Viewing Single Post From: Spiders!!

Viewing Single Post From: Spiders!!
PC Pom	Aug 27 2008, 09:54 PM
Anyone for tennis? Posts: 654 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: March 23, 2006	Superb! Very clever stuff. Tuesday night I spotted a 'daddy long legs' type of spider hanging from the old camper. It was late and dark and I'd just put the bins out. The light from the strip lights just made it visible but fortunately I had a torch with me. Nothing special about that spider. Then I spotted a variation of 'white tail', crawling along the dusty roof of another old banger parked under the house. This was no bigger than the previous spider although maybe a little more venomous - who knows. Anyway, I was enjoying myself now, so I gave it a prod with the torch. Up here it's so much more fun playing with spiders than snakes... Fun over, I lent back from the car roof and gave myself a bit of a fright. I'd practically be leaning over a Huntsman. A baby, I would imagine, about 2.5 inches wide and enjoying the night air. No, I didn't prod him with the torch, but rather the handle end of a broom. He was quick! Spinning around to greet the broom he then slid through the gap between the top of the front wing and the front of the door. So now I know where he lives... The biggest huntsman spiders I have ever seen really did give me the sh*ts. I was visiting my brother in Caloundra, QLD, not too far away from me now, and he said 'you wanna see some BIG spiders?'. Always up for a challenge I was led by torch light to the back shed. What I'm about to tell you is absolutely true. I was frozen to the spot. The hairs on the back of my neck DID stand up. When he threw the light on the wall of the shed there were a number of BIG spiders, the biggest I have ever seen. Huntsman spread themselves flat and these guys were putting on an incredible show. The largest, and this is no joke, was sufficient to stretch across a dinner plate. That's all I can tell you. There was no way I was going to ask for a tape measure! I felt really, really uncomfortable and was pleased to be leaving that shed. Phew! We have redbacks too around here. But they're small... And to put all this into perspective, we had an eastern brown snake sunning itself against a rock wall a month or so ago, just at the front of the house. Not good! But, other than the beautifully coloured bird life, the latest creature to set foot in the garden was a hare. Quite a relief. There's a wallaby that occassionally makes an appearance early in the morning, and a goanna, python, reb bellied black, stick insects, big beetles... Australia is an amazing place.
	Koala Konnection UK to Australia and New Zealand. Migration Made Easy.

Spiders!! · Life's a Beach