Thursday, April 22, 2004
Ah! You got me! Now, let me see your legs....
Brett's post today talked about funnel-web spiders, and delightful as they sounded, I thought I'd look them up.
As it turns out, that ad he mentioned is right--funnel-web spiders are indeed venomous enough to kill a person, though there is an antivenom available that'll fix you up in a pinch. This great fact sheet is provided courtesy of the Australian Museum, which has a really cool and informative site. For example, now I know that funnel-web spiders can live in trees. I also know that if one bit me it could give me mouth pain, sweating, numbness, abdominal pain, and puking, but that if the same darned spider bit my dog it would probably just make the dog mad.
Apparently you can confuse this nasty fiend for the utterly harmless trapdoor spider, whose bite is more likely to produce a minor freakout than any injury whatsoever. The difference? The deadly male funnel-web spiders have this little spur on their second leg (see above; the one on the left is the male). In fact, I appreciate knowing that. Because if I'm in Sydney and some monstrous spider flies out of a hole in the ground and chomps my arm, I'll be sure to let him hang in there long enough to check what the heck his second freaking leg looks like.
"Oh, sh--wait, might as well have a look...closely grouped eyes...obvious, finger-like spinnerets...tell-tale spur on the second leg...."
Can't ever be too careful.
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