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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Funnel-web spider health breakthrough....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9306 |
I hate spiders, or, at least I USED to. I still...how should I say it....'Dislike' the larger species, but I can deal with the smaller ones now. I did not even used to be able to handle looking at them up close. However, scientists seem to have found what could be a huge medical breakthrough for heart-attack patients, by using funnel-web spider venom! LINK Due to my fear of spiders previously, I decided I needed to face my fear, so the way I started to do that, was to actually LEARN something about them.  I rented DVD's, watched YT videos and read about them on Wikipedia. Once I understood more about them, I did not fear them quite so much. I doubt I will ever grow to like them enough to want to have pet ones like some people have.....uggggghhhh.....  EDIT: Correct thread title spelling. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Davo99 Guru  Joined: 03/06/2019 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1578 |
You are a better man than I. I do not like them particularly either but I am not petrified of them and I leave them alone much as possible. Its REALLY annoying round here in summer when all those great big brown fuzzy ones start spinning 3-6ft webs across every pathway and place we walk. Nothing to have 6-8 of them spinning webs from the bushes on one side of the 4M wide driveway to the other. Many put them up high so you miss direct contact but sometimes they are low and time you get up the shed the damn things are all over the windscreen. It's the ones that go across every path and walkway we Object to and we have all had them smack in the face which does cause me to do the panic freak-out dance. I think they are Huntsman's and I know they are not poisonous but the things freak me out when they are walking on my face or head. had a few walk up my arms and that I can tolerate till I can flick them off in the garden but On my face or head, No, I loose my ship when that happens. As for education, that had the opposite effect for me. Since moving out here to the Sydney fringe we have had urgent warnings several times from Several Neighbours about Eastern Brown snake spotting's. Certainly the deadliest snake in oz and some say the world. A few months after moving here, Mrs and I went up to Cairns and Visited a crock farm that had a LOT of snakes. A handler there was purported to be the leading expert on Australian snakes. There was a snake show and like an Idiot I got there early so we could get front row seats. Guy pulls out his snakes including a brown and gave an interesting talk including how deadly the things were and the potency of the venom. All the while he is handling this thing slivering around not 2m From us. I wasn't fazed in the least, clearly it had been defanged or whatever to render it harmless. I asked the guy about the snake repellers the previous owners had everywhere in the garden and highly recommended that I was suspect on. Guy laughed and said you may as well put river pebbles around the place. He asked where we lived and although most people have no idea, this guy got visibly excited, named surrounding areas confirming he knew exactly where it was and then told us how it was one of his favourite snake hunting areas and we had the highest concentration of Browns and blacks of anywhere he knew! Oh Goody! He then went on with some cautions we had heard before and repeated the warnings not to go anywhere near them as they will chase you down and recounted instances of people being bit from good distances away and being chased and near misses himself. I'd always been told red bellys were dangerous and he confirmed this but he said the Blacks kept the browns away and the blacks will run where the browns will attack so keep as many black around as you can. Ummmmmm..... Coming from an expert and getting fair Dinkum Knowledge only heightened my worry levels. The guy was generous with his time and a real nice bloke but said he'd have to excuse himself to go milk the one he was still holding. I asked was that thing not rendered " safe" he laughed and said oh no, he's one of our best producers. He could kill everyone in this park today if he shared his venom out. I knew the skidmarks I just left were going to be tough to get out of this pair of Y fronts! Thing had easily been within a meter of us many times and here is the guy just finishing telling us they have a 3 meter split second range! The explanation of how the venom eats away at flesh and nerves and is very had to recover from if bitten even with quick treatment did nothing what so ever to alleviate my considerable fears. Clearly you get hit by one of these and there is every change the lasting effects will make you wish you did die if you don't. Last week when cleaning up, I was lifting some heavy metal and looking where I was going to put it. I looked back down and saw a reptilian tail. Blew clean through those Y fronts and my work britches! Split second after they were ruined I saw this was in fact a blue tounge lizard that appeared to be Hibernating. Thank you little Blue tounge. A practical and timely reminder to be more careful around the yard when moving things, anything, for what could have been under there. I am told you are not allowed to kill snakes but sorry, they are out to get me so If I come across one and have the means, Mrs is going to be getting a new pair of designer shoes. A persons life is not worth that of a reptile, especially one in prolific proportions and so deadly or damaging and being literally the kids on the block here, too many oldies that can't move so good at risk. Not to mention the endless pets round here that have been lost. I might get on the net and look at plans for Flame throwers so I can build one this season..... For weed removal. I already hired an excavator and tore out all the front garden after the guy up north told us he would never have those plants around if he were here because they provided a perfect shelter for browns and others and gave us a lot of other tips on what to have, or not have, in the garden. I'm seriously looking at snake mesh as well for the Fences. Might sound over kill but saying it after someone had been bitten would be looked at differently so better to be a bit smart and shut the gate before the horse bolts. |
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| Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
Browns in particular are VERY aggressive, a few years back, I was slashing a paddock (old Inter 555 which is open- no cab) and one took offence to me removing his ground cover and attacked the tractor!!! I was literally out of the seat and ready to jump, as this &^%#^*&%ing brownie was literally 'climbing' the rotating tyre!!!, winding his way up using the chevrons on the tyre as a ladder, and his head was less than a foot from where my right knee had been... I pulled the engine kill as I jumped off and left him to it, he was not a happy camper and was literally attacking the tyre... Very similar to this  You can see the footrest (it was the other side though) and how close it was to me... No way was I staying there with a P.O'd brownie right next to me! |
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| BenandAmber Guru Joined: 16/02/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 961 |
 This was under my security light by the front door of my bus today be warned i am good parrot but Dumber than a box of rocks |
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CaptainBoing Guru Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2075 |
mmmm.... spiders. creepy as... how ya deal with 'em |
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| Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
I don't know, I had a huntsman that lived in one of my cars for probably a year (I used to leave the windows down and it often had insects inside it), lived in the dashboard, and used to pop up out of the dash vents and look out the windscreen while I was driving- seems it liked it lol) Scared the ... out of a friend of mine when it popped up while I was driving, she went from the front seat (belted in) to sitting on top of the center armrest in the back in the blink of an eye lol She didn't like spiders and wouldn't go in that car again... |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Gee Boppa, that really made me laugh ,my missus thinks I'm crazy ?. I can just see this crazy scared Shiela climbing over the front seat to escape !!!. anyhow ,4.30, you have made me happy ,thanks. bruce Bushboy |
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| Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
It was funny (for me at least)- I had an old LTD that had the fold down armrest in the center of the back seat- she was literally perched up on top of it, knees up against her chin... Screaming her head off, and I'm all whaaa??? It's only a huntsman... (my house regularly had them in it too- it's funny watching them stalk a midge or mosquito- then leaping off into space to catch it...) |
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| CaptainBoing Guru Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2075 |
on the other hand... I like this little chap https://imgur.com/gallery/Ka9u1bB |
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