Spiders and spider stories

[Merinda]

I thought I would start a thread to tell our horror spider encounters , but first here is a menu of creepy crawlies that are common around these parts

1 Daddy long legs
A very small body with long thin legs , harmless to humans , found under most houses in plague proportions.

2 White tail
looks like a very large ant with a white tip on its tail , may cause ulceration to human flesh if bitten , I'm sick of killing them in the house lately

3 garden orb
big body the size of a small plum , hangs in web from trees after dark , watch where you walk , I was bitten as a kid , swolen finger only

4 window spider
black medium size web in corner of windows , doesn't move out of area , may require hospitalization if bitten

5 red back
small black with red stripe on back , found under rocks and rubish , may cause death if not hospitalized after bite

6 huntsman
large brown furry 2inch to about 4 inch legspan , common for invading houses , supposidly harmless (yeah Right!)

I had a monster size huntsman on my car some time back under the rear door handle of my stn wagon , I tried to flick it off with my keys.
The spider then arched its back in the same manner as the deadly Sydney funnel web spider does , it produced what looked like fangs and ejeculated fluid from them when it had a swipe at me.
I eventually flicked it off after finding a stick, not without a fight though , but when it finally hit the ground my Blundstone boot completed the job.

I have never seen a Huntsman spider show such aggression before , or maybe it wasn't a huntsman at all.
Whatever , it left a big splatter mark in the middle of the Baccus Marsh rail car park and left me in a state of feeling like things are crawling on me.

Now tell me your encounters

[DonnaT]

So, the huntsman was it like any of the ones on this site?

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/h ... piders.htm

or like the funnel-web at:

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/funnelweb.htm

or the Mouse spider at:

http://www.avru.unimelb.edu.au/avruweb/Mouse.htm

[DonnaT]

The most serious around here is the Black Widow.

See http://www.calpoison.org/public/spiders.html#1

When we were kids we used to catch them hanging around the dog house and put them in sealed jars. As they died it appeared that the venom collected in the bottom of the jar.

Supposed to be some Brown Recluses in this area too, but I've never run across one.

Lots of daddy long legs, though thhey aren't really spiders.

Lots of garden spiders too. The Black and Yellow Argiope ( http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLand ... rgiope.htm ) can make rather large webs right in the middle of one's walking path. Had one around the house that used to make a web in front of the front door all the time. It managed to catch quite a few bugs attracted by the porch lite.

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLand ... ope8m1.jpg

[Merinda]

thanks Donna , heres anothe site

http://www.avru.unimelb.edu.au/avruweb/otherspiders.htm

[Celia]

There seem to be a lot of extraordinarily venomous creatures in your part of the world, Merinda. It tends to be cool and wet where I live (coastal Pacific Northwest of the US), and the kinds of critters that make you shrivel into a mummy and implode don't seem to care for the climate here. We have a few black widows, some hobo spiders (which might or might not be generally toxic - I can't get a straight story on them), and maybe a stray brown recluse or two that might come in on a shipment of goods. No venomous snakes and no Africanized bees (yet). I did suffer a bite from what my physician concluded was probably a brown recluse (which probably survived a trip in someone's luggage). Intense pain and blackened flesh. The incident was pretty much a fluke, though, and I don't worry too much about the spiders and snakes around where I live. Most of the time, I'm rather happy to see them, particularly the colorful spiders that create those webs that glisten with dew in the autumn.

Yours,
Celia

[Merinda]

This is the garden orb , I was bitten by one as a kid.

try walking into this on a dark night

[Celia]

Well, I suppose so you have a point, Merinda. Still, spiders don't bother me too much. House flies do bother me, though. When they land on me I practically want to shed my skin in disgust. If a spider should finish a few of them off, I count it my friend. It's similar with mice, I guess. I remember years ago hopping on top of a bathroom counter at superluminal speeds when I spied one of the little urine-soaked plague-bearers scurrying about my feet. If a snake - venomous or otherwise - should devour one whole, he's got a friend in me. I guess it all depends on which you fear more - the poison or the disease.

-Celia