Spider post

[Forest Cat]

It's not so bad living with them, they don't bother humans much. Rather unnerving when one walks across your face in the middle of the night though.

I would sell the house and move if that happened. Right away, I would just get out of bed, sell the house and leave.

 

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I would sell the house and move if that happened.

What's the immediate reaction when that happens though? Do you attempt to slap it away or do you keep very still and hope it doesn't know you're awake?

I got woken up one night by a 6 inch centipede biting my shoulder. I did grab that and hurled it across the room, it really hurt. When I did this one of it's mandibles broke off in my shoulder and I ended up with a nasty infection.

 

[Progster]

I'll bet they do that to kangaroos and pandas too. Australia is terrifying. You're watching tv and suddenly a Huntsman launches itself at a panda and kills it, in your livingroom!

I never knew that Australia had wild pandas

 

[Forest Cat]

I never knew that Australia had wild pandas

Probably because the spiders ate them all. I meant koalas, I had a big brainfart for a moment.

 

[Forest Cat]

What's the immediate reaction when that happens though? Do you attempt to slap it away or do you keep very still and hope it doesn't know you're awake?

I would jump out of bed as quickly as I could, run out of the house and then sell the house and everything in it.

 

[MNAus]

What's the immediate reaction when that happens though? Do you attempt to slap it away or do you keep very still and hope it doesn't know you're awake?

You go "huh. did I feel something?" turn on the light and find nothing at all, so put it down to your imagination. Those things are rockets, if you even thought about moving they'd be gone.

 

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You go "huh. did I feel something?" turn on the light and find nothing at all, so put it down to your imagination. Those things are rockets, if you even thought about moving they'd be gone.

Not so up the top end, they're much bigger heavier animals and they're really not at all shy. Even during daylight if they think you're a handy launching pad to get to prey they'll run straight up you and jump off of you.

It's very rarely that they'll bite a human though and their venom only causes a mild itchy rash. They usually only bite in self defence. During the dry season they'll sit on your body during the night for warmth, but if you roll over on them...

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

We have some pretty large wolf spiders here. About as big as my hand.

I like and respect spiders. Many have extraordinary weaving skills.

I leave spider webs in the corners of my house alone. They aren’t hurting me and they catch the odd mosquito and fly.

 

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Here's a picture of one of the places I lived, I was there for 18 months. For a few more years I just lived under a large tarpaulin. You learn to live with bugs in that situation.

 

[Au Naturel]

I learned something interesting about daddy long-legs, they are actually not classified as spiders. They are arachnids but they belong to an order called Opiliones and they are very different from spiders. I was very surprised when I heard that.

"Daddy longlegs" refers to different arachnids. There are the Opiliones, the Eupnoi, crane flies (Tipuloidea) and Pholcidae, which are true spiders. I try to refer to them as daddy longlegs spiders to differentiate. If I call them by their genus or species, nobody has a clue what I'm talking about. We should love our Pholcidae because they are harmless but eat other spiders, including the widows.

Of course I named her Charlotte!

 

[MNAus]

Not so up the top end, they're much bigger heavier animals and they're really not at all shy. Even during daylight if they think you're a handy launching pad to get to prey they'll run straight up you and jump off of you.

It's very rarely that they'll bite a human though and their venom only causes a mild itchy rash. They usually only bite in self defence. During the dry season they'll sit on your body during the night for warmth, but if you roll over on them...

No really? Ours are super shy most the time. We're always happy to see them round the place because they help sort out the roaches.

 

[MNAus]

I still say sell the house and just leave. The biggest spiders we have here are just a few centimeters, you Australians wouldn't even notice them, and only one is poisonous. And that one doesn't have enough poison to cause any problems for adults. So spiders the size of my face using me as a launching pad to jump on birds and geckos and strangle them and eat them... Then I'm selling the house and leaving.

Just for you, a cute local

 

[Misty Avich]

I have a phobia of spiders. Funny how that works, because I'm actually more afraid of spiders that are harmless than the type that can bite (but I'm still scared of all spiders except money spiders). The harmless spiders are the ones with the longest legs that scuttle up to you and cling to things and they look like a giant claw. Absolutely TERRIFYING to look at, and ugly too.
People often ask why I'm afraid of spiders but not moths or rats or frogs, like they seem to think just because I'm afraid of one creature it means I have to be afraid of all creatures. Spiders are the only creatures that give me the heebie-jeebies. I just have a phobia.

 

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People often ask why I'm afraid of spiders but not moths or rats or frogs, like they seem to think just because I'm afraid of one creature it means I have to be afraid of all creatures. Spiders are the only creatures that give me the heebie-jeebies. I just have a phobia.

My experience of English people visiting Australia is that they're all terrified of snakes. Glad to hear of someone different.

 

[Outdated]

The White Tailed Spider is one that many Australians fear, it’s bite is associated with nasty infections and skin ulcers, and even with necrosis.

There’s been a lot of studies recently that supposedly debunk these ideas but these results also state that no infections occur from spider bites. Patently false. I’ve had many bites over the years, some of which did cause infections, and one case that resulted in septicaemia and made me very ill for many days.

 

[Misty Avich]

My experience of English people visiting Australia is that they're all terrified of snakes. Glad to hear of someone different.

I don't mind snakes if they aren't poisonous. A lot of people I know are afraid of all snakes.

 

[Au Naturel]

The White Tailed Spider is one that many Australians fear, it’s bite is associated with nasty infections and skin ulcers, and even with necrosis.

There’s been a lot of studies recently that supposedly debunk these ideas but these results also state that no infections occur from spider bites. Patently false. I’ve had many bites over the years, some of which did cause infections, and one case that resulted in septicaemia and made me very ill for many days.

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Think about what spiders eat; you'll know those fangs are covered with bacteria.

OTOH, wife said that when she was a nurse, people frequently came in claiming spider bites. Almost always turns out to be an ordinary skin staph infection. (You can see fang marks with a bit of magnification.)

Nobody actually saw the spider that did it. Sometimes they felt something poke them when they were working in bushes. Sometimes it was an infected pore. They just assume it because of what they've heard. But...a tiny crack in the skin meets the wrong bacteria, and you're off to the races.

 

[Outdated]

OTOH, wife said that when she was a nurse, people frequently came in claiming spider bites. Almost always turns out to be an ordinary skin staph infection. (You can see fang marks with a bit of magnification.)

This is also what's claimed in the reports about the white tailed spider, but in all of my cases the bite mark(s) were present.

In that last instance I mentioned, just as your wife said, I felt the bite at the time but didn't think anything of it and didn't bother to look. "Bloody sand flies" was my thought at the time. Around 15 minutes later it was sore and I noticed a red swelling in the area.

I normally have very little reaction to insect stings so this surprised me. It was still only about the same as a bee sting presents on most people so I assumed I must have been stung by a wasp. I still didn't pay any attention to it. It was a couple of hours later that I noticed a very angry looking red squiggly line running up my leg and in to my groin, that was when I decided I should probably see a doctor, and it was the doctor that told me it was a spider bite.

 

[Au Naturel]

This is also what's claimed in the reports about the white tailed spider, but in all of my cases the bite mark(s) were present.

In that last instance I mentioned, just as your wife said, I felt the bite at the time but didn't think anything of it and didn't bother to look. "Bloody sand flies" was my thought at the time. Around 15 minutes later it was sore and I noticed a red swelling in the area.

I normally have very little reaction to insect stings so this surprised me. It was still only about the same as a bee sting presents on most people so I assumed I must have been stung by a wasp. I still didn't pay any attention to it. It was a couple of hours later that I noticed a very angry looking red squiggly line running up my leg and in to my groin, that was when I decided I should probably see a doctor, and it was the doctor that told me it was a spider bite.

Spider venom isn't the same as bee sting venom, so your reaction to stings won't help you. The composition of bee venom is unique.

Bee venom has been used medicinally for about 5000 years. It may still have medical uses in a variety of human conditions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6720840/
Spider bites have a wide variety of different actions, ranging from tissue necrosis agents to nerve agents. Very few spiders have bites that are of medical significance. A person is about a billion times bigger than their normal prey. Though there are many compounds of medical interest in various spider venoms, I know of no spider bite therapies.

 

[Outdated]

Though there are many compounds of medical interest in various spider venoms, I know of no spider bite therapies.

We have some much nastier spiders here:
https://www.nps.org.au/medicine-finder/funnel-web-spider-antivenom-powder-for-injection