Another day in paradise

Went to fill up Haggis’s water bowl this morning and found a “dead” spider and went to pick it out. It was rather big so I hesitated and went and got a cup to scoop it out.

Just as well, becasue the wee bastard was very much alive and just waiting for a mug like me to pick it out! These things survive by creating a bubble of air to breathe as it would appear they tend to fall into water alot.

This was 2 feet from my back door - god help us if the kids had seen it first!

Anyway, quick family meeting around the computer and we’re all wearing wellys and full protection body suits around the hoose!

Australasian funnel-web spiders are very venomous spiders of the family Hexathelidae. These spiders are found in two genera of the family: Hadronyche (which is not associated with any known human fatalities) and Atrax (which probably have killed 13 people). They are notorious for the inclusion of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus), native to eastern Australia. 

Males, recognised by the modified terminal segment of the palp, are aggressive and tend to wander during the warmer months of the year looking for receptive females of their kind for mating.^[2] They are attracted to water and hence are often found in swimming pools where they have fallen while wandering. They also show up in garages and yards in suburban Sydney.

While some very venomous spiders may give dry bites, these spiders do so much less frequently. It appears that approximately 10% to 25% of bites will produce toxicity^[1] but the likelihood cannot be predicted and all should be treated as potentially life-threatening.

There have been 26 recorded deaths in Australia in the last 100 years from spider bites.” Wikipedia