I am officially Australian!!!

[echt]

Got bitten by a spider while gardening today. I felt a pricking on my finger but put it down to dried grass stalks on a plant I was dividing.

Happened again. And again. I looked down, and a spider was on my finger having a right old go. I flicked it away and then thought, shite is it a white tail?
Too late, the arachnid had buggered off.

Obviously I googled insanely, only to find that this spider's bite is, on the whole, not much to bother about. Unless my skin starts falling off, in which case there is no cure.

Heigh ho.:o

[ChippingIn]

Never mind - I'm sure there's something you can take for it!!

[sarahbeth2]

God, now thats why i didnt want to be an australian lol...

[lulalullabye]

OMG!!!!!!!!! Good on ya!

[Georgimama]

I think the heart attack I would have had if that happened to me would have killed me. If God meant people to live in Australia he wouldn't have filled it with animals that like to kill people.

[chloeb2002]

We recently had a an aupair who frantically went round to the neighbours as she had found ( decided she had been bitten by.. maybe..) a spider in her shoe.. she took the spider round to the neighbour.. said spider was nearly mummified..we did laugh...

[echt]

Snurk at chloeb's AP.:o

Am fine, and still attacking the garden. Though the hail rain wind and brilliant sunshine have been demanding to negotiate, as they occur in 30-minute intervals.

Any lunacy must be attributed to MN madamlsy-ness.

[sunnydelight]

That's why you should wear gardening gloves

[Missymoomum]

Eurgh, that's my idea of a nightmare! DH and I have discussed moving to Australia (we're in the Far East at the mo) but i honestly don't know if i could cope with the spiders! I actually had a chat with a very good Ozzy friend last week about spiders and she said she'd only ever had one encounter with a Huntsman and had never seen a Funnel Web etc so she was starting to convince me and then i read this!!!!!

[echt]

Don't be put off, Missymoomum, it's my first bite, and I've been here 6 years, and garden like mad. Think of the odds.

See, still here and typing quite well, done tons of marking and taught lots of exam classes, so, it can't be that bad.

[Thumbwitch]

echt, FFS, wear gloves!! Never mind the spiders, think of the ticks! DH came to me this morning and said - "I think I have something wrong with my eye, look, there is a little black spot". Too right there was something wrong with it - a fecking tick was buried in his lower eyelid, about 2mm from the eyelash line! he's managed to get it out but now his eyelid is red and swollen and he can't put anything on it because it's too close to his eye. :(

We still haven't worked out where the bloody thing came from - he said he felt it pricking in the middle of the night but how a tick would have appeared on his face in the middle of the night is beyond us, so he must have picked it up earlier in the day.

LOL at you being officially Australian - I was coming on here to congratulate you on gaining citizenship but you've been here long enough you probably already have it, don't you?

[Tortoiseonthehalfshell]

I've been here 20 years and I don't have citizenship. It's not really affected me to date, tbh.

[Thumbwitch]

Just wanted to add that DH has just phone me to tell me he's found another tick in his bellybutton - gak! No idea how he got that one either...

[ninedragons]

When I went to university in England I was a source of great mirth when one of my fellow students saw me shaking out my boots before putting them on. Apparently in England nothing nasty ever lies in wait for your delicious toes.

[Thumbwitch]

Not quite true, ninedragons - I once trod on a slug that had taken up residence in my wellies! Although it didn't bite me, obviously

[sunnydelight]

It's funny how fast things become "normal". I shake all my washing at arms length when I take it off the line and always check my visor when I get in the car!

[Thumbwitch]

I haven't got used to checking my boots before I put them on - I usually have one on completely before I remember I should have checked. But at least mine are all indoors - DH keeps leaving his outdoors! And I always check DS's if they've been left outdoors as well.

My sunvisor is always down - I suppose I should check the other side of it to make sure but that is against the windscreen so they wouldn't hide there, would they?

It's the outdoor toys that get me - have to hose them out every time they haven't been used for a bit.

[echt]

Yes, thumbwitch, I am citizen now. As for the ticks, we don't have them in this part of VIC. I'm used now to clearing the spider webs from my wing mirrors and, disturbingly, from INSIDE the car.

I always shake out the outside shoes, most of which are kept in the porch.

The gardening gloves thing works as long as you don't store them in the garage, where they get full of spiders.:o

[Thumbwitch]

No ticks??? You are sooooo lucky (although you appear to have rather more of an arachnid ishoo than we do - still, I think I'd rather deal with them than ticks!)

[ComradeJing]

What hides in sun visors?

[Thumbwitch]

Huntsman spiders, ComradeJing - the big feckers. They aren't particularly venomous but they're big fuckers and might cause a car crash if you're driving along when one makes its appearance from behind the sunvisor. And the bites really hurt apparently - MIL had one bite her toe when she accidentally trod on it.

[ComradeJing]

Ick. When we were driving a few years ago one appeared on the outside of my window. I almost landed on DHs lap even though it was on the other side of the glass. DH got out and flicked it off the car and it raised it's legs and ran after him. I shit you not.

[Thumbwitch]

Funnelwebs and mouse spiders do that, not sure whether or not Huntsmen do though - quite possible!