GOULBURN residents have been warned to be vigilant when working in their yards and gardens, following the discovery of a Blue Mountains Funnel Web in Central Goulburn last November.
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Local mining engineer Paul Raftery was removing some building supplies from his Horne Square home when he discovered the arachnid, hidden away in a pile of bricks.
Unlike anything he had seen before, he sent the eight legged creature to the Australian Museum for analysis, the verdict: a Blue Mountains Funnel Web.
Funnel webs are one of the most infamous spiders in Australia.
Their venom is highly toxic and considered by health authorities to be potentially dangerous.
Symptoms of funnel web spider bite include tingling sensations around the lips, sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache and high blood pressure and, in serious cases, fluid in the lungs and unconsciousness. In some rare, extreme cases the bite can be fatal.
According to the NSW Government, loosely placed rocks and logs in the garden make an excellent habitat for the spiders.
You are more likely to encounter them during the warmer months, especially late summer, and also after rainfall that floods the spiders’ nests or the spraying of pesticide sends them looking for alternative shelter.
To avoid funnel web spider bites you should keep your yard free of rubble and rubbish where spiders can hide; wear shoes, gloves and long sleeved shirt when working in the garden; and check shoes and households items for spiders.
If you are bitten a pressure immobilisation bandage should be applied to the bitten limb immediately and urgent medical attention should be sought at a hospital. If it is safe, you should also collect the spider in a jar or container so the species can be identified.
Local pest inspector Anthony Anable said that generally sightings in Goulburn are not very common, as they are often confused with the common black house spider or the brown trapdoor.
“We generally get calls about once a month, and we usually recommend for people to get their houses sprayed,” he said.
“But they usually try and evade the pest walls we put up, due to the fine hairs on their legs. If you sprayed one directly on its body, you would most likely kill it.”
He said that sightings are usually in areas of bushland, such as around the Rocky Hill and Eastgrove areas.
“They can also often be found in areas where earthworks have been carried out, after heavy rain and also when they are looking to mate,” Mr Anable added.
“If they find something they like, they often won’t discriminate. My recommendation is to stay away from them as much as possible, as they are completely different to normal spiders.”
