Poisonous Spider Bites on Rise in SE UK

[Ursa major]

I thought everyone knew that:

SHED = Spider Hotel; Expect Danger
​

 

[Mouse]

Sheds are definitely spider hotels. Though the hotel I used to work at was a spider hotel. I actually got chased down the corridor once by a monster spider. The girls laughed at me.

 

[Bowler1]

There was a lot to be said for having the top floor flat, a few extra stories must wear all their legs out or something - I never saw any of the monsters. Now I'm in middle England I've got to think about paying protection to use my own shed - leafy = wildlife, no-one warned me about that pitfall.

 

[Ursa major]

I thought everyone knew that:

SHED = Spider Hotel; Expect Danger
​

I think my memory was playing up when I posted the above:

1. So, actually, SHED = Spider Hotel; Extreme Danger

2. That message was fly-posted; as a human, you should probably be okay.


(But having a Ray Gun to hand wouldn't do any harm.)

 

[Kylara]

One of our cats loves spiders...she sits and pats them then either eats it or squishes it and wanders off...highly amusing, but then the worst we get is a flood of what we call "harvest spiders" but they are in fact house spiders (we get harvest spiders too, but they are easily squashable)...

 

[HareBrain]

Dear God, did that photo have to be quite so many screens big?

(Breathe deep. Slug wine.)

Edit: aaaaah, that's better.

 

[Mouse]

Oh for the love of Christ. Why do I keep clicking on this thread??

 

[Kylara]

Haha sorry HB I have been frantically resizing in the editing bar >_< it is now much smaller and less terrifying. We have a beautiful pair of orb weavers on the outside side of the kitchen windows and they are lovely and pretty - can get a really close look at them through the glass. The house spiders do however have a nasty habit of chilling in/on beds which is annoying...

ETA: for a truly creepy picture of the house spiders in all their glory click this link http://www.uksafari.com/jpeg3/sphouse4.jpg

 

[Bowler1]

ETA: for a truly creepy picture of the house spiders in all their glory click this link http://www.uksafari.com/jpeg3/sphouse4.jpg

Don't do it... you'll be sorry.

I'm in a corner with a RAY GUN set to full power - I don't dare hide behind the sofa in case I'm not alone.

 

[Mirannan]

I'm not arachnophobic, but had an experience about 3 years ago that would have had me disappearing down the road at high speed if I was. There was an orb spider (I think) resident in a tree at the front of my house, and one fine morning I came out of the house to find one of my wheelie bins with what I think was several hundred spiderlings (body about 2mm across, maybe) crawling all over it. I tried to take a picture but my camera isn't good enough.

 

[Nounboy]

I don't want to sound pedantic, but spiders are venomous, not poisonous. Animals are venomous (spiders, jellyfish, stonefish, snakes, etc). Plants are poisonous.

I am allowed to be pedantic on this topic because I live in Australia, home of every venomous creature on the planet (an exaggeration, of course, but not far from the truth).

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Spiders might be poisonous, too. You'd have to eat one to find out...

 

[Nounboy]

Spiders might be poisonous, too. You'd have to eat one to find out...

Correct. You go first. I'll follow

 

[Mirannan]

There are other poisonous animals, too. Arrow poison frogs come to mind. Also Spanish Fly beetles. However, the distinction is worth making.

I believe that quite a lot of venoms are not poisonous by ingestion - unless you have an ulcer, maybe. IIRC rattlesnake venom is one of them.

And just to confuse it even more, some plants are venomous too - although I have rarely seen them described that way. The commonest one is probably the stinging nettle.

 

[Nounboy]

Poison frog is a good example of non-venomous animal. But does the frog use poison glands as offensive "weapons" when hunting food?

Interesting tale: In Australia we had a postage stamp set titled "Dangerous Creatures", featuring crocodile, shark, etc. The original set also had a stamp featuring the red-back spider, a small spider which gets aggressive if disturbed. No fatalities from its bite, though, in many years. But painful and very toxic. Anyway, they had to recall the first batch of stamps because the stamp on an envelope, sitting in someone's mailbox, could be mistaken for the real thing. Pensioners, and small children, were freaked out by the stamp.

True tale

 

[Starbeast]

The rise of spiders is happening here in my own town. But it's ok, cause I know that means the insects are on the rise too. The spiders will decrease their numbers.

There are two, beautiful, large yellow and black garden spiders living peacefully on the front of my garage. I rarely see that type of spider, so I let them live there. And they're smart enough not to attach their big webs on my garage door for the car, or get in the way of the car puling in and out.

Plus, I have a small varity of arachnid species creeping around, and hunting the insects in my home. They look plump, so I know they're doing their job.

 

[StormFeather]

Just to give us UK dwellers nasty tingles down the back of our necks:

False Widow Spider Bite Causes Essex Decorator Ricki Whitmore To Almost Lose Leg (PICTURES)

 

[Bowler1]

Ouch! One little spider did all that, the poor guy's leg, its a mess.

 

[StormFeather]

And, in a complete turnabout - this article is actually quite calming:

Guest Post: The False Scourge of the False Widow | The Elwell Press

 

[DaCosta]

Holy crap, you guys just have to post pictures too?! I have no idea why I read all of this thread because now I'm going to spend the next hour seeing phantom spiders in my living room.

Bleurgh!