Are Australian spiders really that big?

[General Twinkletoes]

Teehee, seeing all these people freaking out at mini spiders are funny. Every winter my house gets routinly invaded by huntsmans bigger then my palm, just chillin in my room. I had some french friends come over to my house. I saw a huntsman on the wall, but didn't mention it. a minute later, i hear a huge yell, and turn around to see my friend has already left the room in terror of the huntsman

The ones that really freak my out are if a huntsman is within 30 cm's of me (they're eyes man, the eyes. If they're on the roof or something idc.), or the little poisonous ones. One time, i was in sydney visiting a friend. I look around, and see a funnel web right next to my hand, about to inject my with liquid death. I got out of the way, but it freaked me out @_@ those things are poisonous as balls, and their teeth are so big they have to rear up to bite. Which was what he was doing when i noticed him. Even amoung australians, bricks get shat over spiders. Not over the big ones though, they just unnerve me a bit if they're close.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider
Look at these fuckers. Seeing one 30 cm's away is scary, no matter how many balls you have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWS04I80L3Q
Also, watch this, i dare you.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/bugs-animals/spiders-and-scorpions/tarantula_goliath.html
Ok, i have to admit, this is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH worthy from anyone. certainly did.

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

Considering where i live, a spider with a body larger than the size of a pea is large.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Yea I'd say they are pretty big.

Oh and I just had to share this, I think I fainted a little.

 

[HoradricNoob]

I grew up in the woods of northern Arkansas and as far as the local spiders go, bigger means less dangerous e.g. tarantulas and wolf spiders.
It's the little black widows that you want to watch out for.

 

[Knight Templar]

When not big, they are deadly, when not deadly, they are eveywhere.
We have trees that will sting you if you stand too close.

I think UltraJoe made a very good thread on the topic way back when.

 

[MrAkuma201]

In Aus and not really mosty small and deadly but you can get some big ones

 

[Withard]

Just to add Camel Spiders are NOT Spiders.

 

[RADlTZ]

*asks google about how much 12 inch are in cm*

... Fuck this shit, Im outta here. *flies to mars*

Haven't you heard, there are spiders on Mars!
(David Bowie wouldn't lie to me...)

 

[hwarang]

Also, watch this, i dare you.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/bugs-animals/spiders-and-scorpions/tarantula_goliath.html
Ok, i have to admit, this is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH worthy from anyone. certainly did.

I was fine most of the way though the video, until that point near the end, yup, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I suppose I'm British though, seeing things like that just isn't normal. Shame I have 3 more months of living in China...

 

[harvz]

i knew i shouldn't have clicked on this thread, i have arachnophobia and am aussie...now im paranoid. we get huntsman here, i think that some of the reason many people think that we have big spiders is that we generally dont worry about huntsman's due to them being mostly harmless and good for getting rid of bugs.

the ones you should be looking out for are the poisonous ones, mostly really small so in my area its generally red backs and white tails.

 

[Magicmad5511]

Let me put this in perspective. Here in England the biggest spiders have a leg span of less than a persons palm and those are the ones with really long spindly legs but tiny bodies.
In Australia they can have bodies that big.

Yes. Australia has damn huge spiders. That's why I'm not likely to ever go there.
I get scared by the ones here.

 

[Raddra]

Oh god.. oh god oh god oh god kill it with FIRE.

Why.. why god, why on earth did you.. why.

Same goes to all spiders really...

Ever looked up and had one lowering itself from the ceiling onto your head when you're sat at your computer chair?

I know you just looked. Didn't you?

 

[mrhappy1489]

Big spiders? who the hell cares about the big ones? (hur hur)

It's the little ones that have lethal bites.

I guess you've never met a funnel web spider have you?

 

[Slaanesh]

Daddy-long-legs are poisonous, but they don't bite humans, so they're fine.

Spoiler: my response to you

Daddy Long Legs are not venomous. Just a stupid urban myth. They have no venom glands. Familiarize yourself with this link [http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html]. The Daddy Long legs spider(yes there is a difference) are venomous, but its so weak that it just gives you a mild, short, burning sensation. It doesn't even need treatment.

South America has bigger spiders and more poisonous than those in Australia. The Brazilian Wandering Spider is the most poisonous in the world, and you die with a raging hard-on thanks to it's weird-arse viagra venom. Australia tops the charts for poisonous snakes though.

While the Brazilian Wandering Spider may have a more lethal venom, the Sydney Funnel Web Spider is more aggressive. The BWS just wanders around, as the name implies. But because it wanders everywhere(like say, your boots) you are likeley to disturb it easily, thus resulting in a bite. The sydney funnel web on the other hand is aggressive, its as if just by seeing you, the spider thinks you said "Come at me bro," so he comes at you...bro.

 

[Hoplon]

Big spiders? who the hell cares about the big ones? (hur hur)

It's the little ones that have lethal bites.

I guess you've never met a funnel web spider have you?

Not personally, but I would call a 1 to 4 cm long pretty small.

 

[Insanity72]

Thought this was rather relevant.

EDIT: Ok i really don't know how to put pictures up properly.....

 

[Eyclonus]

One of the things that makes us Aussies seem fine with big ass spiders is because from a very young age, parents, teachers, television and pretty much everything else drill into you the importance of what can kill you, my community had a particularly vicious example when a kid died from being bitten on the arse by a red back when he s*at in his grandparent's outhouse. This would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that people have died like that since 1850s.

Huntsmen spiders, being the most common of the "big" spiders are fairly shy. On the other hand funnel webs, especially the Sydney funnel web spider, are aggressive, like class clown lets one out onto the classroom floor and everyone gets onto their seats, but it climbs the legs, so the whole class runs out of the room and it chases into the corridor, where they pass another class of primary school kids who hear the screams and see the kids running and they too start running until two to three adults can surround the thing and kill it, and then bully is expelled and his parent's are informed that they would be up on grievous assault of a child charges if it bit a kid.

Oh god.. oh god oh god oh god kill it with FIRE.

Why.. why god, why on earth did you.. why.

Same goes to all spiders really...

Dude, tried that against a spider in a mate's car, it got mad. In the end it was stamped on four times, sprayed with 200ml of bug spray, burnt twice by Bug Spray + Lighter, had a cigarette stubbed out on it and the bastard still chased us for 5 metres before dying in a burning mass of rage and Spider.

Tl;DR Australian spiders have fire resistance.