Are you arachnophobic? Killer funnel-web spiders invade Sydney .....
 

.....Several residents already bitten by the plague of poisonous arachnids


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...y-1874230.html

SV ((@))

Yikes!!!!

I can't remember ever reading, here in Australia, of anyone dying from a bite from a Funnelweb spider and they have been in Sydney since I used to stuff their funnelwebs so that they could not get out. Used to block the doors of the trapdoor spiders as well - all this was when I lived there as a kid. Spent years growing up in the country after that where I must have been surrounded by the 9 out of 10 deadly snakes of the World and never saw one of them despite spending most weekends riding horses through the bush and playing and fishing down at the riverbank. We even used to poke sticks into holes to see if there was any living creature in them that might riggle out and even that was to no avail. Never got bitten by a shark, never stood on a stone fish and have never even seen a blue ringed octopus. Either I am blind and lucky but so must all of my friends be as well because we have all survived the enslaught.. I think its much more likely that one will be run over by a bus, hit by a meteorite, than encounter any of these dangerous creatures. However I did think I saw the Min Min lights once but then that is quite another story and of course no one has ever died from seeing those.

I've seen more than my share of Aussie creepy crawlies and I've only lived here 18 months. I've seen close to a dozen tigers and dugites, although only when I'm in their territory, not they in mine (thank God). I saw and squashed my first two redback spiders last weekend while working at an animal shelter...litter trays are one thing, redbacks quite another.

Ho hum. The media thrive son bizzarerie.

I'll bet a lot more Europeans have succumbed to the bite of rabid animals than Australians have expired from spider bites in the last couple of centuries. And a lot more North Americans have been eaten by grizzlies, for that matter.

One day we decided to explore Lynn Canyon, bordering the suburbia of North Vancouver and a fairly short ferry/bus ride from the city. Afterwards, waiting at the bus stop we got chatting to a local lady who told us that she regularly had black bears at her front and back doors. That scared me more than any number of funnelwebs and snakes.

Some time later we took an easy 1-2 km stroll around Lake Louise in the Rockies. I was alarmed to see a sign warning that at that time of the year grizzlies came down from the mountains to feed on seasonal berries. I made sure we were flanked by two sizeable groups of German walkers, each of whom seemed to be carrying enough equipment for an assault on the Matterhorn. Spiders? Hah!

Austraian hospitals stock antivenom for all these beasts. There is no known medical procedure that will reassemble you from the guts of a grizzly.

Must be a very slow news day in the UK, but I'm surprised at the Independent jumping on this tired old bandwagon.

I lived in Perth for 7 years and did not see any snakes there so all I can say is that there has either been and phenominal increase in snakes or Melnq8 goes into some rather pecular places - the zoo perhaps? No, the reason for this is that we Australians teach our snakes and other bities to only bite those people who are not Naturalized Australians. Antivenom will be used on everyone who is not Australian anyway so have no fear. I agree with Neil that the Native big cats and bears in the USA is a certainly something that would make me stay away from the big outdoors and then when you think of Africa and all those animals who want to either eat you or trample you, Europe in the summer when you have to battle such crowds everywhere for anything that is enough to make anyone's blood boil I think I will take my chances with these little things here in Australia.

If national parks, bush tracks and the grounds of the RSPCA are peculiar, I guess I'm guilty.

Comparing Aussie venomous creatures to North American bears and big cats always makes me laugh...the average North American has never seen either one, and although they're definitely more menancing than spiders and snakes, they're also a whole lot easier to avoid.

Mel, you must stop living so dangerously, you old thrill-seeker, you.

Actually, in all my years, including quite a bit of time wandering on bush tracks, I could just about count the number of snakes I've seen on one hand. In most cases they were scurrying in the other direction as fast as their little bellies could carry them - more shocked by me than I was by them.

And despite having lived in the Sydney Basin region for many years I've never seen a funnelweb in the wild. I once thought I'd caught one when I lived near the Georges River to the south of Sydney, but the expert I consulted convinced me it was a trapdoor. Something to do with shale vs. sandstone country.

Mostly I leave the redbacks to their own (very sluggish) devices. If you wear garden gloves when messing around in their territory - which is very rarely inside houses - you won't have a problem.

OK Mel, gotta agree that many people in the US have not seen big bears and cats but you've got Lime disease there and rabies and either of those nasties is as bad as a snake/spider bite anyway and probably just as frequent.

Well, when I lived on Sydney's northern beaches the next-door neighbour's toddler was bitten by a funnelweb, but that was probably because the toddler tried to eat it. He did recover. In nearly 40 years of living in that area only ever saw two funnelwebs in house, both sluggish and easy to catch, popped in a jar to be taken on for milking for anti-venom.

I do try not to kill spiders inside house or out, my Mum would go as far as wrapping them gently in a Kleenex before releasing them outside. She was never bitten, although even she wouldn't have tried this with a funnelweb.

Neil - OLD?

Pat - You've got more restraint than I do. With the notable exception of Daddy Long Legs, I figure most spiders are fair game, although if I saw a huge hairy one, I'd turn tail and run.

oh dear god .... here come the "Eeewwww's"

"Neil - OLD?"

Mel, you'd have to agree that the image in your Fodors profile is a bit problematic, but even so I didn't mean that to be taken literally.

Don't know about far reaches of the empire like WA but around here the only "huge hairy" variety is the pathetically harmless Huntsman spider. Ejecting them, if you can be bothered, is a simple process using a jar or glass and a piece of stiff paper and cardboard.

Most of the time we can't be bothered unless we have a faint-hearted guest, and not always even then. We prefer to leave them alone in the hope that they'll keep the household bugs down, but truth to be told I've never seen one catch or even chase anything. I don't think they're earning their keep.

I live near a very busy hospital here in Sydney with a very active helipad. Every time a helicopter comes in, I'm immediately convinced that it's either a snake bite, spider bite or a shark bite :)

I jokingly mentioned this to a friend who is a nurse at the hospital....she really blew my theory. She said it's generally a heart attack.

I guess that 'roo does look a bit long of tooth Neil.

I saw my first Huntsman a few months back, perched on the wall in a Perth Hills winery. I asked the girl minding the shop it it was part of the decor, and she said "I was wondering where it got off to" as if it were a pet! Harmless maybe, but that spider has a serious creep factor.

If I saw one of those in my house, this faint hearted old yank would be landing on dkw's helipad, clutching her chest.

I've seen one Huntsman at a very nice resort I was staying at outside of Hobart. It was huge. And dead, by the back of the fridge. Poking it to make sure, I took it to the desk.

They said: "oh, yes, a Huntsman, perfectly harmless". Now, you might get a fright if you were to leave your car window down, as they like to crawl in behind the visor and could spring down on you while driving."

You can bet I've checked everytime since then. Even dead and allowing for some "shrivel factor" it was still the biggest spider I'd ever seen. As Mel said... serious creep factor!

Melodie

There's a huntstman on the wall in my office right now, I think he's looking at me, do you know they have 8 eyes? Like Neil, will just leave him there and let him get on with things.

Did you feed him that drop-bear you promised him?

I'm happy to leave them too, except when they get in my car. That sudden jump out from behind the windscreen visor that they have learned from the drop bears can be very scary.

True Susan7, but they're cute when they dangle from the rear vision mirror - much classier than those furry dice!

LOL, what a good idea, it could double as an anti-theft device. Who needs one of those cumbersome metal steering-wheel locks when you have Harriet Huntsman on the job.

As luck would have it, today I was chatting with a young lady (a transplant from Colorado) whose boyfriend had a unique Huntsman experience when an unusually large speciment crawled down the INSIDE of his motorcycle helmet visor while he was travelling along the highway at high speed.

They're tenacious buggers, being able to cling to a smooth car exterior and withstand a long journey at speeds of over 100 km/hr. One of ours made it all the way from Canberra to Sydney's northern beaches, a 300 km ride. I hope he's enjoying his new home. Maybe he's out testing surfboards.

Good God, I've heard of cane toads hitching a ride to Sydney from Queensland, now Canberra-based Hunstmans (huntsmen?) are hitchhiking to Sydney's northern beaches, as if they don't have enough there of their own.

He's ok, Pat & Neil - he's just visiting cousins up here, doing a bit of surfing & waiting for Canberra to cool down a bit. He'll be home for St.Patrick's Day, Neil.

Good to know, Bokhara2. Just as long as I don't get a call from the bus station when he arrives without taxi fare.

The only venomous snakes I've seen in the wild (3 red-bellied black snakes) were all in my backyard. One brushed my leg as it passed. The only funnel web I've seen in the wild was under my desk at work. It was dead, but they can play dead I believe. I'm sure there are some in my backyard but I don't see them!

When I lived on the outskirts of Sydney, there was a bit of a problem with brown snakes coming into the yard, garage, etc. 2 cats died from snake bite (one got the snake, as well!) and one reared at me when I was weeding in the garden - gave me a bit of a fright, I tell you. I jumped up, kicked away the cat sitting quietly beside me and raced inside. Watched it from the safety of the living room windows until it slid away.

We had problems with funnel-webs, too - a nest of them in the front garden - and occasionally in the house.

I moved to the inner west of Sydney - much safer there. The snakes are more upright, too!

OK, I'm getting ready to make my 7th trip to SYD from the USA in mid-March. I've not seen any of these critters in past visits. This thread makes me shiver!!!! Yikes!!! I'll be spending time at Darling Harbor and then off to Parramatta and Jenolan. Should I be concerned? Most probably not, but I had to ask!

Here is the midwest (Illinois, 3 hours from Chicago) we have some pretty hairy jumping spiders that can intimidate, but to my knowledge... not dangerous. Once in a while I'll see a garden snake, but they zip away pretty quickly. I think an upright snake would be alarming!

Still looking forward to my next OZ visit, regardless of the critters you have down under.

Carol

Don't worry Carol, there are no snakes at Darling Harbour, apart from the human ones selling you overpriced meals.

Susan, I've actually stayed at Darling Harbor several times in the past, and have always had a lovely time. I don't anticipate any problems this next trip either.

Re: Darling Harbor eats... I used to get a great tasting bowl of pumpkin soup and chunk of bread... made a great meal. I suppose something like that is still available.

Here's some food suggestions, I hate to think of people being ripped off in that area when there is such good food in Sydney.

Do you like Chinese? Chinatown and Golden Century is not far from Darling Harbour and has excellent food. There's also a fabulous dumpling place in George St, Dai Tin Fung:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/restauran...472754072.html

Malaya in Lime st (Cockle Bay) is also a Sydney classic for Malalysian food.

Also you would be perfectly located for getting a ferry to Balmain or Milsons Point. A shortish walk up from the wharf at Balmain East is Duke St Brasserie, excellent food. That one is expensive but worth it.

At Milson's Point, there's Ripples just below the Bridge that gets good reviews here.

Good for you Susan7! I thought the same thing. Far less danger from funnel webs than that frightful tourist trap, Darling Harbour. Cockle Bay (Other side) is a bit better quality but not too many bargains there either.

Surry Hills (just beyond Central Railway Station) and Newtown (about 5 mins in a cab) to the West, are full of good quality, cheap eats. Suggest you buy a "Sydney Cheap Eats" when you get here.

Thanks for all the food suggestions. The ferry to Balmain sounds interesting, maybe? I'm not a foodie, but I like to get out on the water and see the sights from there. How long is the ferry ride? I've done the Manly ferry any number of times and always enjoy it.

Here's a Sydney Ferries route map http://www.sydneyferries.info/upload...0A3%20JPEG.jpg

One of my favourite "visitor jaunts" is to take the ferry to Watsons Bay, have lunch at the hotel near the wharf (not Doyle's restaurant - there's a good casual option on the roof top terrace at the pub next door). Bus from the street at the top of the rise, near The Gap (about 3 mins walk) to Bondi. Walk along the cliff tops (very easy, paved path walk) to Bronte or if you like, a little further to Coogee. Bus back to the city.
http://www.about-australia.com/trave...-coastal-walk/


Another option - Northern Beaches & Pittwater: Bus to Palm Beach (about an hour) and take the Riverboat Postman's ferry around Pittwater http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macin.../syd/ferry.htm

It's about two to five minutes from Darling Harbour to Balmain East. If you look on Bokhara's first link above you'll see it's very close. You can download the timetable form the ferry site.

There's two quite separate wharves at Darling Harbour, one goes to Parammatta and Cockatoo Island. If you are interested in history and being on the water, Cockatoo is an interesting place to visit, there's a cafe there, as well as a fantastic camping site. There are convict buildings on the top of the island and then very majestic industrial ruins at the bottom.

Anyway to return to the subject of food, the other wharf is where you catch the ferry to Circular Quay stopping at Balmain East and sometimes Balmain.

And for the record, when I lived in Balmain and worked in George Street North (how much better can it get?) the ferry ride to Circular Quay took 11 minutes.

Carol, I would be ASTONISHED if you had a critter experience of the non-human variety at Darling Harbour or Parramatta. (About the same chance as coming across a black widow or cottonmouth at Fisherman's Wharf, SF, say.)

And at Jenolan Caves I'd be surprised too, unless you decide to strike out on your own into the surrounding bush.

In the bush there's a (statistically very low) chance of seeing a black snake, but it's a very low chance, and they're a timid beast. If one is around it will almost certainly have heard you coming and hightailed it.

In 8 years of living in the Blue Mountains, at the end of a dirt road and bordering national park, during which I spent a lot of time stumbling through the bush, I saw four (4) snakes. One in the laundry (captured in an old Arnott's biscuit tin and released in the bush), one outside the front door (scurried away at top speed) and a couple in the bush, both of which had plenty of time to make their getaway. That's one every two years, so your odds of seeing one are very, very poor.

And apart from the usual garden redbacks, which like a quiet life, I never saw a dangerous spider either.

I was much more scared in Yellowstone, believe me.

Aw, Neil, those bison and bears won't hurt you :S-

Back in the days before Yellowstone cracked down on private snowmobling, we had a close call with a bison. We were returning from dinner outside the park when our snowmobile headlights fell upon a bison standing in the middle of the track. We had to quickly skirt around it and I thought for sure it was right behind us, chasing us all the way back to our cabin.

That little adventure put the kibosh on our nighttime snowmobiling.

Ah, memories...I could really go for some snow right about now.

The "Freo Doctor" hasn't arrived yet, Melnq8?
:)