Wife (Linda) just came back from local shop and when she went to get her handbag from the rear seat saw this beauty on the back seat. Linda had to use a salad bowl rather than our usual large vegemite jar to capture and release into the garden.
Lucky it wasn't running about the car while she was driving as she would have had an aracnoleptic fit.
[smg id=19087 type=preview align=center caption="Nice spider"]
[smg id=19088 type=preview align=center caption="Nice spider 2"]
It's just a little one!! :D
Glad you got it intact though... I managed to jam the legs under the edge of the container on the last one I did. With those big hairy legs, the beggars can put on a surprising turn of speed, can't they.
Thanks for the pics. Somewhat large isn't it?
Are these what you call 'Huntsman' spiders, or are they of the 'Harvestman' genus?
It's a Huntsman. They drop down on our car from the trees in the front garden. Big as they are, they can squeeze through the tiniest hole and inevitably end up inside the car.
Quote from: Bealman on November 30, 2014, 03:53:54 AM
It's just a little one!! :D
Glad you got it intact though... I managed to jam the legs under the edge of the container on the last one I did. With those big hairy legs, the beggars can put on a surprising turn of speed, can't they.
Well, mid sized. Have a much larger one which has decided to live in my hobby room, occasionally see it siting near skirting boards. Won't have a roach problem. :)
This one was well behaved. Waited to be captured, little struggle but didn't like the camera near him.
The wolf spiders are the fastest and most common big spiders in the house, have to evict at least one per week. Still trying to find where they are getting in.
Had a nice tiger snake curled up on the patio near back door last week, allowed me to get close (about 400mm) with the i-pad to take a few photos without moving about. I-pad not good for taking closeups, have to get real close and it still looks metres away. I now open the door and look about instead of opening and stepping out.
CFJ
I'm reminded of an old colleague who drove an old soft top Saab, which he parked under a car port at his house. One day he was driving into town across the Harbour Bridge at peak hour when a rather large huntsman appeared on top of his dash. He grabbed his one page to a day A4 diary from the passenger seat and commenced to try to beat the huntsman to a pulp whilst still staying in his traffic lane. The spider retreated back to where he came from and was never seen again.
Quote from: NinOz on November 30, 2014, 03:37:32 AM
Lucky it wasn't running about the car while she was driving as she would have had an aracnoleptic fit
Holy cow 'aracnoleptic' is a new one for me... Are these beasts poisonous?
Black bears are the worst we have to worry about here in Pennsylvania and at this time of year they are hibernating!!
No, Mike, they're not, but I wouldn't like to cop a bite from one, though. It would be big enough to cause a lot of pain and possibly become ulcerated.
PhilD, your story reminds me of when one of my daughters was very young and strapped in the child restraint in the backseat. I looked in the mirror, and saw one crawling up her arm.
Trying to reach back and get it, I can assure you that lanes were crossed!
I'd agree that it's not overly large. Largest unsquashed (they do do a long way) We've had here was around 6" leg to leg, but as you say not actually dangerous to man. Called huntsman due to their rapid speed and mode of hunting.
As George and the other Aussies know its not the big spiders you have to worry about its the little ones, if bitten some species can kill, others can make you very sick but one very nasty tiny spider is a real horror, it is called a White Tail Spider, a bite from this little dude can cause your flesh to be eaten away.
Other than man eating sharks, stinging and killer jelly fish, snakes and crocodiles Australia is a pretty safe place to live, just stay out of the long grass :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
Wow you get some big spiders down under, do not the sheilas go into panic mode when they see them, I know a few round here that stand on chairs and flap like big feathered birds when they see one screaming obsenities.
Nice picture by the way.
Nice to see pictures of your wildlife, got anymore.
Quote from: Geoff on November 30, 2014, 07:42:20 AM
Wow you get some big spiders down under, do not the sheilas go into panic mode when they see them, I know a few round here that stand on chairs and flap like big feathered birds when they see one screaming obsenities.
Nice picture by the way.
Nice to see pictures of your wildlife, got anymore.
:smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing: Na the blokes like me are more scared of spiders than the chicks.
My first run in with a spider in Queensland was when I was Postie, while delivering mail I rode between a hedge and a fence and came face to face with a monster Orb Spider and its web, the bike went one way the mail went another way and I went for my life, gee they are big marble shaped monsters, yuk Spiders pass me a chair.
I dont mind Snakes though and have photograhed plenty while bush walking.
Quote from: longbridge on November 30, 2014, 07:54:54 AM
Quote from: Geoff on November 30, 2014, 07:42:20 AM
Wow you get some big spiders down under, do not the sheilas go into panic mode when they see them, I know a few round here that stand on chairs and flap like big feathered birds when they see one screaming obsenities.
Nice picture by the way.
Nice to see pictures of your wildlife, got anymore.
:smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing: Na the blokes like me are more scared of spiders than the chicks.
My first run in with a spider in Queensland was when I was Postie, while delivering mail I rode between a hedge and a fence and came face to face with a monster Orb Spider and its web, the bike went one way the mail went another way and I went for my life, gee they are big marble shaped monsters, yuk Spiders pass me a chair.
I dont mind Snakes though and have photograhed plenty while bush walking.
Ha Ha glad I am this side of the pond, by the way did the letters get posted lol
Geoff, you just get used them. Actually coming across a huntsman in the house is fairly rare (maybe 3 or 4 times a year), and even if you're not particularly keen on 'em (which I'm not), it doesn't pay to squish 'em because of the huge mess they make. Much better to catch 'em, take 'em outside, and then squish 'em let them go :D
I'm arachnophobic enough with British spiders, but these ones from Oz
are ten times worse. :o I hate seeing a big spider on the wall then going
to get a beaker or something to trap it and when you go back in the room
it's not there!
Finding a big enough beaker can be a problem and boy can some of these biggies run !
Oh yeah, as you know, Colin - they are super fast. But even as they don't so much scare me as annoy me, because I see one in the house and think, "Oh no, now I've gotta stop what I'm doing (which is usually nowt), get up and catch the beggar", I still stick with the old Aussie saying: all snakes have fangs, and all spiders have eight legs.
In other words, I am exceptionally wary of both, thank you very much. :D
Quote from: Chetcombe on November 30, 2014, 07:05:52 AM
Black bears are the worst we have to worry about here in Pennsylvania and at this time of year they are hibernating!!
At least you don't have a problem with seeing where they entered the house, Mike! :laugh:
Quote from: Geoff on November 30, 2014, 07:42:20 AM
I know a few round here that stand on chairs and flap like big feathered birds when they see one screaming obsenities.
I think if a spider screamed obscenities at me I, too, might just stand on a chair and flap :worried:
We have them here and call them Rain Spiders. We usually have a couple in the house. As someone else has mentioned the smaller spiders are usually the dangerous ones.
I'm not scared of them and used to have to move them from my son's room because he hates spiders. I think the reason I'm not scared of spiders and other crawling things is because we moved to Zambia when I was eight. There are crawliies of all descriptions there and we always had spiders and lizards on our bedroom walls. If we'd worried about them we would never have got any sleep.
Quote from: NinOz on November 30, 2014, 03:37:32 AM
Wife (Linda) just came back from local shop and when she went to get her handbag from the rear seat saw this beauty on the back seat. Linda had to use a salad bowl rather than our usual large vegemite jar to capture and release into the garden.
Lucky it wasn't running about the car while she was driving as she would have had an aracnoleptic fit.
[smg id=19087 type=preview align=center caption="Nice spider"]
[smg id=19088 type=preview align=center caption="Nice spider 2"]
I bet they go well as a side salad with the barbecue!
:beers:
Quote from: mark100 on November 30, 2014, 12:58:42 PM
I bet they go well as a side salad with the barbecue!
:beers:
That's fine if you like your meal constantly moving/looking at you :sick2:
Quote from: newportnobby on November 30, 2014, 03:45:53 PM
Quote from: mark100 on November 30, 2014, 12:58:42 PM
I bet they go well as a side salad with the barbecue!
:beers:
That's fine if you like your meal constantly moving/looking at you :sick2:
I've eaten LIVE Termites straight from the tree in Mexico, :P and I guzzled down half a pint of Maggots for a bet whilst fishing one day, I needed a can of coke to help them to go down. but its all protein and did no harm.
Mark.
Because they believe in sharing their native fauna with their neighbours, in 1923-24 the South Australians very generously sent us some examples of these spiders (Delena cancerides Walckenaer
(Araneae: Sparassidae) BTW) in a consignment of railway sleepers (ties).
Fortunately the 'guests' confined themselves to a suburb of Auckland and as a result these creatures are now commonly known as 'Avondale' spiders; 'Avondale' being the name of the suburb concerned. Unlike their cousins across the ditch they don't seem to be 'motor-vehicle' inclined...
Perhaps as a result of plentiful food, it is noted that 'Mature spiders with legs outstretched can measure up to 200 mm across (8")', which, to give it some perspective, is about the size of an average domestic dinner plate.
They are an interesting 'critter' and, as already noted, very quick in their movements, and, as also already noted, they are harmless; they just LOOK nasty.
Thought this might be of interest...
Quote from: Geoff on November 30, 2014, 07:42:20 AM
Nice to see pictures of your wildlife, got anymore.
Lots.
Part of my autonomous lawn mowing crew (have up to a dozen wallabies munching about the yard each day). :)
Male and female roo will approach within a couple of metres. Male roo pretty much ignores us, he is bigger than I am. Always watch his body language though (just in case he takes an exception about something). :uneasy:
[smg id=19319 type=preview align=center caption="Female and Male Kangaroo in front yard"]
[smg id=19320 type=preview align=center caption="Male roo in yard, nice claws."]
The nice tiger snake.
[smg id=19318 type=full align=center caption="Tiger snake"]
Oooh.... NICE snakey. Skippy's dad looks like he's not to be messed with, either.
We had a couple of big stags in our front yard last year, but they don't count 'cos they're imported blow-ins, but they're still big, can damage the car and sure as heck shouldn't be roaming the streets of an industrial city!
Cool pics, though. Do those roos move off when you go out?
I didn't know there were imported deer in Oz . My favourite Oz creature is the duck billed platypus, though I think that it lives in rivers so probably wouldn't get one in your garden.
The red deer stags in Jockshire can be fearsome, a few people have been gored by them when
they've been spooked.
Now I have just seen one of my fears in life and that is snakes, I will take a punch off a roo any day but a snake I would run a mile.
In reply to the above posts, the deer were imported a long time ago and have become almost a pest. I live at the bottom of an escarpment not too far from a steelworks, but it's a bit like the bears in North America... they get hungry, come down into surburbia and get hit by cars.
The tiger snake you don't wanna find in your backyard.
Quote from: Geoff on December 08, 2014, 08:56:19 AM
Now I have just seen one of my fears in life and that is snakes, I will take a punch off a roo any day but a snake I would run a mile.
A snake can kill with a bite and a roo can disembowl you with a kick, both not to be messed with.
Last friday evening we were in the house and heard a strange noise, a scrap and a dull thump. Went out to investigate and a python (carpet snake) was in a heap on the pavers. Was about 2.5m long. Proded it with a long stick to see if it was ok, it moved so was ok.
Looked like he had fallen while trying to climb onto the roof (raining so slippery). We were heading out in the car and last I saw, it was climbing up the lattice towards the roof (occasionally they camp in the roof). Unfortunately no pictures.
Bealman, the big male is not fully grown, stands about 6'2" and hasn't developed the full chest muscles of a boomer. Don't like me approaching them, move away slowly at about 6m, but are ok when they come close, 3m or so.
Seen video of deer attacks on U-tube, they can be really freaky.
Oh great. Just noticed some snake skin in my hobby room which wasn't there on friday. :goggleeyes:
CFJ
No good me living there with all them snakes, but come to think of it there are plenty of snakes trying to run our country.
A few years ago, I decided it was time to paint the garden fence, as we were having a spell of dry weather. Fully protected in t-shirt and shorts (!), I set to. Part of the fence was behind the shrubby area of the garden, where loads of spiders had made webs. Having finished the fence, I went indoors and, sitting down, noticed my legs were blotchy. Within half an hour, I was in agony, could not walk and ended up with a week off work and various ointments from the doctor - and these were English spiders! The doc reckoned it was the number of bites that caused the problem.
And don't get me started on snakes. MY granny was bitten on the hand, by an adder, as she was weeding the garden. She had the presence of mind to kill the snake with a rock, and that took the shock out of her. Unfortunately the venom did its work, and weakened her immune system. A couple of years later she trod on another one, which bit her ankle. Although it did not kill her directly, she was bedridden for 4 years after, until she died.
Snakes (the non venomous types) , I don't mind, but spiders give me the
creeps. UK ones are bad enough but the tropical ones are horrible.
A few years ago I was hiking on Rannoch Moor, a hot sunny day,
most unusual there and stretched out on a dry grassy patch and took my
shirt off for a siesta. A few minutes later I felt a sharp stab of pain in
my left nipple, looking down I saw a small spider walking away. The
thing was like a tiny money spider. If that's a small spider bite I
wouldn't want a bite from a big colonial type.
Agrippa
FWIW,(and again because of the 'neighbours'), New Zealand is now home to a rather nasty arachnid known colloquially as a 'White Tail Spider'. (Lampona cylindrata and Lampona murina).
In New Zealand they are have been reported as biting humans, with the results in most cases being variously local pain, a red mark, local swelling and itchiness. However, more seriously, their bite is also 'reputed' to cause nausea, vomiting, malaise or headache, while at the most extreme ulcers and necrosis (the body consuming itself) have been attributed to the bites. I say 'reputed' as to date there is no solid scientific basis for these claims.
Nonetheless the 'folk law' has been established and the 'White tail' is viewed with great suspicion as a result. Because of this, the mantra is that the 'Only 'good' White tail' is a dead one'. The species BTW is also a very aggressive hunter with a preference for spiders of other types....
I'm not sure how the Australians get along with them, but local experience has not been exactly positive.
All this spider stuff puts me off my tea. Without wishing to be unfriendly to
our friends in Australia and New Zealand , I hope you're all selfish and keep
these beasties to yourselves! :D
I am put in mind of a story my father told me when I was young.
Where he worked they imported sheets of rubber. One day, they unwrapped the compressed rubber sheets and a fruit spider jumped out and ran off, never to be seen again...................
A spider as an 'illegal immigrant'. Mmmm. Interesting. Hopefully he /she/it has now 'settled down' and become a 'valued member of society'...
Just saying, while looking for a coat, and a door, (but not for an arachnid...)
The fauna here in Japan are quite benign. Though there was an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever in Tokyo a couple of months back. Otherwise the nastiest thing is cockroaches, though luckily I haven't seen any for a while. In depopulating rural areas some of the cheekier wildlife - mainly monkeys and wild boar - have caught on to the fact that humans are convenient sources of food (not the humans themselves I hasten to add, but the shopping bags they carry round with them). You do see small snakes from time to time, usually in parks, but they're quite timid and hurry away like they've just remembered an urgent appointment; I've never heard of anyone being bitten by one. I've seen some rather large spiders but they seem to prefer building webs high off the ground, never encountered any directly, although when hiking in wooded areas it's advisable to hold a stick in front of you to avoid getting webbed.
We do, or did, have an albino lizard living around the front door, which was kind of cute, and get preying mantises in the garden, which are weird, alien-looking creatures which will stare at you.
I find I need the help of a spider every week - but only when I can't easily pot the ball I want to when playing snooker. :D
Tdm
Spiders are also very useful in as light-holders underground, and are quite nice to drink as well...
Just saying....
Evicted this one (Huntsman) last night from the laundry it seemed completely un-fazed by the washing shaking on the spin cycle
[smg id=19764 type=preview align=center caption="Huntsman"]
Arrrgggghhhh......... :o
It's weird, they seem to like laundries. When our machine got out of sync and rattling like heck, that's what brought three of em out!
Quote from: Bealman on December 22, 2014, 08:53:27 AM
It's weird, they seem to like laundries. When our machine got out of sync and rattling like heck, that's what brought three of em out!
Only have tiny spiders here in Tenerife - but their bite can cause a nasty swelling.
Don't know about laundries but "cucarachas" love living at the back of fridges where it is warm, so that is one place where you always put some anti-cucarachas gel in your home.
Anti-spider GEL?
Quote from: Bealman on December 22, 2014, 09:19:55 AM
Anti-spider GEL?
Don't know if there is such a thing for spiders - but the anti-cucarachas gel works a treat - in fact the cucarachas think it is a "treat" and eat it, then it kills them.
Most interesting!