Spiders in Australia and New Zealand

[blasbe1]

Some of you may recall that I take many golf trips with my better half and while I've always considered it a benefit that my wife enjoys travelling to play golf it appears that I may have hit a hazard.  

My wife is horribly afraid of spiders, especially spiders that jump, and while we were planning on a golf holiday to either Australia or New Zealand or both sometime later this winter, some Border Collie enthusiasts from NZD told my wife that the spiders down there are big, scary, hairy, viturally everywhere and get in your shoes, car, hotel room, etc.  

We'll that just about killed the trip so I'm calling on the resources here for some help.  How serious is the spider issue down under and are they like sharks (generally dont bother you if you dont bother them) or is it a genuine saftey concern?

Like most things, it's the idea that there are millions of creepy crawlers running about that gets in her head so if you don't go on many nature walks in the bush are you likely to see many big hairy spiders?

Go ahead Huck, LOL


 

[blasbe1]

I forgot to ask if it is true that there are bird eating (yes, bird eating) spiders there?

Also, are spiders or anything else an on course issue anywhere, similar to say alligators in parts of the Southeast US?

[RJ_Daley]

Very rare poster Mike Duffy once told the story of playing behind a Japanese tourist in Oz who was bitten by a brown snake.  They acted quickly to get him to anti-venom and saved his life.  There isn't much time after the brown has a go at you.  Funnel web spiders are apparently a big concern and I hear that it is routine to turn your shoes over and knock them upside down to shake them loose before you put your shoes on.  I share the fear of snakes.  I watch those nature shoes and daredevils like Steve Irwin "she's a little beuaty", but it really gives me the shivers seeing him put his face up to them and poke them with sticks.  All you have to know is the worlds 10 most venomous snakes make Oz their home.  I have no idea about NZ.  Google the subject.  Also, see the dreaded jellyfish if you go snorkeling.  Apparently they have one of those down there that you don't have anytime at all if you get nailed by that one.

happy trails

[Tyler Kearns]

Jason,

I concur with RJ, when going to Australia, I've always heard that the concern should be over snakes rather than spiders. Personally I love snakes, but then again, my first possible experience with the venemous kind came at Sutton Bay a few summers ago - and that does change the perspective. Mark's last comments before I trekked off to the first tee were to be mindful of rattlers, and that kind of numbed my enthusiasm. Snakes do tend to be more scared of humans and that should limit the potential for harm. Spiders in Australia? Sorry, I'm of no help.

TK

[RJ_Daley]

Ty, I think it was you that gave me the heads-up on the rattler situation at SB and recommended taking an extra old club in the bag to bang on rocks as one trekked through the rough to warn of one's approach.  Dan Kelly and I saw one big lazy ol one lying straight out in the middle of the FW on the back side.  I darn near ran it over in the cart.  Then there were the 2 baby rattlers we saw right on the grass edge of the tee box on 1 or 2.  

Did I ever tell you about the time I saved Mike Hendren's life by alerting him that he was about to step on a little one on the 13th at Rustic Canyon, and someone else killed a big one and coiled the carcass up on the tee box at 12 at RC?

Seriously, Doc Trimble was bitten by a prairie rattler while alone out on his land in Valentine and was miles and hours away from getting help.  He reports that he became one very sick cookie.  He just got to medical help in time, and he's an M.D.!  So, it is to be taken seriously, I think, with all due respect to Steve Irwin.

[Mark_Guiniven]

Jason,
Your wife's friends are either joking about NZ, or don't know it's not part of Australia. It's actually one of the safest countries in the world in that regard. There are no snakes and only one venomous spider—the Katipo—which is related to the Australian red back, and rarely seen. Don't go over-turning logs in the bush and you'll be fine.

Now Australia on the other hand really does have stuff trying to kill you at every opportunity. Best avoid the place completely  

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Mark G is a NZ expert and one man told me the best thing about New Zealand is that there are no snakes. He meant it as a serious compliment and given my own fear of snakes, I can see why.

I just put it out of my head while I was in OZ, but my last round at NSW was on the day I was flying out and I was literally going straight to the airport. The cab driver informed me that there were spiders (as well as snakes) in the bushes to the sides of the fairway. He said his friend had been bitten by a brown, but the gentleman weighing in at a hefty 350 lbs. was not killed by the toxin and survived. Perhaps incentive not to lose that holiday weight after all.

[Bob_Huntley]

RJDaly writes,

 "All you have to know is the worlds 10 most venomous snakes make Oz their home."

No doubt about it, but go to Google, look up Black Mamba and Gaboon Viper...... The Rhosdesias take a back seat to no one for their nasties.

[Steve Lapper]

Jason,

Mark's advice is very sound. There are absolutely no venomous snakes found in NZ and only one, even mildly, dangerous spider-the Kaitpo (and is very very rarely seen).

On my first OZ trip, similar to Ben's second-hand warning, I started to venture into the rough to retreive a brand new tour balata and was courteously warned by my caddie that it wasn't the wisest idea. He said he had a loop a year back with a Norwegian fellow who was very nearly bitten by a very large brown....and later told by the course super that it was near 6 ft. and could kill a normal sized man (without anit-venom administered) inside of 3 hours....whew..

The good news is that the majority of the near-in Sandbelt courses (KH, RMGC, MC) are void of anything serious. Royal Adelaide, on the other hand, is supposedly a known haunt for the AU Tiger snake....a mean critter.

 

[Chris Kane]

Jason, yours is a lock for post of the year 2005.  It is probably the funniest thing I've ever read on this forum.  Where did you get the idea from?

I doubt you'll see many spiders in Australia, unless you deliberately seek them out.  And any spider you do see won't touch you unless you go out of your way to incite it.  They're terrified of people!  I don't think I've ever seen a "big hairy spider".

To put it in perspective, you have more chance of being injured in a car accident than you do being injured by a spider.  I can't remember the last time such a thing occurred - it would be all over the news.

Ben, I suspect your cab driver was having you on about spiders.  But there are snakes around.

I hear that it is routine to turn your shoes over and knock them upside down to shake them loose before you put your shoes on

RJ, I have lived in Australia my entire life, and have never heard of such a routine.  Very good...

[Shane Gurnett]

Jason,

Yes we do have spiders here. Some big ones too, although not usually hairy ones. As for snakes, yes we have plenty of them as well, venomous ones which can kill in an instant. I'd recomend staying away from those.

Be aware that we have different rules here in Australia, so you wont be able to bring your handgun with you for "protection". However, if you see a snake the best thing to do is grab it by the tail and crack it like a whip - just like the cowboys do back home. The snakes head will usually just fall off.

Spiders can be tougher to deal with. My advice would be to ignore them and they will ignore you. There are a few that like to sneak up on you (especially at night) and you wont be able to do much to prevent them getting to you. You can buy anti-venom at any chemist shop in case of any emergency.

Apart form the snakes and spiders, our wildlife here has much to offer. Almost everyone keep a pet kangaroo in the backyard, and you will soo a few wombats and wallabies roaming wild in the city. They are harmless. We also like to keep crocodiles in our backyard swimming pools.

Australia is a great place. You and your wife will love it.

[Danny Goss]

Jason

Your friends are having a very big "lend" of you. I have no doubt there are spiders and snakes out in the bush and even lurking in the rough besides some out of the way golf courses. And beside water, some walking tracks, and some farrms. But everywhere? No way.
Spiders in shoes, car, hotel room? Bird eating spiders?? Give it a break - we are not a third world country. There is no safety concern whatsoever. I have been to the States a dozen times and never considered whilst in New York hotel that there may be dangerous snakes and spiders somewhere out West. Have you?
Somebody is scaring the hell out of you and doing a good job I must say. However I dont blame you for asking.
I agree with Chis - I find it funny. As for Shane? C'mon mate -go easy on them!

[tonyt]

When I am bitten by either a scorpion or a rattlesnake in downtown Manhattan, that will herald the day when a US tourist should exercise similar caution about dangerous animals on a golfing holiday in Australia. Unless you are planning on walking and camping across the desert, you (like most Australians) will never in your lifetime see most of these critters.

[Steve Okula]

My wife is from New South Wales, and a recovering aracnaphobic.

She says the bird-eating variety are found mainly in northern Queensland, and ,while there, not to wear a feather bikini.

[Mike Erdmann]

Jason, I just got back from two weeks in New Zealand, spent time in large cities, small cities, rural areas and backpacking through wilderness areas, and never saw any such spiders.   Not one.

[Mark_F]

Jason,

Ignore the fellow Australian lurkers here who are taking the mickey out of you, as there is a grain of truth to what you have been told.

The funnel web spider, found only in NSW, is the world's most dangerous arachnid.  Far from being terrified of you, they are aggressive bastards, and yes, they are big  (a subjective opinion, I realise) and hairy, probably very similar to a tarantula.  There have also been known to hide in shoes, luggage, clothing etc.  Whilst it is highly doubtful that anything will happen, yes, it is possible, although the antivenom is easy to get hold of.  

As for snakes, they too are plentiful at certain times of the year, especially in hot, open areas where there is water around.  Again, though, it is highly doubtful that you will encounter one on the golf course, or your wife walking around the city.  If you go to a barbie at someone's home, though, that is another matter entirely. Doubtful, but it is possible - and since some snakes can move faster than you can run... Of course, they do only attack if threatened, but I've never gone close enough to one to notice if the whites of his eyes were showing.  

Chris is right about one thing, though - I guess he has to be occasionally - you are far more likely to get injured in a car accident, especially in Victoria, as my fellow motorists are feet down the worst drivers in the world.  You'll positively look forward to a hairy eight-legged arachnid sinking its fangs into your big toe after a couple hours driving here.  

[RJ_Daley]

I don't think there are more fun poking people than the Aussie's.  I enjoy reading and hearing them have a good put-on of foreigners.  They all seem to enjoy the rugged outdoor sporting individualist stereotype.  

But, I also think a bunch of these nature shows depicting the spiders and snakes of Oz can't be too inaccurate.  Some of them tell how many kids get bit by snakes while playing out behind their homes in the ever encroaching suburbs into the former bush territory.  

http://www.usyd.edu.au/anaes/venom/snakebite.html

I''m thinking there must be something to all the fuss...  although I'd overcome my fear of them even if you could spot a number of them on the course, for a crack at Royal Melbourne!  

[Tom_Doak]

Jason:

There is a breed of very big spider, known as the Huntsman I believe, which are alive and well in many parts of Australia.  The wives of two of my associates have a few spider stories to tell from their six-month stays.  But, they were in the apartment for most of the day.

I've spent somewhere between 75-100 days in Australia and I've still never seen one of those spiders.  I have seen a couple of tiger snakes and a lot of large bats ... but I've also seen kangaroos and wallabies and wombats and even a Tasmanian devil in the wild.

[Shane Gurnett]

Tom, the huntsman is a "good" spider and non venomous I believe (I've never heard of anyone being bitten by one). They kill flies so we tend to leave the huntsman alone should we encounter one even in the home.

[Mark_F]

Who would have thought, a 'hot' topic on the venemous creatures of Oz, and all without a mention of an AFL footballer.

Shane,

Huntsman aren't venemous, but I believe they can still give you a bit of a nip?

And speak for yourself.  I do not leave them alone.  I call up my mother and get her to come around and squash it with a two-by-four impregnated with nitroglycerine. (Classic movie line Number One: "Honey, you got a spider in there the size of a Buick.  Woody Allen, Annie Hall, 1977). Mortein kills flies just as effectively, and without the sudden fright one encounters turning on the light in the bedroom.

Jason,

Should have warned you about the Huntsman, sorry. They're bigger and uglier than even Charles Barkley, and you'll find them in houses in the summer, generally, although they have been known to hide behind sun visors in your car, and drop onto your head when you pull one open. Which could possibly account for our appalling driving.  I know I went from 110 to 0 and across three lanes of traffic in two seconds when it happened to me...

God knows how Tom's associates managed to finish his courses when his wives encountered them.  They must breed them tough in Michigan, that's for sure.

[Shane Gurnett]

Mark, you are a wuss...........

[Mark_F]

Shane,

And damn proud of it!

[Shane Gurnett]

At least you Mum has a bit of toughness...

[Sean Walsh]

Do I smell the whiff of yet another New Zealnder with an inferiority complex?

For the author of this thread:  If you are not planning on doing any camping in Austalia Spiders are not going to be a factor.  Re snakes I would be very suprised if you see one unless you go looking for one.  If in doubt stay out of the long grass.  

[tonyt]

Mark, good scaremongering.

In something between 50-60 visits to Sydney, including a spell of living there for around 8 months, I have never laid eyes on a funnel web spider. They exist, but I've never seen a sydneysider or other companion EVER check their shoes before putting them on.

Snakes live in long grass, and are more prevalent between spring and mid autumn (Sept-April). I started playing golf in the early 1980s, play regional courses around paddocks very frequently, and yet I am still to see my first snake on a golf course. When I was about 9, we built on the edge of town and we were the last house for a while in the last street before farmland and near a creek. Possibly the most perfect conditions for an urban location in which to see snakes. And yet I only saw one once when I was silly enough to be playing with friends among long grass in summer.

The huntsman is about two thirds the size of a man's hand. More likely to be seen in summer, though I haven't see one for two years.

It kills me when Japanese or Americans (the only ones I think) are thinking about visiting Australia, and actually spend a second let alone a few minutes worrying about harmful fauna. Only people who have never been here talk of it. For those who have, like us, it doesn't even rate crossing your mind.