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Original poster

Spiders in Australia… eek!

79 replies

Soontobe60 · 04/01/2022 23:12

My DH is desperate to return to Australia (he spent time there as a teenager) and wants to go to watch the Ashes in a couple of years, combined with a road trip across the south of the country. I love travel, love adventures but loathe spiders!
My question is, is my fear of coming across loads of spiders in Australia justified? Has anyone been and if so, did you come across lots of them, in particular big ones?

OP posts:
EmiliaAirheart · 04/01/2022 23:25

I see a few every year, living in a very green city. I think you’re being a bit ridiculous to write off a whole country for that.

TheSandgroper · 04/01/2022 23:32

Well, they’re around but it’s not quite a Hollywood horror movie, you know.

Hairyfriend · 04/01/2022 23:34

It clearly depends on the type of travel you'd do? Staying in a hotel- unlikely. Camping in a desert/bush or staying in a cheap hostel somewhere remote- possibly. Even spiders there are not ALL poisonous. Like most wild animals, they would prefer to get away from you, rather than be near!

Australia is a big as Europe. Its like saying 'will I see a spider if I drive from the UK, right across Europe to the Russian border?' The answer is,unlikely, but no body knows?

If you have a real phobia, speak to your GP about CBT or find a specialist to rationalise your fears. Have a great time.

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Original poster
Soontobe60 · 04/01/2022 23:34

@EmiliaAirheart

I see a few every year, living in a very green city. I think you’re being a bit ridiculous to write off a whole country for that.
Having a phobia isn’t ridiculous! I don’t want to write off a possible trip, I want to be prepared. I’m even prepared to get some sort of help to overcome my phobia.
OP posts:
groovergirl · 04/01/2022 23:35

I've lived in Australia most of my life. Most spiders here are harmless and just want to be left alone. The scary one is the funnel web, found on Sydney's north shore, but there hasn't been a death from funnel web bite in 40 years. All hospitals carry the anti-venenes for venomous spiders and snakes. Lots of Australians are trained in first aid, which includes keeping a bitten person safe until they can be got to hospital.

Feeling better now? Come on down. 😊

Original poster
Soontobe60 · 04/01/2022 23:36

@Hairyfriend

It clearly depends on the type of travel you'd do? Staying in a hotel- unlikely. Camping in a desert/bush or staying in a cheap hostel somewhere remote- possibly. Even spiders there are not ALL poisonous. Like most wild animals, they would prefer to get away from you, rather than be near!

Australia is a big as Europe. Its like saying 'will I see a spider if I drive from the UK, right across Europe to the Russian border?' The answer is,unlikely, but no body knows?

If you have a real phobia, speak to your GP about CBT or find a specialist to rationalise your fears. Have a great time.

Interestingly, I’m not fearful of being poisoned by one… it’s the size that terrifies me. I came across a tarantula on the wall in Thailand and almost fainted with fear.
OP posts:
coogee · 04/01/2022 23:39

I see spiders more frequentlyin the UK than I do in Australia.

FromEden · 04/01/2022 23:48

I only saw spiders on 2 occasions when in Australia for a year. A huntsman that came in the window of our apartment in Sydney and in the rainforest there were big ones, but outside where they lived in the trees and caught birds in their webs 😳 So yeah, they looked big and scary but were harmless to humans and mostly avoidable.

groovergirl · 04/01/2022 23:54

We don't have any the size of tarantulas ( which I came across in Brazil; oh so big, black and furry!) Our golden orb spiders can be quite big, but they are pretty. Their webs are very big, and they build them in gardens in the evening, so look out for those.

If you are going to the bush or outback you'll be warned about snakes. The world has 23 species of deadly snakes, and 19 of them live in Australia. Shock

NightLight2 · 05/01/2022 00:01

This is just a stereotype, like thinking it’s normal to see kangaroos regularly hopping down suburban streets. Yes there are spiders and a bunch of other bugs, but you are not going to encounter them much unless you’re in their habitat, ie camping, gardening, inside a shed filled with junk, etc.

I get a huntsman inside about once/year, they will freak you out but just get someone you are with to catch it and chuck it outside.

Outside Sydney backyards you won’t really notice funnelwebs, they’re around but the only time I realise we have them (northern NSW) is when we find one at the bottom of the pool which is not often.

Skip north qld rainforests.

Angelbaby1985 · 05/01/2022 00:10

@Hairyfriend

It clearly depends on the type of travel you'd do? Staying in a hotel- unlikely. Camping in a desert/bush or staying in a cheap hostel somewhere remote- possibly. Even spiders there are not ALL poisonous. Like most wild animals, they would prefer to get away from you, rather than be near!

Australia is a big as Europe. Its like saying 'will I see a spider if I drive from the UK, right across Europe to the Russian border?' The answer is,unlikely, but no body knows?

If you have a real phobia, speak to your GP about CBT or find a specialist to rationalise your fears. Have a great time.

Spiders are venomous not poisonous just saying one injects one u have to eat
Smokeahontas · 05/01/2022 00:16

I’m surprised there isn’t a market for professional spider catchers! There’s a snake catcher on YouTube, his videos are interesting.

PonyPals · 05/01/2022 00:31

I live in Australia and your fear is real! There are gigantic spiders roaming around and taking over houses. The media do not report this as it would ruin tourism.
The spiders are everywhere... you can't even leave your house without stepping on one.
They are beginning to enslave people.

ShippingNews · 05/01/2022 00:38

If you are going to spending your nights in motels / hotels you probably won't see any . Houses and hotels are sprayed every 12 months for all insects so you just don't see them inside . You'd only see one if you were sleeping in tents . I've lived in Oz for many years and I hardly ever see any, except a little one in the garden sometimes.

Greygreenblue · 05/01/2022 00:45

@Smokeahontas

I’m surprised there isn’t a market for professional spider catchers! There’s a snake catcher on YouTube, his videos are interesting.
That would be because all you need to safely remove a spider - even a venomous one - is a glass and a piece of cardboard. Snakes are a bit more tricky. Phobia’s are not a joke but giving into them is. Seriously OP are you not going to live your life because of an imagined danger (you say it’s the size that bothers you. A tiny red back will do a lot more damage than a large huntsman. So there is NO logic there)?
Smokeahontas · 05/01/2022 00:49

@Greygreenblue would you not need a mixing bowl for some of those huntsmen? Grin

Redsquirrel5 · 05/01/2022 00:55

I lived there at different stages of my life until I was 18 and for ten years went back to see mum and sisters plus lots of extended family. In all that time I saw two Red Backs which are quite small and one Funnel Web.They were all in Sydney suburbs. I would say that knowledge is a wonderful thing and the best thing is to read and be able to identify them and what the first aid is now. When I lived there there wasn’t an ‘anti-venenes’ but I later heard my cousin received a bit of money from providing some Funnel Webs for research. Only came across one very large spider which stayed in the corner of my room for a while until mum ousted him. Can’t say I would be keen on sharing with him now. Teenagers are a bit weird and I was no exception.

I would say go it is the most wonderful country and amazing landscapes. Do go to the Barrier Reef and I can recommend O’Reilly’s if you want to go to a rainforest. You can go on early bird walks, late glow worm adventures with knowledgeable wardens. The food is amazing too. The Botanical Gardens are worth a visit and Featherdale is the place to see marsupials rather than the zoo.
Not sure about the trip south. I hope he doesn’t intend driving from Melbourne to Perth. I would be opting for train.
Covid has stopped me going for the six months I promised myself when I retired. DD is going there soon. She is in New Zealand just now. She definitely has the travel bug.

silentpool · 05/01/2022 02:06

You do see some but they mind their own business. They eat things that annoy me more like flies, mozzies etc so they earn their keep.

coffy11 · 05/01/2022 02:18

I'm in Australia, I don't come across spiders very often

chatw0o0 · 05/01/2022 02:28

I live in Sydney and I think we've had two in the house in nearly seven years (Huntsmen - would be happy if they were living in the shed or whatever but both appeared in the bedroom and I didn't fancy them taking up residence in the nice dark wardrobe). Haven't seen any since, and rarely see any small house spiders.

My FIL has a fairly dusty old house and free-ranging garden and I haven't see any there either.

Also did a road trip in NT/WA earlier this year and none there either!

chatw0o0 · 05/01/2022 02:30

@PonyPals

I live in Australia and your fear is real! There are gigantic spiders roaming around and taking over houses. The media do not report this as it would ruin tourism. The spiders are everywhere... you can't even leave your house without stepping on one. They are beginning to enslave people.
They are beginning to enslave people

I think you've got the start of a dystopian arachnid based horror/thriller there!

DifficultBloodyWoman · 05/01/2022 02:31

I’ve never seen a huntsman (the big one), a funnel web (the killer one) or a red back (the other killer one).

I have, however, seen white tails on the patio and in the house. The largest had a body of maybe 1.5cm and was 3 or 4cm including legs. It was sprayed with raid and removed from the house.

It was a sign that we hadn’t had pest control in for a while.

You are unlikely to see spiders, especially large ones, in homes or hotels. You may see some outside but only if you are really looking. It is true that they are more afraid of us than we are of them and they are pretty good at hiding themselves.

Sagealicious · 05/01/2022 04:27

Lived in Australia all my life. Can honestly count on one hand the amount of poisonous spiders I've ever come across. You leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. A lot of stories you hear about deadly Aussie animals are often blown way out of proportion. Don't get me wrong we do have animals here that can kill you but stay safe, don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine. Same as in any other countries. Oh and apparently the animal that causes the most deaths here in Oz is the horse.

www.ncis.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NCIS-fact-sheet-Animal-related-deaths.pdf

WoodenReindeer · 05/01/2022 04:37

We stayed with family in Tas and they had a huntsman on the wall that terrified me. (High up, big room, not doing any harm, but to me it was a "tarrantua" (again it isnt, and is harmless,but is just the association it had for me as a british person used to house spiders)). One of the family realised and moved it for me. But it wasn't as uncommon for them as some on here make out. They check car mirrors/the sunshield thing each time too. Family in Melbourne don't.

I did get quite phobic and got someone to check my room before I slept. However we have had amazing times there and hope to go back when covids settled. I am still a bit anxious though!

WoodenReindeer · 05/01/2022 04:38

We go walking too (local trails not middle of nowhere). Aussie relative reassures me he's hardly seen snakes and they usually get out the way if you stick to the paths anyway.