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Queensland alert over giant funnel-web sightings
Courier Mail ^
| 7th November 2009
| Brian Williams
Posted on 11/06/2009 2:08:50 PM PST by naturalman1975
SOUTHEAST Queenslanders should be on the lookout for large black funnel-web spiders as big as an adult hand.
As the hot, humid weather arrives, the potentially deadly spiders are on the move, with the first reports of the season this week.
Queensland Museum senior curator Robert Raven said yesterday sightings of male funnel-webs had been confirmed at Mt Tamborine in the Gold Coast hinterland and Mt Glorious, west of Brisbane.
With summer temperatures and rain, male funnel-webs would be active until at least March or April.
Males often wandered at night searching for females, especially during rain. They are black, long legged and will rear quickly into an attack position, with front legs raised, fangs at the ready and tipped with venom.
Any bite should be treated with utmost care and they should not be handled.
"If the victim has been envenomed (and not simply bitten, the spider controls which), they will very quickly experience severe systemic distress, including laboured breathing, vomiting, pupils fixed and dilated," Dr Raven said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: alert; australia; funnel; funnelweb; queensland; sightings; spider; spiders; web
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To: naturalman1975
2
posted on
11/06/2009 2:11:01 PM PST
by
Old Sarge
(Marking Time On The Government's Dime)
To: naturalman1975
Those Aussies and their little spiders..
3
posted on
11/06/2009 2:11:46 PM PST
by
mnehring
To: Old Sarge
4
posted on
11/06/2009 2:12:56 PM PST
by
Marty62
(former Marty60)
To: naturalman1975
They can bite right through sneakers ....
5
posted on
11/06/2009 2:13:49 PM PST
by
SkyDancer
('Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not..' ~ Thomas Jefferson)
To: naturalman1975
To: naturalman1975
YIKES!
That is one big, ugly spider.
They should name it the michelle spider.
7
posted on
11/06/2009 2:16:52 PM PST
by
freedumb2003
(Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
To: mnehring
To: HairOfTheDog
9
posted on
11/06/2009 2:20:27 PM PST
by
2Jedismom
To: Old Sarge
Biological warfare works well, I would imagine.
10
posted on
11/06/2009 2:21:50 PM PST
by
Little Bill
(Carol Che-Porter is a MOONBAT.)
To: 2Jedismom
To: RinaseaofDs
Australian Golden Orb Weaver spider. One nasty spider. Those aren’t photoshops.
12
posted on
11/06/2009 2:22:41 PM PST
by
mnehring
To: RinaseaofDs
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila edulis - another Australian spider, although it has close relatives around the world) - eating a bird (a chestnut-breasted mannikin). It is venomous but not incredibly dangerous to people.
13
posted on
11/06/2009 2:23:01 PM PST
by
naturalman1975
("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
To: Old Sarge
Big damn bug, meet big damn sneaker.
14
posted on
11/06/2009 2:24:44 PM PST
by
reagan_fanatic
(Hope....Change...Food Stamps!)
To: naturalman1975
I LOVE Queensland!
Hate all the deadly critters.
Crocs
Tai Pan
Box Jelly
Cone Shell
Sea Snake
Travelling around Northern Queensland is spooky.
And it was the best vaction I’ve ever been on!!!
15
posted on
11/06/2009 2:25:12 PM PST
by
Zathras
To: reagan_fanatic
Big damn bug, meet big damn sneaker. Unless it has an egg sack on its back, then it breaks open and you have millions of the little buggers crawling all over you.
16
posted on
11/06/2009 2:26:39 PM PST
by
mnehring
To: Billthedrill
You cheated. That’s an ant. I mean Them!s an ant.
17
posted on
11/06/2009 2:28:29 PM PST
by
ReneeLynn
(Socialism is SO yesterday. Fascism, it*s the new black. Mmm Mmm Mmm.)
To: mnehring
Unless it has an egg sack on its back, then it breaks open and you have millions of the little buggers crawling all over you. An arachnophobe's worst nightmare.
18
posted on
11/06/2009 2:28:57 PM PST
by
dfwgator
To: reagan_fanatic
Big damn bug, meet big damn sneaker.I saw a show on these little dandies a few years ago. In one incident, the spider managed to pierce a leather shoe (dress shoe) and envenom said shoe's owner.
19
posted on
11/06/2009 2:33:41 PM PST
by
IYAS9YAS
(The townhalls were going great until the oPods showed up.)
To: ReneeLynn
Yeh. Busted. I couldn't find a decent giant spider pic. Anyway, Them was a documentary. Take a look at south central LA and tell me it ain't so...
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