Going to have to be extremely careful with Demps - found out he's a good hunter...

First topic message reminder :

A spider hunter.

A big, fat-bodied spider was crawling around our living room yesterday, while mum and I were having our Movie Night. The first time it crawled past, Demps shot up and frowned at it, watching it go.

The second time, he dashed behind the armchair and dove underneath the computer desk (a space only half his size) after it, so he had to be pulled back out. The spider scuttled away.

Third time, he shot up again and mum stopped him before he could pounce. I caught it in a glass and took it outside, so that Demps didn't crunch the abdomen and leak its nasty spidey juices all over the carpet.

Lynda, the best stories are best told twice!

Well Eleanor, I'm embarrassed - I didn't think I'd ever breathed a word about this horrid experience before. My short-term memory is obviously losing its marbles.

"Most people are oblivious to what goes on on a production line" - this is so true Tracy. I have no complaints about pharmaceuticals, absolutely exemplary practices and cleanliness - toiletries etc nearly as good. But foodstuffs .................. I just can't understand why the same standards are not upheld or enforced.

Anyway - off my soapbox and back to spiders!

To be fair, it could just be good old déjà vu playing tricks on me!

Shisa wrote:Out of sight out of mind. Ignorance is bliss.

True that!

Rat droppings, false nails falling into the line, missing finger tips, bodily fluids, flour beetles, fly blown fruit ready for the line, curdled milk products..... ohhhhh, I love my home grown products.

LyndaW wrote:Well Eleanor, I'm embarrassed - I didn't think I'd ever breathed a word about this horrid experience before.  My short-term memory is obviously losing its marbles.

"Most people are oblivious to what goes on on a production line" - this is so true Tracy.  I have no complaints about pharmaceuticals, absolutely exemplary practices and cleanliness - toiletries etc nearly as good.  But foodstuffs .................. I just can't understand why the same standards are not upheld or enforced.  

Anyway - off my soapbox and back to spiders!

Let me digress....
Seems the same here Lynda. Pharmaceuticals are highly regulated. The food industry... not so much which is sheer madness to me..   

So....   I do love how our convo's have their own life.....  back to spiders.

Has anyone heard of our white tip ( white tailed spider)?

http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Environment/Biodiversity/White-tailed-spiders.aspx

They are right little nasties! I beg to differ on the bite outcome....

I don't think I've heard of them. If I have, I don't remember.

Out of curiosity, is there anything you do, that people in the UK wouldn't need to, in regards to spiders? Like in the article, where it mentioned checking your bed covers before going to sleep. Is that something you have to do every night?

We certainly do shake the bedding before sleep in summer. They do like to get in between the sheets but scurry away quickly if disturbed.

Many of us bomb our house, then they don't want to come in for 8 mths or so.
I spray the dogs beds every month in summer.

Google "white tailed spider bites" images.

They wont kill you but they will wreck your life!

Yeah, I just read a bit about them. They don't sound very friendly!

I'll pass on looking at white-tailed spiders, and am also reconsidering my plans of spending April - October in England, and November - March in Australia!

We had our first Giant House Spider today! Well, last night. As usual, the first residence they take up is the bathroom sink. Mum saw it and conveniently forget to tell anybody, so now it's at large in the bathroom! And ripe for breeding!

They can give a bit of a bite to make you ill, but still nothing dangerous! Our lovely, safe spideys are wimps!

Ooh, just found out that the Giant House Spider holds the Guinness record for fastest spider!

Now that's a comforting thought   

Eleanor, they are my worst nightmare and this change to autumnal weather brings them into our houses (where have they been, where the heck do they think they're going?)

As for being fast, I believe it, they go like the clappers (my guess is 15 mph)

And I hate them.

About 1.2 miles per hour according to   , but still the fastest spidey! And considering their size, that's really fast!

Apparently, it'll usually only be the males you'll see. They come scuttling out in search of females.

I really don't like them Think I've already mentioned this, but one was trying to attack my hand when I caught it in a glass last year! Evil!

Lynda...November - March will be too hot for you. April -july would be better.  

Eleanor wrote:Our lovely, safe spideys are wimps!

    

How many times must I say......

Find a big shoe...... a flat spider is a good spider! I can "whack" faster than 1.2 mhp  

That's disgusting! Imagine the mess! Besides, I'm not sure I'd want to. Google's been very informative! Apparently they're fantastic for pest control!

 So am I!

tracyp wrote:Lynda...November - March will be too hot for you. April -july would be better.  

Nah - April thru October is England time, can't beat it!

But apart from the snow, which I would miss, I would be glad to swap November thru March for another summer. So long as there is air-con or at least a fan it is rarely too hot for me, so long as it is not too humid. And so long as your spiders, snakes, flies and box-jellyfish stay well clear of me!

Eleanor - 1.2 mph? A third of our walking speed? I can only say that the speed the beggars go across my living room floor they must be the Usain Bolts of the arachnid world shudder shudder.

LyndaW wrote:So long as there is air-con or at least a fan it is rarely too hot for me, so long as it is not too humid.  And so long as your spiders, snakes, flies and box-jellyfish stay well clear of me!

  Hehehehe.....So you're not coming over then?

tracyp wrote:

  Hehehehe.....So you're not coming over then?

Actually, I'd love to see Australia and have a rain-check invite to stay with my nephew in Sydney. BUT I have to get there and back, and see other places too whilst I'm about it so finances are the main snag!

We all have fans... 90% have air con . It's kinda like air..... pretty tough without it at 40c+
Where in sydney does he live? I used to live up there. Some parts are really beautiful.

He first lived in Surrey Hills and now lives in Bondi. He has a lovely flat there but it has no heating for the winter months, which he has been finding difficult. Brrrr.