How real men deal with spiders in Australia(doubt Austria so many large ones) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Tinkerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 12:50:07 am
content: So, Dave probably has to deal with this sort of thing.Upon seeing this, it might be interesting to build an electronic spider repeller of some sort?

author: AlfBaz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 12:57:58 am
content: The big ones (usually huntsman) are harmless. When I lived by myself I shared my flat with one for a couple of months when he must of eventually got sick of the solder fumes and left. At any rate they don't eat much

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:08:14 am
content: It's fun when you're driving in traffic and a large huntsman crawls across your windscreen - on the inside!It could have been worse - it could have been a snake...

author: apelly
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:15:32 am
content: Quote from: GeoffS on January 01, 2014, 01:08:14 amHad one walk up my arm in the car once.Frontal cortex: "It's ok. Nothing will happen if you just leave it there. Just pull over nice and carefully and let it out the door"Brain stem: "panic Panic PANICPANICpanicpanicpanicpanicpanicpanicpanic"Frontal cortex won. She was a closely fought argument though!

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:17:59 am
content: Same experience as apelly, only it was my leg and I was wearing shorts

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:18:50 am
content: or

author: lemmegraphdat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:25:55 am
content: I think I'm pretty much turning into mush. I just don't kill creatures like I used too. Everything is just kind of cute now.

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:34:29 am
content: Back in the manual window winder days, I've never seen anyone try to close a window so quickly, when at a set of lights, a hot green stream came out of a cattle truck into the drivers window and all over his head and shoulder.

author: staxquad
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:47:09 am
content: Quote from: Tinkerer on January 01, 2014, 12:50:07 amhe would have been dead meat if that was a Sydney funnel web spiderDave probably checks his shoes every morning before putting his feet in (maybe that's why we see him so often without shoes, he's afraid to look)

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 01:55:38 am
content: Quote from: lemmegraphdat on January 01, 2014, 01:25:55 amYes. A while back on a field trip for work I gently stroked the abdomen of a large female Red back. Now everyone thinks I'm weird.

author: Vgkid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 02:04:18 am
content: I like spiders and other large insects myself. I once had a black widow(female) crawl up my hand/ arm, I blew her off.

author: PedroDaGr8
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 02:09:30 am
content: Quote from: apelly on January 01, 2014, 01:15:32 amSent from my EVO using Tapatalk

author: manticore00
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 02:14:21 am
content: Quote from: staxquad on January 01, 2014, 01:47:09 amI visited Australia when I was a teenager and the whole time I was there I was paranoid that I'd come across a funnel web spider. Living in Arizona I'm used to scorpions and black widows but the killer critters in Oz scare the heck out of me.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 02:41:38 am
content: Quote from: PedroDaGr8 on January 01, 2014, 02:09:30 amThats a mimic octopus, compleately harmless..these are the ones you gotta watch out for :if you get bitten by that thing you got 15 minutes to live and there is no antidote …its poison is 10.000 times stronger than cyanide and this tiny animal carries enough of it to be able to kill 25 adult humans …it is one of the most poisonous, if not the most poisonous, of all water dwelling creatures. its competitor is possibly the banded seasnake in terms of poisonousness ( didi i write that right )

author: PedroDaGr8
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 02:43:13 am
content: Quote from: free_electron on January 01, 2014, 02:41:38 amThe point was the nope nope nope nope. Not that the octopus was poisonous.Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 04:02:06 am
content: I let them continue on, or walk them out on a bit of paper if they sneak in, huntsmen are great spiders to have around, they really keep the fly and mozzie population down, and unless you really corner them they are passive.Now for any new visitors, if you park a car under a tree, clean the gutters, or they will happily live in the boot or bonnet gutters leaf litter even in full sun, you will drive off and a few minutes after the engine heats up they will scamper to the door seam over the windscreen in order to cool down,now being the paranoid person you are you now have a fairly harmless spider waiting in the door seam that will either fall or try and run in when you open the door, and like the poster before you have a hard time telling your brain its harmless.Funnel webs do very much scare me, though i dont check my shoes, as i never leave them outside. the golden rule (at-least for Sydney) if its big but skinny your OK, its is big and very fat its a problem,

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 04:53:40 am
content: All I had was a Black Mamba, a little one that came out of the garden. Gently picked it up with a broom and a spade ( it was really cheesed off then) and took it to the far end and let it go in a crack in the wall so it could go annoy the rats in the street. Just did not want it near the doors we use, so far away was fine. One of the 3 really deadly snakes here, but there is an antivenom available , and it takes long enough that you can get to hospital.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 05:26:53 am
content: Quote from: GeoffS on January 01, 2014, 01:08:14 amOr in my case, in my 20s, the Huntsman walked across the inside of my motorcycle helmet visor. While I was riding.Definitely the fastest 'pull out of traffic, stop, remove helmet' time I ever managed. The worst part was the chinstrap - the buckle didn't work well with panicked fumbling gloved hands.They don't bother me inside the house. I generally either leave them be, or rescue and put them on a tree outside using the plastic container and sheet of paper technique.But a couple of inches from my face, inside a helmet, is too close.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 05:31:56 am
content: This little guy used to live in my old lab:

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 05:39:08 am
content: Quote from: Rerouter on January 01, 2014, 04:02:06 amMy rule of thumb is if it's got 8 legs then it's a problem.

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 06:36:46 am
content: The worst I had is - we had 2 huge trees in the back-yard, and every night they'd spin a humongous web between the trees.One 1 occasion I ventured out at night, and suddenly froze when I remembered about the web. There app 1" from my facewas a humongous spider .... I chopped down one of the trees !! Fixed

author: Maxlor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 07:00:00 am
content: Quote from: TerraHertz on January 01, 2014, 05:26:53 amI had a spider once that lived in hard to reach corner under my bed. I left it there for a month, figuring it would be helpful if it took care of a couple of insects for me. Then one day I examined it a bit more closely and noticed all the things it left behind, droppings, insect shells... gross. It had to go at that point

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 10:50:16 am
content: How do real men deal with spiders, A size 12 boot works every time.

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 12:39:10 pm
content: Quote from: wilfredI like it how you instantly turn into a jedi 20th dan karate master when you do walk into one :-) On occasion, I'd even chop off a branchwith my hand and practice ninja warrior swordsmanship. Bruce Lee would have been proud ... then probably laughed :-)

author: Tinkerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2014, 10:50:47 pm
content: I was once driving down the highway at 80mph(high speed limit area) when a very large jumping spider crawled across my windshield on the inside. This thing is not quite as big as the huntsman but is still about 3/4-1inch in leg span. It then disappeared into a crack along the side and I never saw it again. Thankgod I stayed calm because at 80mph that wouldnt have been a small accident.Funny thing is that I am not afraid of turantulas.On the topic of those spiders building webs at night, we have those around here. Leg span being 1-2inches, fat bodies as well. They put up huge webs at night and take them down for the day. They only just moved into this area a few years ago for whatever reason. I have almost run into a web a couple times, but they seem quick enough to crawl out of the way when something moves close.

author: GEuser
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 12:08:06 pm
content: Sitting at a speed limit? on the motorcycle out in rural roads , fullface on , whats that moving near the left ear? "ignore" , then a gigantic huntsman walked across the visor on the inside "ignore" as best as I could as it was blocking the vision , it walked off to the right , now knowing what was moving near the right ear I "ignore" , but it became a hassle when I could feel it going down the back of the neck , then the back , as it was tickling ,Finally got to get to where I was going and never did find me mate ...Then there was a time when after just getting out of bed and half asleep shuffling to the kitchen inside the house btw I noticed a Eastern Brown snake which was orange going the same way 1 foot in front of me but that's another story, but I did wake up quick that day !

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 01:01:36 pm
content: What other creepiness does Australia have?

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 01:06:57 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on January 02, 2014, 01:01:36 pm

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 02:45:01 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on January 02, 2014, 01:01:36 pm

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 02:54:02 pm
content: Didn't know we had exported that to Aus...... Next time go in and ask for the extra spicy chicken. Here it is known to be a killer.

author: peter.mitchell
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 08:56:50 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on January 02, 2014, 01:06:57 pmUnbreakable.Toyota here sells these kind of shirts(not my picture);

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 10:40:15 pm
content: Funny thing is I am helping my friend fix up a 1978 Toyota pick up. Fixed up the rust by buying another with an engine and gearbox in the bin, so have been swapping bits and parts from the one to the other to get it running. I have been redoing the wiring making one good ( or at least mostly working) loom in the one. At least now it starts, runs and the electrics like the lights, indicators, brakes, reverse and instrument clusters all work more or less. Had to replace large chunks of dead wiring, and at least the alternator now is charging at 30A when the first time we got the engine running it was doing 10A. Have been doing proper panel beating with his father in law, who trained in the 1960's as a proper trade tested panel beater. Stretching and shrinking panels, beating new parts and repairing using parts of other panels.Spare part bin now includes parts of doors, body panels and a mostly complete 3Y engine, bullet 5 speed Cressida box and modified propshaft. Donor will be cut up next week and taken to the scrapyard on the new vehicle.

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 11:18:07 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 01, 2014, 04:53:40 amOh yes must treat with greatest respect. Thankfully 'generally' no nasty (venomous!) snakes in my garden, only the occasional python which is allowed to go on its merry way.Have not even seen any funnel web spiders for years in my part of Sydney (lucky!!). In my parents home however they are always present somewhere in the garden.When I was still a young lad still living with my parents, one night I was the last to go to bed so when I had finished in the bathroom I switched off the light and proceeded to my room in the dark so as not to disturb anyone else. As I was walking down the hallway I stepped on something that wriggled and shot out from under my bare foot. My initial though was a damn cockroach, so on with the light to dispatch the pest, but to my chilled skin horror it was a half grown funnel web who must have been equally surprised! and was tyring to bugger off as quick as possible. After 'carefully' sending this intruder to meet its maker another shower was in order.

author: Terabyte2007
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2014, 11:50:06 pm
content: The one and maybe only benefit to living in the Northeast part of the US, Winter KILLS all the spiders off for at least 6 months!

author: lemmegraphdat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2014, 12:31:57 am
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on January 02, 2014, 01:06:57 pmThat's some hellacious road kill.

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2014, 12:59:13 am
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 02, 2014, 02:54:02 pmThe Warwick Capper flyers are scarier than salmonella.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2014, 01:28:46 am
content: Quote from: amyk on January 02, 2014, 01:01:36 pmMany years ago I was swimming in the rock pool at Coogee beach here:https://maps.google.com/?ll=-33.920055,151.260165&spn=0.001583,0.002422&t=h&z=19when something soft latched onto my left arm. "Oh a cute little octopus, uh wait, are those rings... blue? Yes, they are, oh shit!"That took about 0.5 second from seeing it to swiping it off with my other hand as hard as I could. No bite. Maybe it was just being friendly, I don't know.http://www.nevillecoleman.com.au/underwater-marine-life-journal/ask-the-expert/blue-ringed-octopus/

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2014, 01:48:25 am
content: And the ever present jellyfish, in the colder waters you get the bluebottles, in the tropical waters box jellyfish and somewhere near the top there is a very tiny one that will really screw you over called the Irukandji, though i do not know the local name for it.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Man_o%27_Warhttp://www.australianfauna.com/boxjellyfish.phphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irukandji_jellyfishI've had a whole stinger get wrapped in my wetsuit once along my back, it was not a pleasant experience......