Experience with Sydney Funnel Web?? Atrax. Robustus

[8ball]

For a long time I've been intrigued by the Sydney funnel web spider, mostly because of their body mass for a spider, aggression, notoriety, and in large part to the fact I can't obtain one (Illegal in U.S) :bruised: I've always liked coming things that were dangerous to my health like Black Widows and Brown Recluses (in safe distance) but these things are a totally different beast

So for now I've only been able to watch youtube videos and documentaries on them, they're a big reason I want to eventually visit Australia so I can observe some of them in the wilderness. But I was just curious if maybe some Australian members have kept any of these or can provide some information on them and also speak on their experiences coming across them, seems like if they were local to my area I would be wearing boots during their high season I'm not sure if shoes stand a chance against those fangs.

Picture of a male funnel web just for reference and admiration

 

[The Snark]

Just to put things into perspective. Wear boots... Can I then assume you have equipped your car with a 5 way full restraint seat belt system and that it has front and side air bags? Oh yes, and you chose the vehicle because of it's outstanding safety features, right? I ask because, according to a few statistics, a person is several hundred million times more likely to get in a serious traffic accident than a person who tends to go barefoot in the middle of A Robustus territory getting zapped by one of them critters.

Apologies if I sound snide. If I may suggest, buy boots with 8 inch thick rubber soles. Also buy a 2 inch thick rubber hat. For every significant spider bite in America 5 people are struck by lightning.

 

[8ball]

Just to put things into perspective. Wear boots... Can I then assume you have equipped your car with a 5 way full restraint seat belt system and that it has front and side air bags? Oh yes, and you chose the vehicle because of it's outstanding safety features, right? I ask because, according to a few statistics, a person is several hundred million times more likely to get in a serious traffic accident than a person who tends to go barefoot in the middle of A Robustus territory getting zapped by one of them critters.

Apologies if I sound snide. If I may suggest, buy boots with 8 inch thick rubber soles. Also buy a 2 inch thick rubber hat. For every significant spider bite in America 5 people are struck by lightning.

Man go take your self righteousness somewhere else, besides how many people drive cars and how many people go out in the wilderness? Plus cars are controlled by humans, all I would have to do is swerve if I wanted a wreck, humans can set themselves on fire if they wanted too. I'm not from Robustus territory either so how should I know how prominent they are or the exact spots I'll find them? Do you wanna follow statistics or become one? Hopefully somebody who's not on some high horse with some actual input will post

 

[The Snark]

My friend, cool your jets a tad. I've cruised the Aus east coast and chatted with the locals including several naturalists. Yes, the animal is dangerous, but rare. Only the naturalists had encountered them out roaming. Much greater hazard and concern, posted in certain areas, are, in order of magnitude of humans getting zapped, the Box Jellyfish, the 'Red Back' spider (their version of the black widow) the estuarine croc, the king brown snake and green ant invasions. By far the greatest problem is the jellyfish (and for the snorkeling crowed, that narsty shellfish that can stop your heart in a few minutes.) A woman, drunk and swimming at night, had been taken by a croc a week before I went through Queensland. Most people went 'Huh?' when I asked about Atrax.

In animal fanatic mode (Stranger in a Strange Land) I had 2 croc encounters, hunted out a few dozen red backs, examined several thousand jelly's washed up outside Darwin Harbor, met a king brown that was trying to patronize a local store at Daly River, and backed my vehicle into a green ant nest. Spent a week looking for Atrax from Surfers Paradise on down to Sydney but no luck. The worst was those green ants.

 

[8ball]

My friend, cool your jets a tad. I've cruised the Aus east coast and chatted with the locals including several naturalists. Yes, the animal is dangerous, but rare. Only the naturalists had encountered them out roaming. Much greater hazard and concern, posted in certain areas, are, in order of magnitude of humans getting zapped, the Box Jellyfish, the 'Red Back' spider (their version of the black widow) the estuarine croc, the king brown snake and green ant invasions. By far the greatest problem is the jellyfish (and for the snorkeling crowed, that narsty shellfish that can stop your heart in a few minutes.) A woman, drunk and swimming at night, had been taken by a croc a week before I went through Queensland. Most people went 'Huh?' when I asked about Atrax.

In animal fanatic mode (Stranger in a Strange Land) I had 2 croc encounters, hunted out a few dozen red backs, examined several thousand jelly's washed up outside Darwin Harbor, met a king brown that was trying to patronize a local store at Daly River, and backed my vehicle into a green ant nest. Spent a week looking for Atrax from Surfers Paradise on down to Sydney but no luck. The worst was those green ants.

No hostility meant, thanks for the good well rounded input I'm glad to hear you have first hand experience of your own journey in AUS, but yeah no way you catch me at an Australian beach in the water lol. Estuarine crocs are definitely another one of those things I wanna see since although we're on an arachnid site Crocodiles are what I've always admired most in the animal kingdom, it's too bad Atrax is more rare than I believed but would make it even more worth the trip to actually find one. Never heard much about green ants though, that's interesting.

 

[groovyspider]

No hostility meant, thanks for the good well rounded input I'm glad to hear you have first hand experience of your own journey in AUS, but yeah no way you catch me at an Australian beach in the water lol. Estuarine crocs are definitely another one of those things I wanna see since although we're on an arachnid site Crocodiles are what I've always admired most in the animal kingdom, it's too bad Atrax is more rare than I believed but would make it even more worth the trip to actually find one. Never heard much about green ants though, that's interesting.

Nice to see your attitude has changed... and crocs you can post as much as you like about them in not so spinless wonder section

 

[Travis K]

Apologies if I sound snide.

No, not snide...... Snark.

LOL.

I think funnel webs would e very neat to have in the hobby. They are probably no more dangerous than some of the hottest scorps we have in the hobby (ASSUMPTION).

 

[The Snark]

A naturalist I spoke to about the general hazardous spiders, sort of grouped the A. Robustus, a trap door spider, and their mygalomorphs all together in terms of darned dangerous and capable of mayhem. Atrax is mentioned more often because at certain times of year it goes roaming and occasionally turns up in the urban areas. The Red Back, Latro Hasselti, got the major spotlight as people were hunting them and casting them in plastic ornaments like gear shift knobs for your car. I heard plenty of uneducated noise about how much more dangerous/toxic/violent they were over the American varieties. (As far as I could tell they have the coloration of an over painted Mactans and were the size of the Hesperus).

The real and present dangers I encountered were:
-'Don't even think about going wading in the surf, it's that time of year' and the little kiosks every 100 feet along the beach holding a bottle of vinegar. and an informative sign: Box Jellyfish, dos and don'ts.
-Twice while camping the locals, one a rancher and one a park ranger game warden ordered us to pack up and get back in our vehicle as crocs had been spotted in those areas. We saw a croc take a feral pig. Or rather, this 150 lb or so pig was crossing an estuary and suddenly WHAM! It was thrown completely out of the water, came down splash, some ripples and gone.
-At a camp site near Mossman, Qld, we backed into a green ant nest. About the size of the large American red ant, bright green, and extremely hostile. They covered our vehicle and a local came over and splashed our truck with diesel fuel which helped drive them off.
-On the Daly River at a camp site a huge king brown, 12 foot I'd guess, actually tried to enter a store. Animal experts were called and it was capably and safely captured.
-Don't go rock or shell collecting here! A game warden warned me even my heavy engineer boots would not be complete proof against the cone shells.
-And there, at the center of the surfing world, Surfers Paradise, a 4 foot by 8 foot sign every 100 feet along the beach: SLIP SLAP SLOP! Slip on a shirt, slap on a hat, slop on the sun screen. DO NOT EXPOSE BARE SKIN TO THE SUN. Accompanying in many store windows was information signs of how to tell early signs of skin cancer.
-And of course, while in the outback, the Australian Wave. I've never seen so many mosquitoes and flies in my life. All day long every 3 seconds you are waving insects out of your face. Watch Steve Irwin films. Even trying to not do it, he is often seen giving the wave. Going camping means erect a screen tent, dive in, kill the half million that snuck in, and stay there. Taking a stroll in the evening is insanity. Out of the question. On the Yellow River at sunset you can see gray clouds of 'mossies' rising from the swamps. And yes, they have malaria and dengue.
-While out boating a dingo barked at us.


Travis K... I need to live up to my monikers reputation now and then, yes?

 

[8ball]

Nice to see your attitude has changed... and crocs you can post as much as you like about them in not so spinless wonder section

Oh yeah just throwing it out there, I've been here a while I know the rules and I didn't post a thread about crocs. But yeah it's just some friendly information about the spiders natural habitat and the dangers around it, this thread is about the spider mentioned. And well part of what we've learned for us who aren't local or been to AUS is that it's rare and a prize to find

 

[josh_r]

Oh yeah just throwing it out there, I've been here a while I know the rules and I didn't post a thread about crocs. But yeah it's just some friendly information about the spiders natural habitat and the dangers around it, this thread is about the spider mentioned. And well part of what we've learned for us who aren't local or been to AUS is that it's rare and a prize to find

Funnel web spiders are by no means rare and certainly NOT hard to find. I've been here for 2 months now and have seen enough of them to satisfy my appetite. I get sick of seeing hadronyche infensa by now. I wouldn't mind seeing more hadronyche formidabilis which is the largest of the funnel webs and arboreal in habit. Many of these species are considered rare because they live in habitats that are typically far from human habitation, limited range, or activity is limited to breeding season. But if you get out and look hard enough, you will soon realize they are very common. Atrax robustus is not limited to Sydney as many people think. It has a range within about 100 kilometers in any direstion and goes even further up the coastline into far southeastern Queensland. Snark, if you spent all your time in northern Queensland, and depending on where you were, you would have been well out of the range of MOST funnel web species, if not all of them. This would severely limit your experience with them. Most species are found further south in cool rainforest settings, where they are QUITE common. I could take anyone out in a day and show them dozens of these things.

 

[chrisso]

For a long time I've been intrigued by the Sydney funnel web spider, mostly because of their body mass for a spider, aggression, notoriety, and in large part to the fact I can't obtain one (Illegal in U.S) :bruised: I've always liked coming things that were dangerous to my health like Black Widows and Brown Recluses (in safe distance) but these things are a totally different beast

So for now I've only been able to watch youtube videos and documentaries on them, they're a big reason I want to eventually visit Australia so I can observe some of them in the wilderness. But I was just curious if maybe some Australian members have kept any of these or can provide some information on them and also speak on their experiences coming across them, seems like if they were local to my area I would be wearing boots during their high season I'm not sure if shoes stand a chance against those fangs.

Picture of a male funnel web just for reference and admiration

View attachment 106112

Hi there Josh, Ive always been fascinated by 'ol Mr Atrax Robustus---aka the Sydney Funnel Web spider. Generaly regarded as the worlds most venomous spidey. But only the males----which is unusual. They are 7 times more toxic than females and the ones to watch out for as they wander out during hot humid Sydney summers looking for Mrs Spidey lol. ( The females rarely venture far from their funnel shaped web ) A freak of nature really- they dont kill mammals like cats, possoms etc but are deadly to humans. Their fangs have been known to pierce finger and toe nails. I always shake my boots out before putting them on. I had a male a few years back as a ''Pet''. A most aggressive un-cuddly bloody pet...Their venom contains Atraxotoxin...funnily the same type as Blue Ringed Octopusses and I think puffer fish flesh. They only had the anti-venom since about 1984 or so.... most bites prior where usually fatal.Theres also the common Red Back Spider which as far as I can tell is identical to your Black Widow. ( See also Katipo spider in New Zealand,). Anyway summers coming on here--so hopefully I'll find a few out the back yard. ----------Cheers, Chrisso.

 

[chrisso]

Hi there Josh, Ive always been fascinated by 'ol Mr Atrax Robustus---aka the Sydney Funnel Web spider. Generaly regarded as the worlds most venomous spidey. But only the males----which is unusual. They are 7 times more toxic than females and the ones to watch out for as they wander out during hot humid Sydney summers looking for Mrs Spidey lol. ( The females rarely venture far from their funnel shaped web ) A freak of nature really- they dont kill mammals like cats, possoms etc but are deadly to humans. Their fangs have been known to pierce finger and toe nails. I always shake my boots out before putting them on. I had a male a few years back as a ''Pet''. A most aggressive un-cuddly bloody pet...Their venom contains Atraxotoxin...funnily the same type as Blue Ringed Octopusses and I think puffer fish flesh. They only had the anti-venom since about 1984 or so.... most bites prior where usually fatal.Theres also the common Red Back Spider which as far as I can tell is identical to your Black Widow. ( See also Katipo spider in New Zealand,). Anyway summers coming on here--so hopefully I'll find a few out the back yard. ----------Cheers, Chrisso.

 

[chrisso]

How do I post pics?? Do I need to use Photobucket??.

 

[chrisso]

BTW
, that pic is a female. The males have spurs on the 2nd set of legs. They use them to hold down the female whilst...( attempting..) to mate.

 

[SingaporeB]

"Funnel web spiders are by no means rare and certainly NOT hard to find."

I've been looking for Atrax robustus to purchase here in the USA for the past five years and never found any. If you know otherwise please share the good news.

 

[bunniebie]

"Funnel web spiders are by no means rare and certainly NOT hard to find."

I've been looking for Atrax robustus to purchase here in the USA for the past five years and never found any. If you know otherwise please share the good news.

it's unlikely that they've been legally exported outside of australia due to australia's strict laws around the exportation of native wildlife.

 

[SingaporeB]

it's unlikely that they've been legally exported outside of australia due to australia's strict laws around the exportation of native wildlife.

Most of the spiders in the hobby were illegally exported and then bred. Do you not get how easy it is to ship spiders out of Australia? Have you ever ordered spiders in the mail?

 

[Camman1983]

http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+a...Mygalomorphae/Funnel-web+spiders#.WYDblYV_XYU

 

[RTTB]

Those who have them don't and won't advertise.

 

[Stugy]

"Funnel web spiders are by no means rare and certainly NOT hard to find."

I've been looking for Atrax robustus to purchase here in the USA for the past five years and never found any. If you know otherwise please share the good news.

You should've read a bit closer mate. The person who said that was saying that funnel web spiders are not rare in Australia in certain areas. Never did the person mention it being common or ever being present in the U.S.. It is very, very hard to even illegally export animals from Australia it seems as if it were easier we would have MUCH more Australian species.