Australians should stop milking spiders

[Marue]

Heard that they were urging people to catch more spiders to milk for anti venom, the average spider gets milked 100 times before being killed!

It just seems very inhumane to do that these days, surely with modern technology they should synthesise this?

We had an Eastern Tarantula in our brownie hut when I was little. It is also known as the bird eating spider. Ill let you google that one

We don't seem to have many spiders where I live now. Lots of slithery things that will you though. Huntsman are left to their own devices unless they are catchable. Redbacks and white tailed spiders are dispatched with great speed. Never seen a funnelweb as they are not where I live/d. When we were little we used to poke sticks into the homes of the trapdoor spiders to annoy them.

I always find it interesting how attitude changes dependent on the "cuteness level" of a particular animal. I always thought the fox hunting debate might have gone very differently if foxes happened to look like rats. I'm not necessarily pro-fox hunting but have sheep farmer friends that are. They argue that foxes are vermin (and killers) much the same as a rat but in a cute furry jacket.
In answer to the OP question - many animals work for us in one way or another in return for care. I'm sure every effort is taken in causing the least harm as possible in obtaining this lifesaving venom so no, I don't disagree with it.

A spider has just landed on my head - probably reading as I typed agreeing we should milk his cousins!

I quite like spiders which is lucky really and given the option will remove one from the house rather than kill it.

My car likes them too. All the huntsmen in our house know the safe level to come down the wall or they are turned into tasty spidey snacks.

Still want plenty of anti venom.

crazyboo not everybody dislikes spiders. Some have them as pets.

On the basis of this thread alone I will never live in Australia.

kali110 I doubt anyone would keep funnel webs as pets. Although I once read a book about a man who kept one for the specific purpose of murdering someone he didn't like .

Funnel webs are generally the ones that are milked for antivenene, so that's the variety were discussing. They are a highly venomous creature. Not pet material. Some people keep snakes, too, but the really venomous ones - nope. There's enough of those in the chook shed to deal with!