I was inches from the most dangerous spider in the world

Author: Analgesic.Spectre

Posts

Total: 2
Analgesic.Spectre
Analgesic.Spectre's avatar
Debates: 1
Posts: 468
1
1
6
Analgesic.Spectre's avatar
Analgesic.Spectre
1
1
6
I wiped the sweat with my forearm as the typical Australian Summer sun scorched anything it could find. With a faded green and white garden glove, I clawed a clump of dirt in a garden, wafting that earthy, moist smell. Movement caught my eye. It was a shiny black with a brown bulb. It disappeared into the bark-laden mulch. I knew exactly what it was: The Sydney Funnel Web spider. It was one of those 'did I really just see that?' moments.

Sydney Funnel Web spiders are becoming a rarity, due to deforestation and an extreme dislike from one of their top predators: humans. I had never seen this spider before irl, yet I'd heard plenty about their kill potential. Having come face-to-face with the deadliest spider, I was interested to see how deadly it was, and I only found out after the encounter that it was the deadliest in the world.

From the article itself (https://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/Spiders/Nasty-Spiders/Demystification-toxicity-spiders.htm), we can get a clear reading on how deadly this spider can be: 

"The Australian Funnel-web spiders (family Hexathelidae, Simon, 1892) are probably the most dangerous spiders we can encounter. The most famous spider is the Sydney funnel web (Atrax robustus). People are only rarely bitten: there are only two cases of envenomation annually in the last 10 years. Funnel-web spiders belong to the family Hexathelidae and two (Atrax and Hadronyche) of the eleven genera are considered dangerous."

Interestingly, something which is usually the opposite for spider species, the male is far more potent in terms of toxicity, being anywhere from 4-6 higher than female venom. The male also tends to be the ones people find, because the females rarely (if ever) come out of their holes, unless it's to capture nearby prey. So it's important to know the difference between the two:


Thankfully, I encountered the rarer female version, which wouldn't have been as deadly had it struck those giant fangs into me (fangs which can penetrate toe-nails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YoMQBpe1XM&feature=youtu.be&t=256).

Finally, in researching the internet for information on the spider, I came across someone who got even closer with pretty much exactly what I found: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6MN1DmQAxI&t=311s). Just goes to show what is a frightening experience for me, is a cool idea for a dare to someone else.
Outplayz
Outplayz's avatar
Debates: 0
Posts: 2,193
3
3
5
Outplayz's avatar
Outplayz
3
3
5
-->
@Analgesic.Spectre
2 cases every year for 10 years... or only 2 cases in 10 years...? that's a bit confusing wording. I fucking hate spiders btw... i have true arachnophobia. I say "true" bc most people just say they do bc they're scared of it... but, scared isn't the right word for me... it would be a more extreme terrified. It's all bc of a childhood story... here i'll tell you it's kinda funny. 

English is my second language so when i was a kid i didn't understand many of my teachers in the lower grades. I was in 1st or 2nd or 3rd grade (can't remember). The teacher asked kids to bring in a pet if they can. However, i only heard "your homework assignment is to bring a pet." Not wanting to get points off my grade, i thought i had to bring a pet, but i didn't have one. So i walked outside thinking i might be able to catch a rabbit or something. But when i went outside i looked at the plant next to the door and saw a really black spider. It looked different, bigger, than what i normally saw. So i grabbed a stick and pushed it around. I saw on its stomach it had a red hourglass. A black widow that i had no idea i was playing with. But i liked the color and how it looked so i thought i'd catch it and take it to class as my pet. 

I grabbed a water bottle and caught it. I threw some grass and sticks in with it, and i also caught a daddy long leg so they can look cool together. The next day, the daddy long leg was drowned in a pool of liquid. I thought "how did that happen" not knowing i have a deadly spider on my hand. So, in class the teacher went around and had the kids go up and show their pets. When it got to me she asked "Did you bring a pet." I said "yep' and showed her the bottle. She asked what is that... i said a spider. She got nervous and quickly asked where did you get it... i said i found it. Then she looked at the bottle and screamed... "that's a black widow that's a black widow" ... as she screamed... literally everyone else in the class started screaming. She said take that outside... i got offended for some reason lol. I said, "this is my pet." So she screamed fine you can keep it just take it out. 

So, later on i was kinda sad and walking to the bus. As i was getting on the bus, the driver said... "what is that in your hand" ... i said, "my pet black widow." He screamed "take that off my bus." This time i was not only offended but mad. So i opened the bottle and flung the spider out of the bus door from the bottle... when i did that, everyone on the bus started screaming. 

And yep, that is probably what did it...