Close encounters of the eight legged kind.

[BlueDog]

I love living in Australia but I've got to admit the spiders we have here suck balls big time!

Three separate encounters with the little buggers today has got me jumping up and down at the slightest itch.

Gardening with my 4yr old today and he brings over his Tonka truck to fill it with dirt, as he sits it down I notice a flash of red next to his hand. A ****ing Red back sitting centimeters away from his finger!!!!! Poor little bugger **** himself when I knocked it out of his hands but I wasn't taking any risks.

Hours later my nerves had finally settled when I decide it's time to pack some recent ebay sales, using some scrunched up paper that came from some previous packages as I'm tucking it in I see something crawling around at the bottom of the box, this time it's a white tail spider! ( Lucky I didn't send this chap to you Iain ) In case you haven't heard of these little lovely's they are aggressive little bastards that just love to bite an unsuspecting hand which, if your unlucky enough to have a severe reaction, starts rotting your flesh in some cases leaving people permanently scarred for life.

Now as I'm typing I've been joined by another arachnid friend ( albeit not as nasty as the previous two ) sitting above my head on the ceiling is a nice big Huntsman just to finish me off for the day. He's only a baby this one, about 4 inches across. Don't mind Huntsman's as they are good for catching unwanted insects, so long as he stays where he is but knowing my luck I'll wake with the bastard on my pillow sometime through the night!!

We are moving house in a month or so to an area that apparently has lots of snakes! Awesome :shock:


Edit: these aren't pics of the actual spiders I encountered today they're just for reference sake, the first two were disposed of courtesy of my boot anyway.

 

[tundra9]

Cool spiders!!
glad you got them away from your kid though, the spiders we have where I live are nanosized compared to these,
would be cool to see them in rl, I love spiders

 

[Johan_S]

I would not be able to live in Australia...my "wife" screams as soon as she sees a little swedish harmless spider running across the floor...as for those suckers you got rid off I would probably have **** my pants getting too close....

 

[weasel]

Come and live on my island............The spiders are tiny wee things and there are NO snakes at all!


PS, only minor draw back is it never gets above 20 degrees, it rains 364 days a year, and on the other day .....................it fecking snows!

 

[PGowdy]

"Don't mind Huntsmen spiders..." Seriously?! **** THAT!!
I sleep with my windows shut all through the summer here because i can't bare the thought of a spider being in my room and we don't even have any that are poisonous! When i went to Spain there were loads of spiders all over the ****ing place. Big ****ers and scorpions too. I didn't get a minutes sleep. No offence but australia can **** off! No danger i'll ever step foot in a place where a spiders bite can rot your ****ing hand off and others sit above you on the ceiling watching you type. :shock:

 

[itfciain]

Ha ha - I'm glad you didn't pack one of those off to me mate - what I nice surprise I would have had opening the box and that thing jumping all over my face

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Oh I HATE Spiders Glad you managed to get away with your son

 

[Joe]

Ha ha - I'm glad you didn't pack one of those off to me mate - what I nice surprise I would have had opening the box and that thing jumping all over my face

Haha Surprise! :lol: :lol:

Facehugger from Alien type deal!

I visited Australia as a kid but I never saw any of those horrible things, saw a lizard thing in the road though once, was basking in the sun.

Sister went out there a few years later and had a Red back on her shoulder that my cousin managed to ping off of her once - I think I would have well and truly soiled my pants.

 

[aussiejames]

Come and live on my island............The spiders are tiny wee things and there are NO snakes at all!


PS, only minor draw back is it never gets above 20 degrees, it rains 364 days a year, and on the other day .....................it fecking snows!

:lol:
I'll stick with beautiful weather & a few spiders

 

[Grant_C]

Love the photos mate. Great stuff.

Man- i love Australia, but also met some crazy spiders.

This was the first friend i saw:

and i met this friend in Morroco:

and this is my girlfriend (dont take this piss/ shes new):

(last photo isnt mine)

 

[Josh]

My cousins best mate got taken by a Great White, a couple of weeks back. :shock:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/father-of-two-peter-kurmann-was-taken-by-great-white-was-fourth-fatal-shark-attack-since-september/story-e6freuy9-1226315429002

This is another guy I knew through Shelling that was eaten.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/abalone-diver-taken-by-sharks-in-south-australia/story-e6frf7l6-1226007845731

Another guy I know, has shown me his air tank after he had to stick it in the mouth of Great white that wanted to eat him. :shock:

 

[Grant_C]

My cousins best mate got taken by a Great White, a couple of weeks back. :shock:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/father-of-two-peter-kurmann-was-taken-by-great-white-was-fourth-fatal-shark-attack-since-september/story-e6freuy9-1226315429002

Makes us the shark attack capital of the world I think...especially for White shark attacks :?

****. That really sucks.

These attacks seem to be on the increase. Maybe we should leave some tuna for them.

Apparently more people get killed each year by vending machines than shark attacks. If you get a chance, watch a documentary called 'Sharkwater', its a real indepth journey about where sharks are in relation to the contemporary planet.

 

[Josh]

I added a link to another guy I knew who was eaten also.

These are the sort of nasties I come across looking for Shell.

Not too much too keep an eye out for :lol:

 

[Grant_C]

Crazy **** Josh!

Is that top one a stone fish- because i stepped on one of those, well i think it was a stone fish.

I cannot tell you or explain how painful that was. 2nd most pain ive ever felt in my life.

 

[Josh]

Can kill. Hot, hot water, on the affected area, helps to break down the poison. And I think they have even made an antivenom for it now also if you are lucky enough to be near a hospital.

I forgot to add a couple.

The last one is a little ****er. Very small so you would be lucky to see it. At least with a Boxy you can see the bastards.

 

[PGowdy]

Jesus Josh those are some gruesome looking creatures.

 

[BlueDog]

"Don't mind Huntsmen spiders..." Seriously?! **** THAT!!
I sleep with my windows shut all through the summer here because i can't bare the thought of a spider being in my room and we don't even have any that are poisonous! When i went to Spain there were loads of spiders all over the ****ing place. Big ****ers and scorpions too. I didn't get a minutes sleep. No offence but australia can **** off! No danger i'll ever step foot in a place where a spiders bite can rot your ****ing hand off and others sit above you on the ceiling watching you type. :shock:

:lol: :lol: :lol: Oh it's not that bad Pete, Huntsmans are generally tolerated as they tend t stick to ceilings and will only bite if agitated. Red backs are nasty little buggers but also tend to keep to themselves living under rocks in dark places and such. The worst of those three are the whitetails as they wander and will attack with movement, not a good idea to leave clothes on the ground as they like to hide in your undies!!

Sorry to hear about your cousins mate Josh, read about that attack in the paper down here. You can have the ocean and all that goes with it mate all sorts of nasties that want a piece of animals that weren't built for swimming down there.

The most vicious spider we have here would have to be Sydney's Funnel Web spider, those bastards can live in trees and drop out onto unsuspecting victims. There's actually signs through Sydney warning people of the danger near trees. They are really aggressive too and have fangs the size of Weazels ego, ****en huge!

 

[Josh]

We get some cracking Centipedes here also.

But the Drop Bears are the worst. :shock: Who would of thought something so cute and cuddly would rip you to shreds.

 

[PGowdy]

:lol: :lol:

 

[plantman]

cool thread, im a bit fan of spiders, love all the snake and spider specials on sky

i have to admit i would like be looking down one end of the funnel when one of those nasty twats decided to strike lol