White Tail Spider Myths!

Well, I'm slightly less concerned about white tailed spiders now:

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/re...white_tail.asp

Seems that being bitten causes nothing more than a red mark and a little bit of pain.

I think I saw that article before, but couldn't relocate it for posting. Thanks, Taffy. Worry more about us Yanks accidentally bringing in black widows or brown recluses.

Reassuring ... yes. *Makes mental note to warn kids about leaving clothes on floor*
Still don't like them though.

If I thought for a moment that it would stop my kids using the floor as a wardrobe I'd be asking someone to catch me one!

Done.

Next time we find one I will put it in a box and send it to you.

We had one in an sealed container for five days before I decided to spray it with Raid. It was alive and well and quite happy to be bathed in inspect spray. Had to bash it. Should survive the postal trip quite well.

Isn't it the huntsman that eats loads of other spiders so people encourage them into the house to play spider catcher. There really massive and scary too if I recall correctly.

Could be wrong tho, maybe the whitetail clears evrything else out, they don't have webs do they? Eek. Not relishing the prospect either way.

Right Thats It I'm Not Going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny they don't show the Huntsman on here . Still you can pick another favourite if you like. Plenty to choose from. I think the Nurseryweb spider looks quite meaty.

Mother Bear, the 'Avondale spider' on that list is a huntsman. If you read more about it tells you how some people use them to catch their household bugs. Spiders in New Zealand

Thanks, Glenda. ?I did have a look into a couple of the bigger looking spiders to see if they were masquerading as Huntsmans but appears I picked the wrong ones. ?The Avondale looks more leggy than anything and, if it's not dangerous, that's not a problem then. ?I thought it was a bit nasty as people seemed to shy away from it. ?Perhaps it was just its appearance that puts the wind up them.