I'm a Sook

johnno · #1 31-10-2006, 02:36 AM

I have to say I have a fear of spiders,Not a Phobia,like our youngest daughter(almost 30),
But still, a definate,keep away from me theory.

IE,I dont want to kill you,but if you come anywhere near me,I will.

Last night,while reading the posts from "Ice In Space",a Huntsman Spider appeared between the window frame and the wall,to my left.

I took off my shoe,but couldn't get a clear hit,so I thought just put the shoe under his back legs,and he will move up a little higher,where I can send him to the Promised land.

WRONG

This thing,Immediately Jumped diagonaly,over the Printer,and Straight at me,almost DIRE.

I should have had a heart attack,on the spot,
Instead, I got in touch with my FEMININE side,and let out a little Shriek.

My wife Kathy,said,I think it is on your Flanno, John,I had if off Fairly quick,
Ok,I tore it off.

Turns out,the thing had landed,on my Computer table,and Due to my panic,I still haven't seen where i went

Needless to say,I was,and still am.
A little Toey.

Seem's my heart is still ok.

I checked these Spiders out on the net,and it appears,quite common for then to Jump at you,When threatened.

This is a TRUE story,Both of our 2 daughters,and 5 Grandchildren,think it is Hilarious.

I Dont.

Regards to all.

John

iceman (Mike) · #2 31-10-2006, 06:03 AM

haha nice story Johnno.. like you, I hate huntsmen.. i mean I know they're harmless, but they're always so BIG and quick, and they appear out of nowhere.

Astroman (Andrew Wall) · #3 31-10-2006, 06:19 AM

Hi Hi Johnno,

Great Story. Even worse when they drop out of a tree and land on your shoulder without you knowing, then tickle the back of your neck with their long hairy arms as they try to navigate your cranium. You try and swipe at what ever is there knowing something is tickling you, to look over to your shouldder to be looking eye to eye's with the little beast. Now that scares the **** out of you.

acropolite (Phil) · #4 31-10-2006, 06:45 AM

Despite the fact that huntsman spiders are considered harmless they can administer a painful bite. A friend of mine was bitten by a huntsman. She was unlucky enough to put her hand directly on one when opening a curtain. I can still hear the scream and remember her feet stamping up and down on the spot, so quickly that it appeared as if she was hovering a foot off the ground for several seconds. Of course, I did the honourable thing and despatched the poor old spider.

astronut (John) · #5 31-10-2006, 07:13 AM

rmcpb (Rob) · #6 31-10-2006, 08:43 AM

Worst time I had with a huntsman was in heavy traffic on the Great Western Highway early one morning and I pulled down the sunshield and, guess what fell onto my lap. Traffic too heavy to do anything but drive......cold sweat time

Ric · #7 31-10-2006, 09:10 AM

Hi John, great story, I sympathise with you. It's terrible the way something that is 1/1000th or more of our size can install such primordial fear in us.
I had one the other night as well, it was a monster, I'm sure it arrived on a Harley and more tattoos than me

Give me a herd of rampant Water Buffalo's any day.

Cheers

neB · #8 31-10-2006, 10:41 AM

Astronomy is a dangerous pasttime!

Don't fancy spiders either, but my bigger concern is snakes.

I live out in the sticks, which is great for the dark sky, but also great for beasties.

Within 20 metres of my prime skywatching spot I've found a 4 foot eastern brown snake (the deadly one), a couple of little green tree snakes and 5+ foot carpet snake (in the chook house, nearly picked it up by mistake) - not to mention the redback with a body the size of a large pea I found in the shed.

Nothing untoward has happened to me stargazing yet. But sitting out there by myself in the middle of the night watching the stars, I often wonder what's watching me!!

Dujon · #9 31-10-2006, 11:32 AM

You have my sympathy, John. It's not a laughing matter when they give you the heebie-jeebies. I detest them. We get our share in the house (though the number has decreased since I fixed a wonky fly screen on a bedroom window) but I use the 'catch and release' method rather than despatching them to the hereafter. Now is the time that they'll become more obvious as it's coming up to their mating season, so they tend to wander around much more than at other times. From experience I'd say from Novemeber through to the end of January is the peak time, though I've had them turn up in late May on occasion.

To capture them I usually use a 'bug catcher' (sometimes available at K-Mart for a couple of dollars) though sometimes these are a little small - albeit that the spids usually tuck in their legs to accomodate me. The largest beastie I've had to contain required a 2 litre icecream container, and even then it didn't quite fit. Eeek!

At least around where I live such monsters are rare.

Good luck - he'll turn up again soon.

astro_nutt · #10 31-10-2006, 01:29 PM

Hi John,
Yeah...not the most pleasent experience..but hey..they nomally come out for peek before it rains!!...the last experience with one of them was in the caravan..used the old glass and cardboard and re-locate it onto a nearby tree..a doozy of a storm hit the following night!!!
A good point from neB..it's snake season..so if you don't know how to treat snakebite..please find out how!!!
Cheers!

ving (David) · #11 31-10-2006, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmcpb

Worst time I had with a huntsman was in heavy traffic on the Great Western Highway early one morning and I pulled down the sunshield and, guess what fell onto my lap. Traffic too heavy to do anything but drive......cold sweat time

sounds like a familiar story...

I was driving to work along the M5 and after hitting a bump notice a big hairy leg slip out from behind the visor. in a similar cold sweat at 120kmh i tried to find a place to pull over knowing that another bump could dislodge this nasty from his hiding place. i eventually pulled over and not wantign to hurt the poor thing shooed him ou the door. a couple of days later i notice he had taken up residence in my side mirror housing. i left him there

Outbackmanyep · #12 31-10-2006, 04:38 PM

We used to use an air rifle years ago, no pellets...just air, and that left a mess but it was quick! Hehe.......
The ones i really hate are the Wolf spiders and white-tail spiders!! I'd hate to get bitten by one!!

spacezebra (Petra) · #13 31-10-2006, 05:01 PM

They are my favourite spiders

This is one of my pets "Harry" Turn away now if you are getting squeamish.

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Cheers Petra

Starkler (Geoff) · #14 31-10-2006, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacezebra

They are my favourite spiders

This is one of my pets "Harry" Turn away now if you are getting squeamish.

Mine too. I also had a resident huntsman living in my house for months that I affectionately named "Eric". Unfortunately when he decided that the wall above my bedhead was the place to be, it was time for poor Eric to be evicted.

On the other hand white tails and daddy long legs get killed on sight.
Why daddy long legs? They leave all the unsightly cobwebs and are the favoured food source of white tails.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #15 31-10-2006, 08:17 PM

I don't like to kill any beastie unless they are dangerous to my family and in my territory.
So huntsman get evicted, redbacks killed, carpet pythons stay, brownies killed. I'm in two minds about redbellied black snakes because their favorite tucker is other snakes.
We keep our eyes down all the time when walking down to the creek, check out the feed shed carefully before going inside and look inside our shoes before putting them on.

GrahamL · #16 31-10-2006, 08:59 PM

Don't mind spiders , only once a huntsmen bit me when I was handling it .
brown snakes ?.. I leave them be these days .. big ones are quite old
and have likely lived near you for many years ... there young are
weird .. they can be any colour you care to think of ,green ,grey ,black ,stripes ,white and prolly a few more .

Now grasshoppers ..those I can't stand .. evil little bugs !!!

johnno · #17 01-11-2006, 03:33 AM

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies,

Quite Obviously,from reading everyone's posts,I am not the only one to,have been Startled by these Spiders.

I guess my fear was caused a couple of years ago,when in the shed,cutting some Opal,(Another of my Hobbies),
I felt an Itching sensation,on my Back,

Turns out,I had been bitten by a spider,according to the Doctor,
who then sent me to a specialist.

Apparently,ANY household Spider,is Capable,of giving you a Nasty bite,and some people's reactions,are a lot worse than others.

The 5 welts,took over 12 months,to go away.

So,you will understand,if I am still a little Toey.

I have Absolutely no desire,to hurt anything,
BUT,if you are a Spider,or Snake,Keep away from me,
"OR I MAY ACCIDENTLY HURT YOU".

Regards.
John

mattweather · #18 01-11-2006, 07:39 PM

nah it no mention of it