Many people are worried about living in, or visiting, Australia
all because of its poisonous spiders. Is there really a reason for you
to be worried? Could you be killed after being bitten by a spider if
you visit, or move to, Australia? Should the possibility stop you from
going to Australia?
In case you did not know it, Australia has only two spiders that should be of a major concern for anyone visiting, or living there. The two spiders that you need to be most concerned with are the funnel-web spider and the red-back spider. These spiders have caused deaths in the past.
But, with a little common sense and caution these spiders are not the major concern that they used to be. There now is anti-venom for both and neither one has caused any reported deaths for many years.
Funnel-Web Spiders Where are they found?
These hazardous funnel web spiders are found most often in the Brisbane and Sydney area. There have been a few isolated funnel web spider bites in the Adelaide area. The are not usually found in Perth or Melbourne area.
How big are they? The females are usually bigger than males and they are most often found to be around 6 or 7 cm long when including their legs. If you put this into perspective you will realize that a female funnel web spider is found to be about the same width as the palm of a person's hand.
The funnel web spider is not like the timid red-back spider. The funnel web spiders are aggressive creatures. They will not hesitate to attack if they feel that they have been provoked at all. What's more, their venom is very quick acting and if they are not promptly treated their bite can end in a rapid death. This can happen within an hour so that quick action is a must.
Even though the funnel-web spiders are much more aggressive than the red-back spiders, their bites are not near as common because the funnel-web spiders are much bigger and so they are easy to see. As far as how many people fall prey to the funnel-web spider? The average seems to be around 5 or 6 bites requiring anti-venom treatment each year in Australia.
In case you did not know it, Australia has only two spiders that should be of a major concern for anyone visiting, or living there. The two spiders that you need to be most concerned with are the funnel-web spider and the red-back spider. These spiders have caused deaths in the past.
But, with a little common sense and caution these spiders are not the major concern that they used to be. There now is anti-venom for both and neither one has caused any reported deaths for many years.
Funnel-Web Spiders Where are they found?
These hazardous funnel web spiders are found most often in the Brisbane and Sydney area. There have been a few isolated funnel web spider bites in the Adelaide area. The are not usually found in Perth or Melbourne area.
How big are they? The females are usually bigger than males and they are most often found to be around 6 or 7 cm long when including their legs. If you put this into perspective you will realize that a female funnel web spider is found to be about the same width as the palm of a person's hand.
The funnel web spider is not like the timid red-back spider. The funnel web spiders are aggressive creatures. They will not hesitate to attack if they feel that they have been provoked at all. What's more, their venom is very quick acting and if they are not promptly treated their bite can end in a rapid death. This can happen within an hour so that quick action is a must.
Even though the funnel-web spiders are much more aggressive than the red-back spiders, their bites are not near as common because the funnel-web spiders are much bigger and so they are easy to see. As far as how many people fall prey to the funnel-web spider? The average seems to be around 5 or 6 bites requiring anti-venom treatment each year in Australia.
