Experts say it feels similar to a bee sting and is rarely serious, but some victims suffer serious allergic reactions.
Native to the Canary Islands, the false widow arrived in England by chance after hiding in a bunch of bananas sent to Torquay, Devon, in 1870.
Others are believed to have arrived by ''ballooning'' – using silk threads to 'fly' through the air in a similar way to paragliders and hangliders.
In September it was revealed the warm weather had led to a colony of Segestria Florentina moving to Gloucestershire.
The spiders, with green fangs, wait until its dark and then jump out on unsuspecting prey. They were initially found in Tredworth but have been spotted all over the county since.

Kingseat

God, I am terrified of spiders. The spray man is our first port of call when we get our rental.

mad city fan

Gosh im so glad im here in oz only been here for 4 months not seen nothing yet, before we came I had it all planned out, slippers under the pillows shoes in plastic bags all those sleepless nights in the U.K for nothing, watch me find a huge huntsman behind me after writing this

tawkins1

I couldn't believe the size of thoses things!!!!!!!! Dinner plate springs to mind, they are huge mothers

scottishcelts

You seriously haven't seen anything yet? I saw them all as soon as we arrived in our rental and that's with us being serial sprayers as well

Seen 1 red back - they are bigger than what i had in mind and i shit myself (not literally but could have )

Seen 2 snakes and 2 big huntsmen.

When we go back to the uk, i won't worry about spiders! I was always hysterical whenever i saw a British one lol now - who cares!

srah

Just you wait

eeksy

I've seen a redback. Easily squished under a timberland boot if needsbe. It's the huntsman that will be the end of me.

emelems

Woke up one morning and there was a huge huntsman in the corner of our bedroom...

We had a baby huntsman in the hallway and a baby huntsman by the bathroom and we left all three.. they all stayed way up at the top of the wall by the ceiling and they don't tend to move... the one by the bathroom did.. it ran at about 100mph! LOL!

I like to think of them as my free coachroach killers!

(this was in the height of a very hot summer in Jan/Feb... havent seen them since or before)..

Em x

chrisling

I wonder how they know which houses have sheds.

Kingseat

Honestly, I am terrified of that day if/when it happens to me. I am that scared.

emelems

Its not that bad... when I was writing it I was thinking it sounds really really scary... but it honestly is not..

I am not great about most insects/moving things, and when we travelled to Sydney I went to the zoo there and went on the spider talk... which had an expert who told us all about the spiders in Australia... I found it really calmed me down as he explained all about them... I seriously suggest it..

Other than that, I hardly see any spiders in our rental.. apart from that one instance..

My bigger fear is cockroaches.. I literally scream when I see them so I make sure that I have roachie traps everywhere.. which kinda cuts off the food source for huntsman spiders so they have to go and look elsewhere for their grub! WHich is maybe why we don't have many?

Em x

scotsnurse

i love oz, except the beasties. i kill flies, spiders, insects that i cant identify, almost everyday. i dont get a lot in the house, but i get enough.

when i walk home from work, parts of the ground seem to move...because its covered with cockroaches!!!

i really think there should b an oz task team to reduce the beasties!

tawkins1

Aren't they they ones that jump at ya if ya go to spray them
Well we havent got any spiders in this holiday rental cos I found a ruddie cockroach last night

We have been here 2 weeks tomorrow & will be moving into our brand new rental tomorrow 1st thing I think is to bomb the house! (just to make sure)

scotsnurse

You can get a really good spray from any local supermarket, you spray it all around your house. It keeps cockroaches and spiders away for up to 3 months. Works a treat. You still maybe get the odd spider, depending how they got in, or if they were already in, but it works.

Japonica

We've been here 2 months in Perth, about 6 weeks now in our rental.
Tally:
2 redbacks (both outside--one in the garage, one by the letterbox)
0 huntsman (knocking on wood...yeah I know they're friendly but I don't want to deal with a spider that big)

I had a bunch of daddy long legs in the house, which are supposed to be good at keeping redbacks away, but since I made my homemade spider repellent (essential citrus oils, neem oil and soap) and sprayed it around the house after I found the redback in the garage, they all legged it (LOL) and I haven't seen them since. Too bad as I liked having them around.

We put a bit of "bug kill" spray in the garage and near the letterbox. All clear so far...