InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "meta-fascinating!"

raisedbymoogles (raisedbymoogles) wrote,
@ 2009-09-25 18:32:00

Current mood:	shocked
Entry tags:	aminals

OMG *flailyhands*
Dad just found one of these in our back garden. IT IS FREAKIN' HUGE AND A FREAKY-LOOKING LEGGY THING. If I found one of these in the house, I'd have to move.

...It's kinda cool from a distance though.

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	megpie71 2009-09-26 03:15 am UTC (link)
	evil grin Call me back when you get one of these. Or these. Those are the two types of spider that make me jump. Redbacks are really nasty poisonous (as in, can be deadly to small humans poisonous) and huntsman spiders are just really really really eurrrgh! (and big - up to 15cm across). (Reply to this) (Thread)

	raisedbymoogles 2009-09-26 09:08 pm UTC (link)
	....haet u. surrounds self with bugspray (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

megpie71
2009-09-27 04:01 am UTC (link)

*smile*

Contrary to popular belief, the Australian wildlife taken as a whole is not aggressive. Yes, we have massively poisonous snakes, spiders and even cephalopods (blue-ringed octopus). Yes, we have the world's only venomous mammal (the platypus - male platypi have venomous spines on their hind feet). The reality is that the majority of Australians very rarely see any of these in their natural state, if they do it's usually a rear view as the animal retreats at high speed, and if you leave them alone, they leave you alone.

This doesn't make suddenly noticing a huntsman spider on the wall when you're getting dressed any the less startling, but at least you know it isn't going to attack you once you've released your clawhold on the ceiling...

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	raisedbymoogles 2009-09-27 06:51 pm UTC (link)
	.......yeah, I just don't think I could handle it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	armina 2009-09-26 09:50 pm UTC (link)
	My house is literally surrounded by the California version of your Redback, the Black Widow spider. I have to go 'hunting' most summer nights so that they don't decide to move in with my family and four-footed babies. Fun Times. although I have learned their growth cycle and that Black widows don't start of black. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

megpie71
2009-09-27 04:28 am UTC (link)

Redbacks, like most of the rest of the Australian fauna, tend to be very much shy and retiring creatures. If you leave their (rather messy) webs alone, they don't come looking for you. The point where they become a menace is when you have curious, small creatures (like cats and children) poking around in the dark corners and quiet spots where they like to build their webs. The main preventative advice given to young children to avoid the more venomous forms of Australian wildlife is "leave it alone and it'll leave you alone".

Oddly enough, the ones to be worried about over here are the birdlife - Australian magpies at this time of the year are in nesting mode, and they're rather territorial. They defend their nests by swooping down on anything they perceive to be a threat - and that includes humans. As per the "leave it alone" rule, the usual advice given is to duck down, cover your head and eyes, and where the locations of nesting trees with swooping birds are known, people will usually signpost them in order to warn folks of the danger. It's one of those little things about Australia I like, to be honest - a willingness to acknowledge that the other animals on this continent by and large deserve to be allowed to live here without constant interference.

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armina
2009-09-28 03:33 pm UTC (link)

I've thought it before and now it seems certain; your redbacks and my black widows are probably descended from the same family tree, or we've got a very tight case of convergent evolution. Widows behave in much the same way your redbacks seem to. Do redbacks have thick silk that audibly snaps when it breaks?

I think I love your nation's respect for wildlife too. Gods, I can just hear the shrieks of the mighty and privilaged now if we asked them please leave the territorial nesting birds alone? Yes, we know they pecked you and messed up your hair, but please--

^_^

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	deepbluesquee 2009-09-26 08:49 am UTC (link)
	O___O I'm never sure what's worse - the thin, whispy long-leggedy ones or the big fat squishy ones. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	raisedbymoogles 2009-09-26 05:51 pm UTC (link)
	BOTH. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	deepbluesquee 2009-09-26 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	...You have a good point. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	armina 2009-09-26 07:32 pm UTC (link)
	Pretty... bet it eats a lot of bugs too. has a garden with lots of plant eating bugs-that-must-die so spiders? Good Things (Reply to this)

	ravenclaw_devi 2009-09-29 02:29 pm UTC (link)
	...It's kinda cool from a distance though. It is! XD But then I'm speaking as a self-confessed big-time arachnophile (you know, the opposite of a -phobe). (Reply to this)