I Got Bitten By A Spider

[arpie]

Hi guys

A woman was bitten by a Funnelweb spider near Forster last week - Autumn is when they go 'hunting for a mate' & after rain, they are often forced out from their hidey holes!

A while back, I was cleaning the campervan & picked up a rag that had been outside on the concrete overnight, wet it & started wiping the floor of the campervan! I felt a sharp pain on my finger (he obviously didn't like his head being massaged!) & flicked my hand & felt a weight release & heard it hit the side of the camper! Went & had a look & there was this large brown spider, with front feet raised!! My finger had blood at the spot I'd been bitten, so knew there was a chance I'd been invenomated!

I caught the spider & had it in a glass. I wasn't sure whether it was a funnel web or not & wasn't going to take chances. I was on my own so restricted the blood flow at the wrist by hand till I got inside & rang for my neighbour (an ambo.) He wasn't home, so his wife came over quick smart & bound my hand to the elbow & back with a compression bandage & rang for the ambos.

When the ambos came, I showed the spider to them & they stepped back saying 'Wow!' I had no symptoms - sweating, tingling, so that was good. Then we started discussing whether it was a funnel web or not! They were pretty sure funnelwebs have 2 spinerettes (spikey bits) on their butt & this one didn't. Also the shape of the abdomen was bigger than they thought it should be ... they took my blood pressure & checked my pulse .... all ok .... just waiting to see if I got crook.

The long & short of it was that it wasn't a funnelweb, but a really big brown 'golden orb'! But you should have seen the fangs on it!! HUUUGE!

Now, to the present ..... Yesterday I went outside & saw this big black spider on the back path. It had Big Fangs & was quite aggressive when I approached, so I put it in a container & came inside & got on the net to identify it - I really thought this one could have been a funnelweb!

Here are 2 photos I took of him!!

Some research on the net shows it to be a Trapdoor or Mouse spider - it can give you a nasty bite, but is not lethal! Those Fangs are Huge!!!

Moral of the story - Watch out for spiders hiding under cloths, in boots, shoes & sandals that are left outside - shake absolutely EVERYTHING before using them!

Cheerio

Roberta

Edited January 2, 2009 by Roberta

[james7]

Never a dull moment Roberta!

I don’t know how you stayed so calm. Spiders are not my favourite creatures! They scare me more than snakes or sharks.

I’m glad it was not a funnel web, but with the size of those fangs it must have still been painful. I was bitten years ago by “something” when lying on the ground. Locals said it was probably a trapdoor. It was a very painful bite on my back.

It’s a great photo, but I wont be using on my desktop!

Cheers

Peter

[arpie]

Yeah, Stewy, I thought the same, then did some homework on spider sites

This site has some good photos (of lookalikes.) I reckon mine is better than their trapdoor one, tho! )

http://www.amonline.net.au/spiders/dangero...eb/suspects.htm

Hmmmm looking at those pics again, maybe it was a Mouse Spider, but the abdomen wasn't that large!?

I've sent some photos of it to the Reptile Park for a positive identification! Should have put it on a hook & floated it under some trees for a bass!!

Cheerio

Roberta

Hi Peter - spiders don't usually move as fast as snakes - I don't like snakes!

We used to see lots of them down Palm Beach way back in the 60's! Found one on the kitchen floor once!

Edited April 8, 2008 by Roberta

[arpie]

It is now officially a Mouse Spider - just got confirmation from the Reptile park at Gosford!! They said it was too little to say whether it was a male or female! Originally, it was about the size of a 20c piece (when his legs were spread out.)

Speaking of spiders .... how about this one - I found it in a shop at Hervey Bay a few years back ..... it was the size of a small table & confined to a bamboo cage!

Whoever made it had a terrific time, I reckon!!

Roberta

[Josh88]

Scary stuff with those dangerous spiders. The funnel web are much thinner than that and have a smaller abdomen. I can't remember exactly but its something like the male is like 5 times more venomous than a female but much less inclined to bite and is eaten after mating.

[double pluggers]

I wont be able to sleep tonight please no more pictures of the ugliest sneaky creatures that were ever given legs.

[Davemmm]

Didnt the ABC once report about a fingerweb spider bitting a woman on the ..................... maybe that is just an urban myth.

Dave

[hobbitt]

OOOHHHHHH YYUUUCCKKK !!!

I HATE SPIDERS.

GLAD TO HEAR YOU ARE OK, EVEN THE PICS GAVE ME A CHILL.

[fishguts]

hey roberta! i have been a spider handler for more than 30 yrs not by occupation but by hobby

and i am glad you are ok! i have kept lots of venomous species in containers to study

and your beast is definatly a (missulena bradleyi) mouse...male and are rarely seen they

need to turn up with a six pack and pizza tap outside the girls nest where she sits in a crevice

lets the bloke down there, only to find she is suddenly on top of him..they mate but he never survives

as he is trapped,unlike funnel webs (atrax) males, mouse spiders do not have spurs on there second

font legs for holding back the girls legs while mating..this gives them a slim chance of survival(slim)

a few years back a toddler went into a coma from the bite of a( missulena bradleyi).male..........

i was thrilled last year when the wife rang up from work and asked me to come up and get a funnel web out of grounds only to find it was your beast..male.. i kept him alive

for two months studying him..very aggressive but he went belly up.. ah well he was living on borrowed

time anyway. how cool are they! it is very strange for body weight and volume these beasts can kill humans

quicker than there prey!

note i have just edited this as the spider that bit the toddler WAS a( bradleyi) the 19 mnth old girl was playing with it

on the kitchen floor it bit her on the finger,she was vomiting in 15 minutes and uncontious 15 minutes later.

there was no treatment at the time 1985 so spider experts in melbourne suggeted funnel web anti-venom,

within 20 minutes there was dramatic changes and she opened her eyes 12 hrs later...lucky girl!

this happened in gatton QLD! quotes from australias dangerous creatures..READERS DIGEST! fantastic book!

..cheers!..stevo!..

hey roberta! also note if you have found another i would get the exterminators in! although rarely

seen they can plague in some areas as there young can travel on (gossamer) thin strands of silk web

(airborne) and spread rapidly. funnel webs cant do this and are therefore localized!

..cheers!..stevo!..

Edited April 13, 2008 by fishguts

[cupster]

hi roberta,just a matter of interest, but i believe [correct me if i'm wrong raiders] that humans are just about the only mammals that are affected by the funnelwebs venom. mice,cats,possums ect are basically immune too it's bite...what a strange quirk of nature..bugger!! {ps roberta,although this is my first ever reply to any of your posts,i must say i always look forward to ,and never miss reading them.i think you [along with jewgaffer,pelican and others] make a wonderful contribution to this great website! regards,colin.

[fishguts]

hi roberta,just a matter of interest, but i believe [correct me if i'm wrong raiders] that humans are just about the only mammals that are affected by the funnelwebs venom. mice,cats,possums ect are basically immune too it's bite...what a strange quirk of nature..bugger!! {ps roberta,although this is my first ever reply to any of your posts,i must say i always look forward to ,and never miss reading them.i think you [along with jewgaffer,pelican and others] make a wonderful contribution to this great website! regards,colin.

hi colin! you are on the money, although they can and do show signs of general poisoning

sometimes severe but its the very complex protein compounds found in atraxatoxin that knocks us

on our butts!

..cheers!..stevo!..

[mr magoo]

you should have a warning before posting stuff like that ,i was scrolling down the page and it scared the s..t out of me ,nearly did a backflip off my chair, on a more serious note glad it wasnt a funnel web,and hope all,s well

cheers arman

[copafisher]

Roberta

Looks pretty much like the one I found Friday morning, I called it for a funnel web and bagged it straight away (for the Reptile Park spider milking at Somersby).

I have caught a couple of confirmed funnel webs and numerous others that look similar but I am sure weren't. This one went straight into the attack mode, which other spiders will sometimes do also, a number I have caught have done this. Handed it in at National Geographic and the lady there indicated she had a room full of them as people had been bringing them in all week.

The one I worry about getting bitten by is the white tail, its poison is necrotic and results in all sorts of returning sores etc. Mind you I have been catching them for 20 years and put them out to kill any house spiders (I dont spray unless I need to). The biggest one I ever saw crawled out of my sons nappy, it looked like it was one steroids it was so big, but then again it was at Katoomba .

Always pays to check anything outside for spiders etc (and inside when it comes to white tails and funnel webs which are also known to crawl in ).

Glad it wasnt anything nasty.

Steve

[arpie]

Hi guys

Thanks for the feedback - Stevo ..... next one I find, I'll let you know!! You can have him!! Interesting breeding info there - does the female actually kill him or just keep him in the burrow, starving him to death? I think I'll go out with a brush & get rid of any invisible spider threads that may be hanging around!! Don't want a stream of them coming around .... we have had a stack of rain over the last 10 days! Saw a doco on guys going out bush to trap trapdoors .... some of the girls were huge!

Hi Copafisher - Yeah, keep an eye out for the white tails ..... I think the other half was bitten by a white tail a couple of years ago - every now & then, his foot will still go red & itchy & the skin all peels off, yet again! Saw a doco on them a while back - the folk that have the extreme flesh eating reaction are very unlucky. A lady who was bitten & had a horrific reaction (like half her leg has disappeared!) is keeping a file on anyone who makes contact with her. Seems the poison can reactivate on a regular basis afterwards, hence the skin peeling again & again. Always looks red & angry, but it hasn't affected his triathlon training or competing! Amazing, really. Thank god you found the one in your boy's nappy!! If mine didn't like having its face massaged with water, imagine what a bit of poo would have done!! There is a Wauchope tree climbing one that is supposed to be the most dangerous of all!

Sorry Arman - didn't mean to scare anyone ..... the photo really does make it look a lot bigger than it was! Top photo tho!

Hi Colin - thanks for the handsup! I enjoy all aspects of FR, so, nice to know you enjoy my humble offerings! SO the moral of the story is to send out your moggy or furry friend first thing in the morning & train them to stick their noses into your shoes & other debris left outside overnight ..... then again, if they get bit & don't fall over, you still don't know if there is a spider lurking in there or not, after all??? Hmmmm, not sure that lot made sense at all, at all!!

Just Be Aware, I guess??

Cheerio

Roberta

Edited April 14, 2008 by Roberta

[clutch]

Oh my god......they are revolting

I may never be able to sleep in Oz again

[fishguts]

Hi guys

Thanks for the feedback - Stevo ..... next one I find, I'll let you know!! You can have him!! Interesting breeding info there - does the female actually kill him or just keep him in the burrow, starving him to death? I think I'll go out with a brush & get rid of any invisible spider threads that may be hanging around!! Don't want a stream of them coming around .... we have had a stack of rain over the last 10 days! Saw a doco on guys going out bush to trap trapdoors .... some of the girls were huge!

Hi Copafisher - Yeah, keep an eye out for the white tails ..... I think the other half was bitten by a white tail a couple of years ago - every now & then, his foot will still go red & itchy & the skin all peels off, yet again! Saw a doco on them a while back - the folk that have the extreme flesh eating reaction are very unlucky. A lady who was bitten & had a horrific reaction (like half her leg has disappeared!) is keeping a file on anyone who makes contact with her. Seems the poison can reactivate on a regular basis afterwards, hence the skin peeling again & again. Always looks red & angry, but it hasn't affected his triathlon training or competing! Amazing, really. Thank god you found the one in your boy's nappy!! If mine didn't like having its face massaged with water, imagine what a bit of poo would have done!! There is a Wauchope tree climbing one that is supposed to be the most dangerous of all!

Sorry Arman - didn't mean to scare anyone ..... the photo really does make it look a lot bigger than it was! Top photo tho!

Hi Colin - thanks for the handsup! I enjoy all aspects of FR, so, nice to know you enjoy my humble offerings! SO the moral of the story is to send out your moggy or furry friend first thing in the morning & train them to stick their noses into your shoes & other debris left outside overnight ..... then again, if they get bit & don't fall over, you still don't know if there is a spider lurking in there or not, after all??? Hmmmm, not sure that lot made sense at all, at all!!

Just Be Aware, I guess??

Cheerio

Roberta

yeah cool roberta! i have been told that they definatly kill the male as for eating him i think it is partial..to store the good stuff for birth! as they are non-placental!

and rids his carcass for the other critters eg. ants. and notibly with the male i had i would tease him into striking with many different items eg. paddle pop sticks, matchsticks and rubber and paper.

..incredible power for weight! several deep marks in items! BUT it took minutes to get venom at the fang tips

totally unlike funnels webs (atrax) which already pumped venom (copious amounts) to the fang tips on first strike

which led me to believe that they may dry bite on most occations unless stimulated by a potential meal

this may have been your good fortune as with others..the poor toddler was playing with it for a while apparently before found! CSL( commonwealth serum laborotory!) techs are still assesing the potency of

this species, some have found it's components rather worring to humans! there are three known species currently of missulena. ( bradleyi, insignis and occatoria) and maybe more to come, and they are for sure more potent than your average (common trapdoor) to some they are real creepy but they serve there purpose in the big life picture! it is also strange that funnel webs as i prevously said have atraxatoxin

because they do not need it. she eats the same thing as he does but he is many more times potent then she is! last couple of lines also from the readers digest!

..cheers!..stevo.. HAPPY FISHING!

[james1990]

Got me paranoid now...just sitting here reading it makes me feel like checking around my feet under my desk...scary stuff.

We have ALOT of golden orb's here on the goldie.....there web is soo bloody strong almost like sewing cottom...plenty of gecko's around to....so id assume theres snakes in there also...good food source.

i hate spiders yukk

cheers james