Arachnids (spiders)

John U

MTB Precision
Given the amount of arachnophobia around here I thought I'd start a thread related to our 8 legged friends.

To start off, can anyone identify the spider in the attached images. It was sitting on a blanket which I'd left outside the back door a couple of nights ago (eastern Melbourne). Third shot is a 50c piece for scale because I wasn't putting my hand or my 50c anywhere near the bastard. The 50c is on the same blanket.

Museum Vic indicates it might be a white tail but there were no white spots on it.
http://museumvictoria.com.au/spiders/detail.aspx?pid=20&pic=0
 

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John U

MTB Precision
In its camouflaged state, it looks like a fiddycent spider.
LOL. For my geology thesis I had have a lot photos of some pretty boring rocks for which I regularly used this yellow pencil for scale. I showed my thesis to couple of people who responded 'Why all the pictures of the yellow pencil?'

It's a million miles from a white tail, which are harmless anyway.
Museum of Vic website isn't much help then, although it did back up your statement about non issue of white tail bites.
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
I'm that guy that catches the spiders in the house and puts them outside rather than standing on them. I've got no fear of the little buggers but do know the result of patting the furry ones. ;)

I was trail building a few years ago and a bunch of funnel webs run across my wrists after I rolled a log off a pile of wet timber. Even though they were a little dirty and dusty, there's no mistaking a funnel web. My Dad was bitten by one doing the exact same thing when I was a wee tacker and it leveled him, they pack a punch.
I myself was bitten by a red back in the garden a few years ago. It didn't feel anything other than something brushing my hand at the time but later.....whoa. My wrist and hand felt like it'd been hit with a hammer and I wanted to spew a few hours after the bite. I didn't go to hospital but did call a Doctor that I know who told me to wait it out a bit. That was alarming! It was all over the following evening but still had some numbness and strangely, it was a sweaty feeling on the bite spot.

As for the photo, that could well be a male red back. They are a bit smaller than the females, have a more pronounced brown on their chassis and don't always have the bright red battlecry across their arse. I would advise against eating it. ;)
 

eastie

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Maybe some sort of orb weaver, which are harmless.
Find a car with the top down or window ajar and release it.
 
J

JaRedy

Guest
The interesting thing about the golden orb is they very easily imprint onto objects that are foreign to their natural environment.
This particular spider is likely to develop an emotional attachment to this bike, to the extent that the spider may spend the rest of its life hunting down the bike, should you choose to set it free unharmed. This is a sad existence for the spider, constantly searching for the being that uprooted its home and gave it a brief taste of an exciting life.

The best way to know if the spider has imprinted is to observe which way it scatters when you release it. If it runs towards your bike then you know the emotional attachment has been made. The most ethical choice at this point is to relieve the spider of what is surely to be a hopeless existence, and end its life.

There are techniques for dealing with the imprinted spider if murder is not an option for you, but this will come at the cost of your bike. You bike belongs to the spider now. If you explain your circumstance at any reputable pet store or the RSPCA they should be able to provide you with a spider imprinting starter pack, which includes small bandages, blankets, and spider-safe paracetamol.
 
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pharmaboy

Eats Squid
Violent buggars, I've had at least a couple of them force me off the trail into the bushes - the most memorable was when I pulled both brakes on as hard as I could, stopping with my nose not 6" from the 1/2 kilo monster orb - my clipless pedals momentarily stopped from working so I slowly tipped sideways down the embankment ( into another spiderweb.....)
 

Skydome

What's invisible and smells like hay?
Funnel web?

Idk I'm no spider expert, but I've had 3 white tales break into my house in the past.

One was fully grown.
 

stirk

Burner
Even the funnel web risk is greatly overstated, unless you are very young or weak. No one has died from any spider bite in aus for a loooong time. Sure they will make you sick, but htfu.
It's not the very slight chance of death that freaks me out with the funnel web, it's those fangs!

I think the last human death from a funnel web was back in the 80's?
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
It's not the very slight chance of death that freaks me out with the funnel web, it's those fangs!

I think the last human death from a funnel web was back in the 80's?
Yeah, they introduced the antivenom and pressure immobilisation bandage about then. I love it when you're the first one on a morning ride, hitting every cobweb with your face and your hoping you have no extra passengers.
 

SummitFever

Eats Squid
The Golden Orbs up on Bruce Ridge always grow to really nice proportions. Whoever goes first on any summer night ride rides through lots of these. This one is about 7cm from leg tip to leg tip. No matter how fast you plow into them, they do not hang around. They are probably used to animals disrupting their webs, so their first response must be to just drop off.

 

Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
I'm that guy that catches the spiders in the house and puts them outside rather than standing on them.

I'm that guy too. The last one was a Huntsman, let it loose at the base of a Tea Tree on the nature strip.

We were driving out the front gate about 10 minutes later and the bugger was hightailing it up and over the front fence, obviously displeased with its treatment.
 
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