Spiders take over

Downunder story about displaced spiders, just a few of the buggers

"It was largely spiders," Russell Watkins, U.K. Department for International Development, told National Geographic. "Certainly, when we were there working, if you stood under one of these trees, dozens of small, very, very tiny spiders would just be dropping down onto your head."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/thousands-spiders-blanket-australian-farm-escaping-flood-165958059.html

spiders are the one thing that creep me out....

I for one welcome our new spider overlords.

I feel that man has ruled this world as a stumbling child king for long enough.

This is one of the main reasons Australia frightens me.

I'm not really a spider person, but that's cool.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote:

Talk about being caught with your pants down...

Wow, that's a big'un!

This time, that's really what she said.

That must have been one heck of a flood.

makes me itch just seeing the pictures.

I never minded spiders until I got bit on the ear... and it swelled up to about three or four times it's normal size

This is why I will never visit Australia. Yes, I know it's a ridiculous, idiotic reason not to visit an incredibly cool country, but I can be a ridiculous, idiotic person when it comes to spiders (and other things as I'm sure some people will say from some of my disagreements in other threads ).

The ridiculous, idiotic part is that when I was a kid I wasn't afraid of spiders. I remember a class field trip to a pet store (yup, we had field trips to pet stores) and playing with a tarantula (or some kind of large, hairy spider). I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Fast forward a couple of years and I remember getting freaked out by any kind of spider, even the tiny ones that are less than a quarter of an inch.

Bob

Bob, don't forget that the top 10 deadliest snakes are in/around Australia as well. They got them some mean beasties down under.

I like spiders, but even I'll admit that this photo is a little unnerving .

The boss at work bought a house. It had sat vacant for about 6 months before he bought it. Nice house, relatively new construction, etc. It was loaded with Brown Recluse spiders. I mean LOADED, as in, pull the sheets of your bed back, there's one on your pillow. All over the bathroom, etc. Everywhere. He was considering moving out, it was so bad. He called an exterminator and told them "Scorched Earth, understand?" They didn't. He finally told them after several visits that he was going to change exterminators if they didn't get it right this time and they nuked the place. He's been spider free for 6 months now, but still has the exterminator coming once a month.

I hate Brown Recluses. I have a bite on my shoulder from one right now. Must have got it under a car or in the shed. Nasty hole they leave.

the recluse is bad... really bad. I could not imagine a house infested with them

Do they smoke cigarettes too?

I don't think I've ever seen a recluse. I see they call the midwest their home and I hope they're not common around here.

We are blessed with an abundance of black widows, however. I've lost count of how many I've squashed. I often find them just inside the garage doors down by the floor, or hiding in the foundation vents.

Good thing about Black Widows is that they're one of the most timid spiders. They'll only bite if they're about to get crushed.

Bad thing about Brown Recluses is that they're hyper-aggressive. Brown Recluse is the only spider I would kill if I found one in my home.

I have had wolf spiders stalk me...

mad_machine wrote: I have had wolf spiders stalk me...

My experience is with Hunstman spiders, which look a lot like wolf spiders and are pretty big. I have had one jump in my direction and raise his front two legs. It was the Chuck Norris of Spiders.

Huntsman spiders are very common back home, they can jump 6 feet and are about 4 to 5" across.

My wife met one in a shower in Australia, she still can't talk about that incident.