Should you kill a huntsman if you see one?
I have seen a few big ones around the pergola/deck. I am not sure if I should kill it or wait for it to kill me. š
(Slightly Terrified š)
Peeing on them is not an option.
Kill Huntsman Spiders...Yea or Nay?
iNeed2Pee on 23/01/2022 - 22:56
Last edited 24/01/2022 - 00:03
Last edited 24/01/2022 - 00:03
Poll Options
- 144KILL
- 626DO NOT KILL
Comments
- 1
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White tails aren't really dangerous. It's BS. Sure, there'sa very rare chance of a small bite, but it's not going to do more than that.
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017ā¦
I wouldnāt be so sure about that, an ex girlfriend got a white tail bite on her thigh and she suffered the wound for over 2 years, it just would not heal.
Disclaimer: I am not a white tailThat's exactly what a white tail would say…
Read the studies Rayz. I bet that there was no actual proof that your ex was ever in fact bitten by a white tail at all (i.e. I bet she never saw the spider bite her). The fact is that peeps with disfiguring wounds that don't heal tend to seek out a potential 'external cause', rather than conclude that it is the result of some sort of deficiency within their body/immune system/etc.; and a white tail spider bite is often 'conveniently' evoked as the cause. Based on zero actual evidence, of course.
.@GnarlyKnuckles: why the downvotes on this? It is solid science. Not saying it is impossible for white tail spiders to inject a long running infection, but the studies showed it is highly unlikely. On the other hand, many thousands of Australians get infected ulcers every year from mosquito bites - and some can easily last years (Buruli ulcer is endemic in southeast Melbourne and it is nasty).
Much more likely Rayzorbacks ex-squeeze got a mosquito bite than a white tail bite.
@derrida derider: I didnāt downvote but Iām guessing that a study size of 130 bites is too small given the anecdotal reports.
Itās like the allergy that makes people allergic to red meat after a tick byte. Iām sure you can find a group of 130 people who have been bitten by a tick who can still eat red meat. It doesnāt mean the phenomenon isnāt related to tick bytes.
Science is a systematic process of examination used to produce information that allows us to make a ābest guessā based on said information. The quality and quantity of this information determines the quality of the guess. In this case I would say that the quality and quantity of information is lacking. Only once a reasonable amount of quality information is generated and the bulk of the scientists in that field agree on the conclusions could you you genuinely consider ābecause scienceā to be valid.
@derrida derider: Some light reading on the Buruli ulcer in Australia if anyone else wants to down the rabbit hole like I did. Yikes
@GnarlyKnuckles: I love that this 100% scientifically accurate post is being downvoted because it clashes with people's 100% false perception.
you're a white tip..
My father lost all the flesh from a finger after a whitetail bite, wouldn't heal and flesh basically decayed and yes I know this won't have been from the venom and likely from a bacteria it was carrying.
How did your father know it was a white tail spider that bit him? Did he actually see it? If he is still alive, please ask him this. I bet that what happened was that some ill-informed doctor told him that the possible cause of what you describe was a white tail spider bite. Read the studies.
@GnarlyKnuckles: Because we saw the spider, it was 30 years ago now, but we were carrying furniture out of an old warehouse, white tails were always a bit of a problem there as they seem to love to hide in fabric lounges between cushions etc. As it was a white tail rather than something deadly we didn't think much of it and continued working as not the first time someone had been bitten. It is also entirely possible a bacterial infection was picked up after the bite as a white tail bite didn't stop us working for the rest of the day in a relatively dusty/dirty environment. All we can say with certainty is he was bitten by a white tail and several weeks later he had to get the flesh scraped off his finger.
@serpserpserp: well now it is ashes. however it looked rather shriveled with the skin being rather loose with the exception of the finger tip, really a bit like a prune. Surprisingly it still mostly worked just looked awful.
@GnarlyKnuckles: Sorry GnarlyKnucles, I too have had first had experience that disagrees with what you are saying - where I caught the spider as it bit me, it was a White Tail, and it got badly infected and needed medical treatment.
Happened to my brother also and he also caught the spider as it happened as it was in his bed - quite definitive - no guess work nor argument. I saw it too as he killed it and showed me. There wasn't anything else in there - just a white tail spider exactly where bitten!
Mine was on the bottom edge of my backpack I'd sat down outside the front door against the building and when I picked it up and put it on, the spider came with the bag, it bit my lower back - I felt it, took the bag off and saw instantly what it was and caught it and confirmed it was a White Tail.
Over the following days/week, I developed red streaks up my back and had to get antibiotics to treat it. Apparently its because White Tails bite / eat other nasty things and that bacteria is on their fangs.
So that's two just I know of where they do bite and it is dangerous untreated where the spider was seen immediately as bitten. Absolutely no doubt in my mind.
@MrFrugalSpend: No need to apologise Fruges, and thanks for sharing.
I would like to know if you happened to get a photo of the spider that you caught, or had it identified by anyone else. If you did, and you can get the medical notes associated with your treatment (were any pics taken of the affected area/s?), I would dearly like to write it up as a brief case report for publication. It's quite rare that the person actually catches the spider, and if you have a pic of the spider or a reliable ID, and you can get the treatment records, your case would constitute a legitimately informative contribution to the medical/scientific knowledge-base. You could be an author on the publication as well.
If that is something you would be interested in, please do PM me.
@GnarlyKnuckles: I have a photo of the spider and early stage of the red streak from the bite (which got worse after the photo) - Link: https://imgur.com/a/wWGQ682
I don't think there'd be as much value in my report as you suggest as I don't think there's much doubt that a bite from almost any insect / arachnid can get infected - that's what happened to me. I believe White Tails are more prone to giving an infected bite due to their dietary habits - but that's just my hunch from what I've read.
For clarification, I did not get an ulcerating / flesh eating wound that took ages to heal - That's the thing that seems to be in doubt in the scientific community that someone wants to prove (I believe). So I couldn't prove that one that's been debated for years unfortunately (well, fortunately for me actually)!
I got a lot of itchyness, redness, a part flat, part raised red streak, then I got it treated with antibiotics to heal it over a couple of weeks as it was getting worse and the antibiotics worked… so I guess it wasn't that bad after all as I got it treated.
I think that's known as quite common / possible. The unicorn you are looking for is proof from someone like Rayzorback's ex or Gromit's father that couldn't get it healed. That's not me. Sorry if I mislead. My comments here were mainly a retort to poboy saying "White tails aren't really dangerous. It's BS." as I think any infection can be dangerous.
@MrFrugalSpend: Let me reply on behalf of @gnarlyknuckles
Are you sure that this spider always had a white tail and someone didn't just paint it on? Did you witness the spider's birth? Did you sight the mother and are you sure that it was a white tail and somebody did not also simply paint a white tail on it?
@Solid: you could be a criminal law barrister….
"So your testimony is based on your belief that my client was, according to your unqualified opinion, a so-called "white tailed spider", however you cannot even provide any proof of whether the white tail was even real or painted on. Why should this court even believe that you did not paint it on simply to suit your story Mr Spend? In fact this whole story, Mr Spend, seems somewhat that of elaborate fiction. There are no other witnesses that you can account, just your word that allegedly as per your "recollection", you believe my client was between your back and your backpack conveniently around the time you seem to think you experienced an incident… however MrSpend, you admit that you didn't see my client actually bite you, in fact, you admitted it was behind your back, so you can't really quite be sure that you were bitten by my client at all - can you, Mr Spend?! "Nor do you have any qualifications in medicine - you are not a Doctor, are you, Mister Spend?… so you cannot even be sure that what you experienced was a bite, or that it became an infection, or in fact, was in any way dangerous at all?"
"In fact, I conclude MrSpend, you have no expertise in scientific arachnid identification, no medical degree, you admit you did not see yourself being bitten, or my client biting you - so, it would seem somewhat implausible that you could assert any knowledge that you were in fact bitten, experienced any sort of dangerous reaction, or that my client was any way responsible, or for that matter even a whte tailed spider! I rest my case your honour and ask for immediate dismissal of this fanciful allegation against my client"
@MrFrugalSpend: Hey again Fruges … re:
'The unicorn you are looking for is …'
I'm not looking for a 'unicorn'. I should have been more specific about the nature of the medical records I am seeking. What I am interested in doing is collating actual medical records over time, from confirmed/certain cases of white-tail spider bites that got infected in which some good 'old-fashioned' pathology was actually done to identify the pathogen involved—which would almost certainly be a species of bacteria. The reason being that perhaps white-tails are carriers of a specific species of commensal bacteria capable of causing persistent infections in humans that are unusually resistant to some or many standard antibiotics. If that could be convincingly demonstrated, then in the future cases of confirmed white-tail bite-induced infections an appropriate (i.e. 'likely to be effective from the outset') antibiotic could be administered; based on actual medical evidence/a collation of peer-reviewed case studies.
I will try to be more specific in future, so as not to be accused of chasing unicorns … lol. Notably though, on other occasions here I have been accused of including too much detail (being 'too specific').
@GnarlyKnuckles: no pathology for me sorry. Doc looked at it and prescribed me some generic broad-spectrum antibiotic and it cleared up… so probably not the same bacteria that was causing other people's resistant infections.
@MrFrugalSpend: Thanks for such a swift reply Fruges :)
It seems that no one much bothers to do any pathology any more …
Perhaps I'll send a little 'letter to the editor' or 'short communication' off to one of the squillions of 'start-up' open-access journals, encouraging GPs to send off a pathology sample for ID in all cases of infection arising from a confirmed (i.e. spider actually caught or photographed) white-tail bite. It would be a 'slow road' to any sort of definitive conclusion, but at least it would 'get the ball rolling'. If nothing like this is ever done, the situation will remain forever shrouded in mystery/uninformed debate.
@GnarlyKnuckles: I think mainly because the GPs are mostly interested in getting a quick resolution and by the time you go off from the GP to get the pathology done (presuming small GP practice without capability to do so in house), culture and get the analysis done and results, its usually a 3 day turnaround and then results have to come back, so patient would have to come back for results or get sent/pickup a script specific to the bacteria identified, then go buy it and start the course by which time it'd be day 4 to get any meaningful treatment.
So they have to prescribe something to stop the infection getting worse for those 3-4 days, so basically have to start you on a 5 to 10 day course of a broad-spectrum antibiotic and only call you back for pathology if it doesn't get better once that course is done.There'd probably have to be some sort of research study they call for participation in if only done for data collection rather than helping the patient's immediate need.
'There'd probably have to be some sort of research study they call for participation in …'
I'm not sure who you mean by 'they', but in this case 'they' would be 'me'. I.e., I would aim to alert GPs to the current debate/controversy/inconsistency of opinions, and the lack of evidence, and simply ask them to swab any infection that they encounter from a confirmed white-tail bite and send the swab off for pathology (there is no such thing as 'in-house pathology' anymore, except in a few hospitals; it's all outsourced). Medicare would cover it/neither the patient nor the GP would be out of pocket, and it would take all of about 3 minutes. Of course in the meantime/straight away the GP would prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic, but this would in no way affect the results of the swab/pathology.
While thinking about this it occurred to me that it may also be possible to gain some indirect evidence of the bacterial species that may be responsible for persistent human infections subsequent to white-tail bites, by grinding up the mouth-parts (or entire heads) of some white-tails and performing differential bacterial culture using those preparations.
Results: There were 79 bites by L. cylindrata and 51 by L. murina. Bites occurred in warmer months, 95% indoors and 75% between 16: 00 and 08: 00. The activity at the time of the bite was characteristic and the spider was encountered between bedclothes, towels or clothing. 25% of bites occurred on distal limbs. Pain/discomfort occurred in all cases, and was severe in 27%. Other effects included puncture marks (17%), redness/red mark (83%) and itchiness (44%). Systemic effects occurred in 9%. There were no cases of necrotic ulcers (97.5% CI, 0ā2.8%) or confirmed infections. Median duration of effects was 24 hours (interquartile range, 1ā168 hours). There were three distinct clinical patterns: pain only (21%), pain and red mark for < 24 hours (35%), and a persistent painful or irritating red lesion (44%).
https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2003/179/4/white-tail-spider-ā¦
This is total crap poboy - I've got the medical records to prove it, as does two other members of my family over the past few years as we have a lot in our area and they bite!
… and when white tails bite, they are dirty things (due to what they've bitten/eaten), so you likely can get a bacterial infection, and it needs medical treatment.
Mine got infected, I had a couple of red streaks going several inches up my back. Had to go on antibiotics.
For both me and my brother it was confirmed a White Tail as we both caught them when bitten.No guesswork about it, bitten, felt it, saw the White Tail spider immediately, wound got infected x 2
My bite looked like a staph infection. I wouldn't downplay the white tail bite, it wasn't pleasant
Iāve been bitten on the bottom of my foot when I accidentally stood on one and Iāve also been bitten on the ass cheek when it was in clothing.
No issues at all.all just depends on their previous victims/diet and how much bacteria they are harbouring as a result - pot luck
The cited study merely concludes that it is very unlikely to cause necrotic ulcers, which does not mean it cannot cause necrotic ulcers.
Reading what this says is the general reaction to a white tail bite I think I'm going to conclude I got bitten by one in my sleep a few days ago. Now to find it and kill it.
Good luck. Itās probably behind a bookshelf, in the wardrobe between layers of fabric, in a drawer between layers of fabric, maybe even under a mattress. The last couple I found were in the couch and prior to that in my towel.
I believe they taste like chicken.
That's what I thought, until tell her I saw a huge wasp or some massive (profanity) bug carrying a dead Huntsman across my backyard ššš
Probably a spider wasp, theyāre harmless. They paralyze spiders and lay eggs inside of them, the larvae then hatch inside the spider and eat their insides.
Doesn't sound like a fun way to go….
Happened in my backyard as well.
Very interesting…https://www.instagram.com/p/BvS6ugHFvi6/?utm_source=ig_web_cā¦
Depends were it is, will it drop on top of someone. After driving along a freeway and having a spider size of my hand pop up on my head, wasn't a good feeling, in a car I was just about to trade in………………. End of story I'm unsure what it was but it was huge and dead within 2 days due to the amouint of crap I sprayed into that car.
So position is a key pointer to the life and death of any spider.
I seen a youtube vid of one getting a cockroach. They are lighting.
If anything that's more motivation to keep them around. Cockroaches are the leading cause of asthma in Australia and just generally suck
Hey 900, re:
Cockroaches are the leading cause of asthma in Australia …
I'm curious, why would you post blatantly ridiculous BS like that here?
It's not BS, it's a missing word. He meant asthma attacks. Cockroaches are a leading cause of asthma attacks, not asthma:
https://www.aafa.org/cockroach-allergy/#:~:text=A%20cockroacā¦.@NoApostrophePlurals: No dude, it's straight up, absolute BS. Cockroaches are most definitely not the 'leading cause' of asthma or asthma attacks in Australia, or any other country. That assertion is utter rubbish, as any doctor will tell you.
@NoApostrophePlurals: OK … so, re your earlier statement that:
"It's not BS …"
Now you are flipping that, and agreeing that in fact it is total BS. As long as we (now) understand each other.
:)
@GnarlyKnuckles: Wowee, just got straight to the rage there huh?
To answer your first question, because back when I was being treated for asthma it said that on the Aussie Asthma.org site, which I found after my GP told me the same fact.
To your credit, none of the sites say it's leading anymore but most say that its a big contributor still, but holy, why are you so angry about bloody cockroach asthma??@900dollaridoos: Yo 900, re:
'… just got straight to the rage there huh?'
Once again, I have no idea what you are talking about. Who's 'raging'? I was merely pointing out the fact that what you stated as fact in a public forum was actually complete rubbish/totally false/utter BS. Setting peeps straight on the facts of a medical matter that you are disseminating false claims about is not 'rage'; it's a public service. Maybe you felt 'rage' at being called out on your ludicrous claim. I certainly felt none while doing it. On the contrary it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Now, re your claim that '… none of the sites say it's leading anymore'; the fact is that none of them ever did. Are you seriously expecting peeps to believe that 'the sites' (what sites, btw?) used to assert that claim, but have now mysteriously retracted it?
lololol
Peace out dude, and try not to post false information about medical matters in public forums in the future. Check your facts first, via a reliable/legitimate source, then post those facts, in conjunction with a citation/link to the source.
@GnarlyKnuckles: No. You don't understand me. I mean I don't buy that it's the leading cause. I believe it still is a cause. I do not wish to understand you at all.
Once they get over a certain size I get uncomfortable
Correct. The one I saw made me think twice. I had the broom and it knew I was up to something, it bolted and I freaked the (profanity) out.
hahaha
Yes, just try to move them on, relocate them, find a good sized plastic container, maybe an old Tupperware one, and put them outside.
They do a lot of good, as has been mentioned, and not at all harmful. I know, yes, it can be challenging but gets easier with practice!! Not so many people want them roaming around the bedroom at night, but relocating them the kindest thing to do.
Also, as stated, killing them not always so simple either - some sprays just annoy them, and really, it's no more challenging to just catch & release the fast-moving, fear inducing Huntsmen - they are your friend š
shhh you're scaring the women and children.
I'm not exaggerating, there was once one in the security door of a university dorm that caused us to take the emergency exit for a few weeks. When I finally decided enough was enough and went to relocate it I used one of those big clear plastic Chinese takeout containers and when I lined it up it literally wasn't big enough. In the end had to use a massive ceramic baking tray and the side of a cereal box.
No kidding, this thing must've had a thyroid problem because it even ran like a giant/ogre, stumbling all over the place outside on release. The image burnt into my brain is of it trying to headbutt and force its way into one of the grooves in the concrete path that was barely big enough to fit one of it's legs…
Wow, thanks for the ride!
TMI, but i liked it.
Sounds like a golden orb, not a huntsman. Common if you're up somewhere like Cairns.
Nah this was when I was in Vic and was definitely a huntsman. I'm up in QLD now and the orbs are huge but a completely different shape and look, also much slower thankfully. I also haven't seen an orb orb away from its web before.
Spiders are awesome. The bigger and hairier the better! I'd love a pet Tarantula.
I tried to kill one once, it was a terrifying 1 hour long ordeal that I will never want to go through again and now I just leave them and keep an eye on it
its not that they are deadly its the fact if you can't catch and release outdoors, you will be forever stripping bedding before you go to sleep just in case. its worse when one runs over your bare feet esp when you are arachnophobic
Discovered one on the wall about 50cm above my head where I was sleeping the other night.
Compared to other spiders they seem a lot harder to kill. Tried killing one once and even after many drenchings it was still alive. I mean don't think it wouldn't survived in the end but nothing like the spray, spasm, death relatively quick action of other spiders.
Unfortunately at my place it's the reverse of preferred spiders. Sometimes see a Huntsman outside, see plenty of White Tails inside.
drenchings? Of fly spray?
Some kind of insect spray anyway. Probably Mortein crawling insect spray with the nozzle.
Let's just say it became a white foamy looking spider for a moment@dufflover: I don't condone killing them, but did you consider just hitting it with a shoe or something?
@macrocephalic: That's what I did in the end after it wasn't able to move at lightning speed anymore :P
But no haven't had to kill any since then. Maybe unless I see one in the bedroom or bathroom but it's been many years since the above.
White tails are the regulars I have to deal with over spring/summer evenings.
keep an eye on it
It starts to get very real when you can no longer see them haha
Haha agree, my worst nightmare is lying in bed knowing that huntsman knows what I did to him and is coming for me
They eat mosquitoes and flies, they're better than chemical spray in the house. Just leave them be and they'll leave you be too.
^ Found the huntsman
I had a smaller spider that did this for us on the kitchen window. It kept to it's self / web, and was catching bugs almost every day. It looked so cool if you got to see a fly actually fly into the web, the spider would move so fast and kill it, then drag it to the corner!
Unfortunately after a few weeks my wife made me get rid of it :(
I know you're right… but my irrational fear is very real. And I don't believe there is anything I can do to fix that now.
Huntsman are awesome. They are on the do not kill list at my place. I even feed them from time to time to keep them around. They do a great job of keeping the arsehole spiders in check, and as scary as (fropanity) as they look, they are harmless.
Make sure they have access to water. They can live for a while without food, but not long without water.
yeah pro tip dont leave water in your sink. di that other night cooling a pot down. woke up next morning to the Giant huntsman drowned :( he was a beast who got rid of most of our flies that would come in
Kill Huntsman Spiders…
YayYea or Nay?Gracias compadre. Has been edited:)
Should have been "yeah, nah" and "nah, yeah".. :D
They may be harmless, but they are nightmare fuel. I'd rather breath residual spider poison than know there are big spiders about. My dream home will be kept under constant positive pressure to stop spiders from getting inside in the first place.
And don't forget, if you were huntsman size and they were human size, then they would kill you in a second.
You could have the same argument about cats, just they'd play with your battered corpse first then probably not eat you
If they were human size then they'd crumble under their own weight.
It'd be a race between that and lack of oxygen for cause of death. Their respiration method limits their size too.
Depends for me, inside the house I'll kill them if there isn't some simple way to remove them. Outside the house I'll leave them.
This is specifically for huntsman, daddy long legs for example I'd leave either way.
inside the house I'll kill them
why ?
They want more bugs and spiders in their home.
Honestly, because they scare the bajebus out of me and I can't handle them.
Its weird as I don't kill red backs though and just leave them as they feel fine. I just can't handle Huntsmans.Honestly, because they scare the bajebus out of me and I can't handle them.
That happens to me when I see Dan Andrews but I don't take to him with the Mortein…
Are you afraid he'll tell you to get on the beers?
I have the opposite rule - redbacks in the house die and hunstman are carefully relocated to a tree with camouflaging bark.
They are good inside the house as they kill mosquitoes and spiders that actually will hurt you
You do know, don't you, that daddy long legs are actually venomous? That's how they kill their prey - they can hunt much larger spiders than themselves. Of course their fangs are far too small to penetrate a large animal's skin.
But still, if they were the size of humans we would definitely be their prey. Unlike the gentle huntsman, who makes a great pet.
That massively venomous thing is apparently a huge rumour that's not true. I believed it until a couple of weeks ago when I read otherwise:
https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Environment/Education-Rā¦There are two well-known daddy-long-leg urban myths that have been quite durable across a number of years: 1- the daddy-long legs is extremely venomous, and 2- its fangs cannot penetrate human skin. On the first, research has shown that daddy-long-legs venom is actually not exceptionally potent, even to insects. On the second, if it chooses to inject its venom into human skin it has the capacity to do so - a result that was famously demonstrated on an episode of Mythbusters in 2004. Its exaggerated notoriety as a highly venomous spider may have arisen after being observed preying on other well-known arachnids, including the redback spider Latrodectus hasselti and the grey huntsman Holconia immanis. However, what it lacks in venom potency is compensated for by its hunting versatility.
No way…
or Orb-weaver spiders…
Other spiders are fair game though…
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Why would you? They are awesome pest control! Now, if it's a white tail….