Is there a giant spider on my car?!

[davenn]

Helppppppp



I'm being tormented by a large spider on the car... I'm freaking out !
So, last wednesday (7th Nov) I was sitting at a set of traffic lights and this large, Huntsman, spider starts walking across my windscreen ... WOW I thought, wonder where that came from?
As I moved off on the green light, the spider disappeared ... I assumed it was blown off the car with the wind and I didnt think any more about it. Well yesterday, Sunday, Cindy and I stop at the KFC drive through window to pick up the order and I wind down the window and guess what comes around the outside of the drivers side wing mirror ... YEAH the same big freakin spider... Up goes the electric window in a hurry and the spider wanders along the bottom of the window and then disappears.

The girl comes to the server window with the order and I put my window down a little and ask her if she can see the spider ... no, was the response, so I opened the window and took the order.

Now I don't know if the spider is still on the car or not ? ... I can't leave windows open a little on hot days in case it comes inside the car. I look around the door every time I get in and out to make sure it doesn't come into the car.

Last thing I want is to be pounding down the motorway at 100km/hr and have this thing crawling up my leg of worse ... down the seatbelt and onto my neck! laugh if you like, I see the funny side ... but just put yourself in my position.

It reminds me of this cartoon that I posted in the comedy section a week or two ago ...

They are not aggressive ( well the female can be when guarding eggs / young) or highly venomous to humans as such, but the very painful bite will cause infection problems, nausea, swelling, vomiting, heart palpitations etc ...

A generic pic from Google ImagesDave

 

[Wrichik Basu]

How did you take it in your hand? I would have fainted! Can you put the pic of the spider in a spoiler? I was really freaked out.

 

[davenn]

How did you take it in your hand? I would have fainted! Can you put the pic of the spider in a spoiler? I was really freaked out.

ohhh that was a generic pic on the net that I found to show people what the Huntsman spider looked like
I just edited the post ... thanks for the memory jogger

no way would I have handled it !

 

[davenn]

ok

Tonite we have had a resolution
Yes the spider was still there after all the motor way driving to and from work. It appeared after dark on the roof/door join on the drivers side

he's about 4 - 5 inches across from leg tip to leg tip ... similar size, maybe a tad smaller than the one in the pic
in the hand of that guy.

After the above photo, I managed to capture him in a plastic container and release him at the end of the back yard Dave

 

[Borek]

Yay.

As much as I like all creatures big and small and am not afraid of them I can perfectly well understand you. It is something completely different to deal with the thing when you are ready and aware, and when you are taken by surprise.

 

[fresh_42]

Yay.

As much as I like all creatures big and small and am not afraid of them I can perfectly well understand you. It is something completely different to deal with the thing when you are ready and aware, and when you are taken by surprise.

... plus the Australia factor! A European spider is probably not the same issue.

 

[berkeman]

Dat's a big spider!

 

[Bystander]

... plus the Australia factor!

How far from Sydney? (Funnel web)

 

[Bystander]

cartoon that I posted in the comedy section a week or two ago ...

Karma.

 

[Mark44]

The spider you mentioned looks to be about the same size as a tarantula. One time I was driving along a road in New Mexico, about 60 mph, and spotted something along the side of the road. The road didn't have much traffic, so I stopped and backed up to see what it was. It turned out to be a tarantula, dark in color and about 4 to 5 " across.

No, it didn't get in the car with me.

 

[russ_watters]

A molotov cocktail would have taken care of this quickly.

 

[DaveC426913]

Well yesterday, Sunday, Cindy and I stop at the KFC drive through window to pick up the order...

Wait, you named it?
You're taking it on dates now?

 

[davenn]

How far from Sydney? (Funnel web)

I'm in Sydney, inner west suburbs, there are trapdoor spiders around here but personally haven't seen one.
The venomous one I do see regularly is the Redback, related to the Katapo in New Zealand and the Black Widow of the USA.
They are small but nasty.

The spider you mentioned looks to be about the same size as a tarantula.

I have only ever seen a couple of tarantula spiders, both in captivity, they were both much bigger and hairier

A molotov cocktail would have taken care of this quickly.

hahaha

One mate on face book have a similar response ... "a can of hairspray and a cigarette lighter ... instant flame thrower "

Wait, you named it?
You're taking it on dates now?

hahahahaa ... ohhh gosh, Dave, that cracked me up, very good

Shows the importance of taking something in context Well I couldn't kill it ... as in the quote from Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy ... they are "mostly harmless"
I'm sure he will be happy at the bottom end of the garden with lots of bugs to eat.Dave

 

[Bystander]

So the famous "Sydney Funnel Web" is not so common as to prompt abandonment of flying machines, or other vehicles from "an abundance of caution?" Curses, another urban myth shot.

 

[DaveC426913]

Australian Funnel Web:

 

[davenn]

So the famous "Sydney Funnel Web" is not so common as to prompt abandonment of flying machines, or other vehicles from "an abundance of caution?" Curses, another urban myth shot.

Funnel Web spiders are really a nasty bit of work, I really don't want to get too close to one

From Wiki ...

Bites to humans[edit]
Venom[edit]
The lethal dose of venom in humans is not known. The lethal dose of venom from male Sydney funnel-web spiders for the crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is 0.2 mg/kg. Higher figures were found for other experimental animals, such as 1.5 mg/kg for two-day-old mice. The average venom yield for a male is 176 mg.[16] Guinness World Records has ranked the Sydney funnel-web as the world's most venomous spider, defining the term "most venomous" as "having the venom most toxic to humans",[17] although it has also given this title to the Brazilian wandering spider.[18]

Funnel-web spider venom contains a compound known as atracotoxin, an ion channel inhibitor, which makes the venom highly toxic for humans and other primates. However, it does not affect the nervous system of other mammals.[10] These spiders typically deliver a full envenomation when they bite, often striking repeatedly, due to their defensiveness and large chitinous cheliceral fangs. There has been no reported case of severe envenoming by female funnel-web spiders, which is consistent with the finding that the venom of female specimens is less potent than the venom of their male counterparts.[15][19] In the case of severe envenomation, the time to onset of symptoms is less than one hour, with a study about funnel-web spider bites finding a median time of 28 minutes. This same study revealed that children are at a particular risk of severe funnel-web envenoming, with 42% of all cases of severe envenoming being children.[19] There is at least one recorded case of a small child dying within 15 minutes of a bite from a Sydney funnel-web spider.[20]

Dave

 

[strangerep]

In my previous home, large huntsmen would sometimes appear walking around outside. But they rarely lasted long in the open because a large wasp (smaller than the huntsmen) would soon attack and immobilize it very quickly. The huntsmen would run dang-scared if they saw the wasp approaching. The wasp would then have to drag the much heavier huntsman over the ground and up to its nest.

Funnel webs are quite another matter. Several times I turned over a stone while gardening, only to find its scary visage rearing up at me. But they're not as tough as they look: one blast of Mortein surface spray right in the face made it totally forget about combat. (Same for the wasp -- a light spray with Mortein and it would drop like a stone within seconds.)

Curiously, kookaburras seem to be immune to funnel web venom. If they catch sight of one from a tree, they'll swoop down and make a meal of it very quickly.

 

[Bystander]

176 mg/bite? Yikes. The mechanical effect/trauma would be significant/painful, never mind the toxicity.

 

[Nugatory]

176 mg/bite? Yikes. The mechanical effect/trauma would be significant/painful, never mind the toxicity.

That's micrograms, not milligrams - the source in the footnote says .176mg so someone working on the Wikipedia article lost the decimal point.

 

[DaveC426913]

That's micrograms, not milligrams - the source in the footnote says .176mg so someone working on the Wikipedia article lost the decimal point.

Yeah, I noticed that too.
176 milligrams of fluid is almost 2 cubic millimetres of fluid.