SYDNEY – Funnel-webs, one of the world’s most poisonous spiders, are invading suburban Sydney!
Funnel-web spiders are notoriously dangerous, due to their highly toxic venom. If left untreated, their bite can kill a full-grown adult within two hours! Symptoms include vomiting, convulsions and breathlessness.
They are capable of jumping 18 inches, and their fangs can punch through soft shoes and fingernails! They are so thick that funnel-webs cannot be shaken off from a bite, the spider must be removed by hand.
Unlike most other spiders, funnel-webs are known for being extremely aggressive and will not run from human presence, instead rearing up and baring their fangs. If encountered, the chances of being bitten are very high.
Due to a long dry period followed by rains and high humidity, the spider population is booming on the outskirts of suburban Sydney. Residents are on high alert to keep an eye on their belongings, as funnel-webs like to hide in dark places such as shoes or drying laundry.
Children especially should be watched, as they tend to explore the areas spiders like to burrow in, like garden sheds and bushes. No one has died since the anti-venom was developed in 1981, however the threat still exists.
This is true – we always shake the spiders out of our shoes before putting them on here in Sydney
Does anyone else think that this is almost science fictiony? I mean are these aggressive insects evolving because of humankind's blatant disregard for all other creatures save man? Or is it some nuclear radiation / toxic waste (that would still be due to humanity) that's causing it? We are not the only creatures on earth. How would we like it if spiders grew large enough to stomp on us? Or animals kept US as pets…yeah, really seems science fictiony to me.
What's so science fictiony about radioactive spiders? They are more real than you think.