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Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

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Old 10th February 2008, 12:35 PM   #1
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Default Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Does anybody else have them as regular visitors?



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Old 10th February 2008, 12:49 PM   #2
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Hi Phill,
We see them all the time in the tree's, They love palms as well as cockroaches, ocasional funnel webs..eek...and how could I forget the joy of an O'Possum running around your head! With all the rain we have been having most bugs are on the march looking for some where dry to live,Our homes are perfect This is why we are seeing more insects in our homes at the moment.Does this make sence?.
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Old 10th February 2008, 03:57 PM   #3
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Man that a scary spider can you get another pic with something in it for size relation like pop can .Just wondering how big that thing really is .
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Old 10th February 2008, 05:36 PM   #4
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Osb-mail you want some scale?.....get a load of this little bugger.....WARNING ENSURE NO PERSONS OF DELICATE DISPOSITION VIEW THE FOLLOWING!!!
Huntsman spider Heteropodidae Selenopidae Olios Neosparassus Isopeda
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Old 10th February 2008, 05:40 PM   #5
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

I should have added that much to my arachnophobic wife's distaste we get many of these spiders easily as large as the one on the toilet roll here in NQ.
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Old 10th February 2008, 09:25 PM   #6
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

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I should have added that much to my arachnophobic wife's distaste we get many of these spiders easily as large as the one on the toilet roll here in NQ.
They live everywhere here, in my truck, in the house but you don't see them much. I get the SCREAM now and then, but when an egg hatches in the kitchen at night, that's something. They can fit quite a few in those egg sacs, wall to wall, ceiling to floor, That's a SCREAM!!

When they hatch naturally, the mother and other spiders & things eat most of the baby ones, doesn't work inside. Never thought of a video at the time, maybe next time.
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Old 10th February 2008, 10:45 PM   #7
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Yup, get em everywhere.
At home, then trees, then home.....they just follow me!!!!!
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Old 11th February 2008, 02:37 AM   #8
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Are they dangerous? anyone got bitten yet?
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Old 11th February 2008, 08:11 AM   #9
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

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Are they dangerous? anyone got bitten yet?
Got bitten on the foot when i was a kid, not poisonous. Now have a disliking to spiders. They are every where i work & in the truck. I think i got into the wrong industry,

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Old 23rd February 2008, 06:45 PM   #10
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

I find em all the time in eucalypts, but when im in a tree they dont worry me much, but when im not in "tree mode" ill jump 3ft in the air! funny that.
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Old 23rd February 2008, 06:54 PM   #11
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Hey, have you ever got a big one pissed off?

They sit up at like a 45 degree angle and actually huff, you can here them, like a charging bull but they sit still and huff and puff.

They love those cocos palms, big mothers.

I got bitten by a white tail spider, now that friggin hurt.
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Old 23rd February 2008, 08:45 PM   #12
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How did it feel, I got bitten 2 years ago in winter working on my truck. I grabbed an old wool bag to lie on and felt something bite/sting me 2 or three times, hurt a bit but I've been bitten by heaps of things so didn't worry too much, but that night my feet got REALLY hot, sweating from my knees down, and I mean pouring sweat, I was freezing. I was like that for 2 weeks, day & night. 2 blankets and a doona with my feet sticking out with soaking wet socks. I put it down as a White tail because I found one in another folded bag. The marks are still there and get itchy sometimes, like now, 3 bites left shoulder.

Last edited by Done it; 23rd February 2008 at 09:07 PM. Reason: forgot this
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Old 23rd February 2008, 09:21 PM   #13
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

I was walking thru some trees to the carpark at a pub one night and ran into the web.

The bastid got me on the face!

Now you know why I look the way I do.

But seriously, it swelled up and throbbed like hell, stung like a bitch and took ages to rack off.

These buggers are also known to bring heart palputations etc, not that I got that coz I got no heart.

Yes, for years it felt like it was still there, it itched and carried on for a long time.

Anyway, today I'm scratching all over, between the fingers, the arms, the gut the bloody works!

Got hammered today by itchy grubs, those friggin stupid hairy caterpillars that came out of some bag thing. Bag moth caterpillar things that Lopa posted about a while back ... they got me good. Bastids.

Some day they should send everybody indoors for a day and spray the whole country. Itching, biting, ants, caterpillars, stink beetles who piss on you, lizards, snakes, beetles, bugs and shit is driving me nuts! All because it rained for like 2 months in this heat ... now the buggers are hungry.
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Old 24th February 2008, 04:14 AM   #14
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

I can't stand them critters.
I think that Australia has a scary amount of nastys waiting to get the unawares!
I wouldn't want to live there even if they asked me to. Checking the bed before getting in, checking clothes and boots etc, etc!!! No Thanks

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Old 24th February 2008, 12:05 PM   #15
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

I didn't know white-tailed spiders built webs: I thought they were ground-dwelling (mainly in bathrooms)
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Old 24th February 2008, 12:50 PM   #16
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Maybe it wasn't, I just been looking on the net and bugger me, how many are there? HEAPS!

It was a large spider with the thin long legs like those and white line on tail of back. Spider was dark coloured but a touch of yellow/orange on thin long legs.

Also there's another big guy like the huntsman but it's called a wolf spider.

Victorian Spiders - spider identification in Victoria, Australia - Spiders in Victoria
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Old 24th February 2008, 01:41 PM   #17
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Oh man those ichy grubs are the worst, i got done when desending a small euc when my rope disturbed some loose bark and bang! buy the time i had my gear off i was iching like hell, i just jumped in the ute and took off home the worst was over the next day but i was ichin for a week!

oh yeah i didnt even wait for the groundy to get in the car i just left him there.
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Old 24th February 2008, 10:08 PM   #18
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

It was probably one of this species, there are a few types. You'd have to walk into them to bite, they are harmless really. This is a Golden Orb Weaver, the web is extra strong and gold colour, or it could have been a Wheel Weaver, they can bite but won't hurt you. The White tail is not nice, I have been into it since I got bitten, and there are conflicting studies, my book by Bert Bruned, Guide to Australian spiders seems the most accurate. The flesh eating enzymes would only cover the tip of a needle, [mycobacterium ulcerans] so I was lucky, it bit me through a singlet and shirt, so I only had a very small encounter.
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Old 25th February 2008, 08:52 AM   #19
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

There's tons of those Golden Orb spiders here, pretty sedate types they are.

When walking around yards now after the rain I often have a stick or something and wave it around the jungle as I'm walking coz there's webs everywhere now. And some people dont get out much!
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Old 25th February 2008, 06:55 PM   #20
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http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheet...led_spider_htm

Can you describe it again? Was it hanging in a web like an orb weaver. I've found a couple it could be.
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Old 25th February 2008, 08:11 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by clementine View Post
I think that Australia has a scary amount of nastys waiting to get the unawares!
I wouldn't want to live there even if they asked me to.
Here you go mate, there was a number of snake bites recently but this one is pretty bad, browns are always in a bad mood, keep clear or RUN!

also pay attention to the last paragraph, I bolded it for you.

Darling Downs woman survives vicious king brown attack | The Courier-Mail

Quote:
February 24, 2008 11:00pm

A DARLING Downs woman has survived a ferocious attack by a king brown snake that bit her seven times on the foot, with one bite puncturing a vein.
It has taken five agonising weeks for Meegan Harrison to recover from the snake's venom, which shut down some of her body's organs and pushed her close to death.

Twice doctors at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital put Ms Harrison, 32, into an induced coma. At present, she is in Toowoomba Hospital on a dialysis machine.

She may have to remain in hospital for another six weeks while her organs recover.

The king brown is one of deadliest snakes in the world and its bite usually is fatal when the venom is injected into a vein.

Ms Harrison owes her life to timber cutter James Bell who was working on the property Cecil Plains at Cecil Plains.

He was on the homestead verandah when Ms Harrison struggled back from feeding the chooks in the late afternoon.

Mr Bell, 50, who recently underwent a first aid refresher course covering snake bites, applied a bandage from the knee down to what he thought was the only bite on her foot.

He marked the outside of the bandage to indicate the bite site and Ms Harrison was rushed to Dalby where she convulsed. Her condition was stabilised and she was transferred to Brisbane where doctors found she had been bitten seven times.

Mr Bell said the snake must have been at least 2m long judging by the size of the bite he saw.

"The puncture marks involved a two-inch (5cm) spread and that means a pretty big snake," he said.

"It was probably in the chook pen looking for mice or eggs.

"She has gone through a lot ? I understand that at one stage she was bleeding through her eyes and ears.

"She is a lot better now but gets very tired, presumably from the amount of venom that was injected."

Mr Bell said he believed climate change was also changing the habits of snakes.

"People should be made aware that snakes are about at different times than in the past and if I were in charge there would be basic first aid instructions in schools, especially rural ones," he said.

Last week, three women in southeast Queensland were bitten by snakes and residents of Caboolture, north of Brisbane, are under attack from a vicious native ant.
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Old 25th February 2008, 08:21 PM   #22
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

I find both scorpions and tarantulas in the garage and such.

Had a scorpion get me in the chest. Flopped down on the couch with no shirt, it was up on the top cushion and got bounced down onto my chest... thrusted me a couple times while I hollered and smashed it against myself.
Also got ankle stung from not checking boots. Those things can swell up pretty good.

I kept some of the tarantulas as pets, they're pretty fun. We'd have "fire tarantulas", which have black bodies, but bright red hair.

For a good time you take one of each, and put them together in an enclosed space. They start goin at it with eachother, which is pretty fun to watch, and in the end the whole inside gets covered with some clear liquid. Typically they both die, cept the scorpion tends to die much quicker, and the tarantula lasts a bit longer after that before finally succumbing as well.

Well I just described one of my teenage activities... guess there isn't much to do in these mountains

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Old 25th February 2008, 08:22 PM   #23
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Forgot to mention, we've also got wolf spiders, but the really crazy things are called Vinegaroons. They look like a scorpion without a stinger, and when they bite you, you get pain and a strong vinegar taste in your mouth.

Yucky stuff.
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Old 25th February 2008, 09:03 PM   #24
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

I dont think Clemmy will be going there either.
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Old 25th February 2008, 10:18 PM   #25
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Cocus Palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana), kept me well employed for the 12 years I worked as a utility arborist. (averaged cleaning/removal of 1 a week for 12 years). The one assured thing that you could expect when working with one of these trees is at least one Huntsman spider per tree exists. Of course, the favorite hiding spot is behind the dried leaf sheaf. I figure the popularity for the species (other than a concealed hiding spot) is the abundent food source found within a Cocus palm (slators, cockroaches, etc.), and particularly the camouflage offered by the tree. The grey coloured loose fibres that fringe the leaf sheaf, share a very similar appearance to the Huntsman - offering protection from predators (birds).
I still don't like having to deal with the ugly, hairy blighters, and the numerous memories of finding them in the small of my back (under my singlet), after getting out of a tree, or on the back of my neck, still lives with me.
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Old 25th February 2008, 10:51 PM   #26
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For a good time you take one of each, and put them together in an enclosed space. They start goin at it with eachother, which is pretty fun to watch, and in the end the whole inside gets covered with some clear liquid. Typically they both die,
Well I just described one of my teenage activities... hope you guys all had fun too!
Therrin, we're talking dangerous spiders here!
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Old 25th February 2008, 10:58 PM   #27
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

Well tarantulas look kinda scary !! sometimes...

I completely left out the black widows which occupy every hidden space around here. How's that for poisonous spiders?

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Old 25th February 2008, 11:01 PM   #28
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You didn't look at the picture I just posted.
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Old 26th February 2008, 08:46 AM   #29
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Oh I did, and i LMAO , then reserved comment.

Ya got me there bro.
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Old 26th February 2008, 09:38 PM   #30
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Default Re: Huntsman spiders: who has 'em?

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I dont think Clemmy will be going there either.
No! I bloody wont! Anywhere you can get killed by a snake or spider is OFF my "Places to visit before I die" list.

I don't know how you all cope. Do you just get used to it or are you continually on guard?
S'pose it's different if you lived there all your life. Get used to looking twice before you put your hand or foot into anything.

It's bad enough chasing mossies around the house before bed
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