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Unwanted Backyard Guest - In the House

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OzDave

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The Sydney Huntsman (Holconia immanis). This one measured about 4 inches from tip to tip. I would have captured and released, but I was outvoted 4 to 1 by my arachnophobic wife and daughters!



Here's one in situe (above the door jamb)



And a final one after the 100 % lethal "Shoe of Death". The 10c piece is a little larger than a quarter.



Thanks for stopping by!
--
Dave
 
I would of freaked out I can not stand spiders
Specialy something that large in my house shudder
Thankfuly here in the cold spiders dont get very big

--
Sparky_ca
I have a photographic memory, but I always seem to have the lens cap on.
-- Current Camera F828
 
You do get used to them sparky :-) But the thing that I particularly DONT like about Huntsmans is the fact that they can jump as far as 6 feet.

--
Dave
 
Thanks for your kind comments as always Joe. Those huntsmen certainly are ugly little mongrels, but fascinating at the same time.

--
Dave
 
Hi Dave,

You sure get some huge, freaky bugs in your part of the world. I'm the main 'bug catcher' in our household, but would take me a while to get used that. I usually just quickly trap the bug with a plastic container, then slide paper underneath....judging by those eye pods, I'm guessing it can detect the slightest movement, so you'd have to be quite fast to trap or swat it.

Hope you don't have intruders like this too often.

Cheers,
Gary R
 
Hi Dave,

At least it's not a Male Funnel Web - LOL. The Huntsman does bite I understand, but not a really aggressive and super toxic biter like the Funnel Web but I guess they can cause a sore which is difficult to heal.

Back in the late 60's I was in NSW on R&R from Vietnam and horseback riding with a very savy Australian teenage girl. I started to ride under a large Funnel Web spider and the girl screamed at me. I laughed and said it's only an insect - what's the big deal... After she gave me a thorough "education" I had much more respect for Australian insects....

Lin
OzDave said:
The Sydney Huntsman (Holconia immanis). This one measured about 4
inches from tip to tip. I would have captured and released, but I
was outvoted 4 to 1 by my arachnophobic wife and daughters!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Gary and Lin.

I don't want to correct you Lin, but I think your teenage female friend was what us Aussies colloquially term "taking the p* s". The most common funnel webs around the Sydney Area are Atrax Robustus which are exclusively ground dwellers and form tunnels lined with silk (hence the name) in moist garden beds or wooded areas.

The far less common Southern Tree Funnel-web Spider (Hadronyche cerberea) although residing in trees, do not spin webs out in the open. They live in crevices of the bark or trunk and once again weave a sliken tunnel that is covered over with bark or wood fragments.

They are deadly, but you cannot walk (or ride) into a Funnel Webs' web! The majority of bites occur when they find a comfortable spot in your shoes, clothes or bedclothes. Because they love moisture a lot are often found in backyard pools in the northern part of Sydney and can survive in that environment for days.

Sorry for sounding supercillious, but I have a sneaking suspicion that your friend was taking a lend of you!

--
Dave
 
OzDave said:
Thanks Gary and Lin.

I don't want to correct you Lin, but I think your teenage female
friend was what us Aussies colloquially term "taking the p* s".
The most common funnel webs around the Sydney Area are Atrax
Robustus which are exclusively ground dwellers and form tunnels
lined with silk (hence the name) in moist garden beds or wooded
areas.
Click to expand...
So she was "pulling my leg" m8t?, could be because I had never seen or heard of the Funnel Web spider at that time. It was on the bottom side of a low hanging tree branch overhead, not on a web so I haven't a clue what it really was, but just took her word for it - she seemed quite serious but then maybe she had no clue either...
OzDave said:
The far less common Southern Tree Funnel-web Spider (Hadronyche
cerberea) although residing in trees, do not spin webs out in the
open. They live in crevices of the bark or trunk and once again
weave a sliken tunnel that is covered over with bark or wood
fragments.

They are deadly, but you cannot walk (or ride) into a Funnel Webs'
web! The majority of bites occur when they find a comfortable spot
in your shoes, clothes or bedclothes. Because they love moisture a
lot are often found in backyard pools in the northern part of
Sydney and can survive in that environment for days.

Sorry for sounding supercillious, but I have a sneaking suspicion
that your friend was taking a lend of you!
Click to expand...
Dang those naughty Aussy cowgirls anyway - :-)

Lin
OzDave said:
--
Dave
Click to expand...
 
Arachno-Dave wrote:
they can
OzDave said:
jump as far as 6 feet.
Click to expand...
"6 feet"!!!! Now you're really creeping me out. And I'll bet they don't say "ready or not" befor they launch.
Who wants this story? Steven King? Dean Koontz?

I suspect by your language that you have a scientific understanding of these critters, and perhaps an empathy for them. That's nice.

I live with spiders. Little ones. Cute ones. When their body mass reaches a certain point (critical mass), they scare me.
Please, Dave, more flowers and landscapes, Please.

Gordon

--
http://www.pbase.com/gbk

 
Gordon,

Sorry about the nightmares, but they really are quite harmless. I promise that all future spider posts will include "SPIDER" in the the tiltle.

They are fascinating though, don't you think?

--
Dave
 
OzDave said:
The Sydney Huntsman (Holconia immanis). This one measured about 4
Click to expand...
The Hulconia Immanis is poisonous. Its bite may cause necrotising arachnidism (progressive tissue death around bites) for which there is no effective cure.

I'm all for the idea of capturing and releasing unwelcome intruders of this kind, but I think your wife and daugher got it right in this particular instance :-)

Mike
 
OzDave said:
Ok R2D2, so you don't like spiders.

But what the heck does DW mean? Can't work it out. :-)
Click to expand...
It's a Love-Hate relationship really. I love to shoot spiders, but I hate to be around them. It makes taking their pictures kind of - um - interesting. And thank the lord that they don't grow as big as your friend there.

The Funnel Web spiders around these parts are pretty tame anyway.



ps. DW is short for DEAR (left behind to fend for herself) WIFE. :-D
R2

--
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.

http://www.pbase.com/jekyll_and_hyde/galleries
 
Not liking spiders at all I would have to call in my exterminator ( aka my wife ) to deal with one that size while I departed to another part of the house.

Strange how certain creatures really get to us.
Geoff
--

 
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