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arthwollipot

Observer of Phenomena, Pronouns: he/him
arthwollipot
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
102,609
Location
Ngunnawal Country
Australian Reptile Park warns of funnel-web spider 'bonanza' due to wet weather

A public warning for a funnel-web spider "bonanza" has been issued as hot and wet conditions coax the amorous arachnoids from bushland and gardens.

Rainfall across the weekend paired with summery temperatures have created idyllic tropical conditions in which funnel-web spiders "thrive within", said Australian Reptile Park keeper Jake Meney.

The summer months mark mating season for the spiders.

If it is safe to do so, Mr Meney said adults can collect the spiders to help bolster the Central Coast park's life-saving anti-venom program, which has put a stop to bite-related deaths since 1981.

"We rely on public donations of funnel-web spiders to build up our milking individuals," explained Mr Meney.
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CW for arachnophobes, obvs.
 
Atrax was one of my favorite spiders growing up.

Never got to travel to AU to hold one but I hope to someday.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
When we arrived in Sydney, 1978, the headlines read that a young woman had just been killed by a funnel web that made it's way under the sheets in her bed.
:jaw-dropp
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Yeah, nah.

They live in holes in the ground and try to catch stuff that walks by, like bigger insects. They don't prowl. So why would they go anywhere, especially into someone's house?

More likely it was a Whitetail spider. :D
 
Norman Alexander said:
Yeah, nah.

They live in holes in the ground and try to catch stuff that walks by, like bigger insects. They don't prowl. So why would they go anywhere, especially into someone's house?

More likely it was a Whitetail spider. :D
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Yeah, yeah. I was there. They can get in your bedding. The headline said Sydney Funnel Web. Not something you forget when it's your first time in Sydney and the first time you heard about deadly spiders in Sydney.

There were 13 deaths from SFWs before 1981. I can't easily find a list of these cases but one of them was a woman in Sydney in 1978 (could have been '79).

Evidence they can get in your bed: Woman left fighting for life after deadly funnel web spider crawls into her bed and bites her while she was asleep

Male SFWs come indoors.
Male funnel-web spiders exhibit a seasonal wandering behavior in search of female mates, which often brings them into houses and in contact with humans. As a result, male spiders are responsible for most bites.
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Skeptic Ginger said:
Yeah, yeah. I was there. They can get in your bedding. The headline said Sydney Funnel Web. Not something you forget when it's your first time in Sydney and the first time you heard about deadly spiders in Sydney.

There were 13 deaths from SFWs before 1981. I can't easily find a list of these cases but one of them was a woman in Sydney in 1978 (could have been '79).

Evidence they can get in your bed: Woman left fighting for life after deadly funnel web spider crawls into her bed and bites her while she was asleep

Male SFWs come indoors.
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Seriously, the UK Sun newspaper? To them, a common daddy longlegs in Australia will fly in squadrons and carry away dogs and small children if you are not careful. I would take much salt with that report.

But yes, funnel-webs need to be watched out for.
 
Norman Alexander said:
Yeah, nah.

They live in holes in the ground and try to catch stuff that walks by, like bigger insects. They don't prowl. So why would they go anywhere, especially into someone's house?

More likely it was a Whitetail spider. :D
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When we lived in Sydney in the 70s we were always told to knock our shoes out (especially in summer) in case the buggers had snuck in there (I still do, much to Mrs Tolls amusement..Hereford is not known for its funnel webs).

Yes...they do wander into houses.
 
Spiders aren't an issue.

It is snakes.

When I was young my old man organised me 2 months work rousieing at a shearing station as he lived in Aus(at the time he was a wool classer)

About 10 hours north of Deniliquin in the middle of ****sville nowhere.

As I was saving for my oe

Scary **** going to bed.

Saw lots of snakes (luckily not in sleeping bag)

There were heaps of holes in the walls.

You haven't lived till you have gotten woken up by a rat landing on your face and getting angry at 2 am in the morning.

Good money. Free meals and housing though.

Just paid for beer.
 
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Norman Alexander said:
Seriously, the UK Sun newspaper? To them, a common daddy longlegs in Australia will fly in squadrons and carry away dogs and small children if you are not careful. I would take much salt with that report.

But yes, funnel-webs need to be watched out for.
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Excuse me! Way to cherry pick. Did you miss the part where there were 13 deaths before 1981 that I could not find the specifics on? Did you miss the article that discussed male SFWs are out looking for mates including in houses? Other than you don't like the news source, did you make any effort to discredit the story?

Where's your evidence SFWs never find their way into a bed?

You're the one that hasn't supported your assertion here.
 
Tolls said:
When we lived in Sydney in the 70s we were always told to knock our shoes out (especially in summer) in case the buggers had snuck in there (I still do, much to Mrs Tolls amusement..Hereford is not known for its funnel webs).

Yes...they do wander into houses.
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Any chance you or someone you know remembers the young woman killed in Sydney ~1978?
 
There hasn't the been a death from a spider in Aus for over 40 years.

A teensy bit of perspective
 
Cheetah said:
How many spiders have died a human related death in that time?
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27,679,637

If you count forest fires caused by nutty volunteer fire brigade and that one in Bendigo that time when Davo didn't look where he was putting his esky which was technically an accident.

And my one which I prefer to think of as suicide to make me feel better
 
I loved Australia when I visited it and it has only one of two cities I've ever visited that I felt I could live there, Melbourne. But that would be on an island in the middle of a burning moat, in a house hermetically sealed, with a decontamination room.
 
cullennz said:
Spiders aren't an issue.

It is snakes.

When I was young my old man organised me 2 months work rousieing at a shearing station as he lived in Aus(at the time he was a wool classer)

About 10 hours north of Deniliquin in the middle of ****sville nowhere.

As I was saving for my oe

Scary **** going to bed.

Saw lots of snakes (luckily not in sleeping bag)

There were heaps of holes in the walls.

You haven't lived till you have gotten woken up by a rat landing on your face and getting angry at 2 am in the morning.

Good money. Free meals and housing though.

Just paid for beer.
Click to expand...

 
Darat said:
I loved Australia when I visited it and it has only one of two cities I've ever visited that I felt I could live there, Melbourne. But that would be on an island in the middle of a burning moat, in a house hermetically sealed, with a decontamination room.
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Australia is the first place I'll visit after the invention of teleporters and personal forcefields. Not before then.
 
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