People who live in Australia, sorry for the ignorance, but whats the situation like with spiders over there...

Question

Basically do you get massive spiders in your house and stuff or is there some sort of thing that prevents it orrr do you spray them etc etc? just because I know there's massive spiders everywhere and I was wondering how you cope with them?

Answer 1

depends on what you mean by big. mainly the big ones we get around here on the GC, QLD is hunstmans, there harmless- just ugly. the rest are ok, just leave them alone. if in doubt just practice your aim with throwing shoes and squating things, or sweeping them up works too...depends on where you live too i live in the hinterland so we get more out here.

Answer 2

I could spin you a yarn to freak you out, mate I live in Sydney in the middle of the city, never seen a spider's only those harmless daddy long legs. Out in the suburbs where people have gardens and yards you'll get Huntsmen they look really creepy being they are big, some are as big as the span of your hand there totally non poisonous and harmless you brush them away with a broom or squish them with a shoe. In summer tree spiders (harmless) are a pest if you walk into there strong webs. You only need to avoid the Funnel webs (deadly) if your bitten by one you only have15 minutes to say goodbye they only come out after it rains, I have only seen 3 of them. One floating in a jar at school to show us what they looked like, the second one was on TV the other was pinned to a board in a museum. So you really never see any spider's unless you plan to look for them or go out where they are or have a lot of rubbish and leaves  hanging around your yard.

Answer 3

I have lived here 4 years and I have never had one in the house but it depends on where you live.  Closer to the beach or in the bush is more likely.  My apartment is quite high so its less likely but you can still get them.  Some are really massive and people tend to spray them to kill them.  Although some people hate killing say a huntsman (which are massive but harmless).  Its like killing a rat! So you can get these catchers or use a tub to cover them and throw them out the window.

We get nasty spiders like red backs and white tails but mostly we have anti venom in the hospital and its not like many people get the bites. I see that you are in the safest place.  If you were say in the UK and a red back from someones home collection got you, the hospital is less likely to have the antivenom or know what to do.

Answer 4

Coming across lethal spiders is a lot rarer than the media will have you believe.   Most of them are not big, and they do prefer to leave you alone.   Funnel Web spiders for instance are only found in a fairly limited area around the east coast, mostly greater Sydney.    In 10 years of living in Sydney I have come across about only 4 of them.  On only one occasion was one really aggressive (which they usually are).  I am told they normally only come out after a rainy deluge where their nests get washed out.   As you can see I managed to survive the experience.   Huntsmen spiders also look massively scary but I am told are relatively harmless.   I have seen only one of those in my life.  They seem to want to be alone.    I have seen red-backed spiders all over Australia.  They never seemed aggressive.  With most Australian wildlife it is a case of - if it  moves leave it the heck alone.   Most Australians would never come across these animals because they live in cities, which are pretty alien landscapes tothese creatures.   Don't believe everything you read and hear about deadly Aussie animals.  In the 10 years I have lived in Sydney there have been absolutely no fatalities from spider bites.   You are more likely to die in a traffic accident than from a funnel web.   One piece of advice I was told though - shake your shoes before putting them on in the morning.  They  make wonderful hiding spots for spideys of all persuasions.   Note also that spider/insect sprays do work.

Answer 5

The dangerous ones aren't big, and the big ones aren't dangerous (Unless a large hunting spider jumps in your lap or on your shoulder whilst driving...  People tend to forget to keep steering.)

Last Red-back fatality: 1956

Last Sydney Funnelweb fatality, 1980.

Worry about motor cars... They kill about 1,500 people every year in Australia*.

Similarly, sharks: for everyone killed by a shark, 99 people drown, roughly.  If you're scared of sharks, you should be terrified of water.

I'm not an Aussie, but I researched this before I visited.

*the US figures are even more horrifying: 100 a day: a twin towers casualty list every month.

Answer 6

cc of 0z and Pedestal are both absolutely correct. The big ones are harmless (unless they crawl on you and you die of fright) and the poisonous ones are generally small and you rarely come across one.

On the subject of massive spiders though, at my place we get some monsters. They are Huntsman spiders and I've had a couple of 25cm+ monsters and dozens of 18-20 cm specimens in the house, though thankfully, not all at the same time. I get the big ones with the vacuum cleaner (had one once that wouldn't fit down the tube) so I don't need to get too close. The others, I whack with a newspaper. It's not smart to spray them as they run about and sometimes jump (shudders) and then disappear so you don't know where they are - I like to be able to keep my eye on them. I've never seen a nasty spider here. I suppose they're around, but they don't come into the house.

Don't imagine though that all of Australia is infested with huge spiders. I live in the bush in South-East Queensland which is in the sub-tropics, so it's the perfect environment for them, but in most places a big spider is very rare and in that context, big is only 7 or 8cm across.

Answer 7

the big ones tend to live on wood fences or trees, so clean up around your house and you wont have as many.

like it already says, its not the big ones that are dangerous, and the venemous one generally live in the outback or bush anyway.

try spraying your house if you really dont like it.

Answer 8

There aren't massive spiders everywhere. I'm terrified of spiders, and I rarely see them apart from little house spiders here or there.

It's the drop-bears that you really need to look out for ; )

Answer 9

I do not such a problem.  Red backs are dangerous.  they like to live in the patios etting in the pergola under the chairs and table so before you sit down you need to check and oh I had a red back in my shoes that I left at the back door once.  It gave me heart palpitations and put my back out when I jumped 3 feet in fright. So now, I do not leave shoes outside and if I leave them near the door I put a stocking over the top

I was at the hospital a few weeks ago and a man got bitten on the leg and another lady got bitten when she went to her letterbox.  They seem to be more prominent at the moment and I think it may be because we have had a lot of rain lately after a dry spell and now they have had rain they are all breeding up. red backs do not like being thumped with a thong , best way to get rid of them.  That's my story and my theory

Answer 10

There are plenty of spiders around but we just ignore them, they never hurt anyone.If we see a funnelweb or redback inside (very very rarely) we would usually kill it.

Don't leave your shoes outside overnight, or if you do shake them out well before putting them on.