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Spider removal, without killing plants

  • #21
the sydney funnel web is nothing to fool with. if you smoke you could light up a cig and blow the smoke to smoke it out like mentioned before. spiders have what are called book lungs. they cant really hold their breath. the air just freely goes through their lungs. once it is out it will probably make its way to the ground a scurry away. as for what you do afterwards is up to you. i wouldnt try to capture it for obvious safety risks. then afterwards you can cover up the hole to prevent the possibility from coming back for a while. funnel webs are crazy toxic and there is no A-V for their toxin. wear gloves and boots with your pants tucked in. its female im assuming since males usually wander around looking for mates. just be carful man. and good luck.

there are a few aerosol sprays that kill spiders instantly too. like the wast killer. you might wanna look into those and they shouldnt harm your plants. just in case though if you use them i would flush out the pot many times.

Alex
 
  • #22
Just my 2 cents, I'd kill it, spray the entire area around it and physically clean the area to get rid of the left overs. Who knows if it left an egg sack or how many there actually are. For me though, it's not just me, it's the family I've got to worry about.

Mind you, I don't want my grave stone saying "Killed by his plants food" either :eek:
 
  • #23
Wow, sorry guys, I didn't mean to start a heated discussion.

I suppose I didn't make a few things clear enough. I DID try to remove it without killing it and it got, as seedjar said, very VERY fast and very VERY aggressive. I don't know exactly WHICH kind of funnel web it is, but as far as I am aware, any funnel web in this part of the country will kill me. I have lived here all my life and have a decent idea which spiders are bad for me.

I think I mentioned, even redbacks I will let live (the nearest we have to a black widow as far as I'm aware) although I always relocate them. This one though is right in the plant, burrowed under the leaves. I can't go near the plant without it running out at me, even when I water it. I'd hate for a routine watering to end up at the hospital, and I KNOW what the hospitals reaction would be "you let a WHAT live in your house!?!!"

In fact, just got this from wiki (not the most reliable I know, but you get the drift)

"The Sydney funnel-web spider is one of the most dangerous spiders in the world and will defend itself aggressively if threatened or frightened. For this reason, humans are strongly advised not to approach them. Chances of being bitten are high if encountered, and bites can be lethal within 15 minutes if not treated."

As prmills says too, it isn't just me, I live with two other people and the sunroom where the bloody thing lives is the entry to our house. My two year old nephew comes over, my elderly Nan comes over. The last thing I want si for either of them, or my housemates, to play with the trap and find themselves with a potentially fatal bite (significantly more deadly to my Nan or Nephew due to their age)

As far as suggestions, thanks to all, I will try the smoke idea. If I can get it out of the plant I am a step ahead. I think public opinion locally will be 'don't relocate, we don't want it near our kids'. Having said that, I just looked at it again and think pest control might not be such a bad idea, though I was hoping there would be some kind of bait or spray.

Thanks again everyone, sorry for the discussion : S

John

EDIT:

A friend suggested drowning it too, but looking on the internet I just read they can survive 24 hours submerged and still bite you afterwards! Oh God, it's a super spider!
 
  • #24
another idea if you can cover the plants or set them in a big cooler or the like....dry ice is just solid carbon dioxide.....if yah got access to it and can enclose the area fairly air tight.....CO2 is heavier than oxygen so air tight at the top doesnt matter as much as being able to allow the CO2 to "pool" and smoother the spider at the bottom.....i know of dart frog keepers that have used this technique to rid terrariums of infestations of various creepy crawlies, once they move the frogs to a holding tank of course....
 
  • #25
AAAAARRRRRREEEEEEE!!!! I know you posted it a while ago F R e N c H 3 z,
I concur with Scot, Why would you like to get rid of it?

I have a dozen spiders on my Neps. They actually do a very nice job of keeping the ant population in check. Granted some of them arent as 'pretty' as others but they dont come after me in my sleep

People tend to fear what they dont understand. These little guys may look menacing but even a black widow or brown recluse will not bite unless cornered.
Click to expand...
But I was bit by a brown recluse IN MY SLEEP!!
Don't say they're harmless, buddy!! :rant:
 
  • #26
speaking of brown recluse......we get a phone call to the paper atleast once a month asking if we want to take a picture of a brown recluse.....the standard answer is doubt its a brown recluse, they dont live here :D have yet to have someone bring in a real brown recluse.....black widows, sure......sun spider, definatly.....even had someone bring in a banana spider that came in to the grocery store in a box of bananas but ive never seen a real live brown recluse
 
  • #27
Ha ha, rattler, thats awesome about the banana spider. I had something like that happen in the UK when I was living there, we had a friend visit from Australia. Anyway, one day I was sweeping their sunroom and this huge lumbering huntsman was thumping his way across the floor, so I swept around him as I would have any other time but then much later it occured to me that they don't live in the UK. It must have come in my traveling friends bag!

I never found him (or her) again, but wish I could have, the people I was staying with would have freaked to see a spider that big.
 
  • #28
yeah the banana spider was a shock cause i knew what it was and went into a brain freeze cause i couldnt get past the fact it shouldnt have been here.....im bout as far from anyplace tropical as you can get and still be in the lower 48.......couldnt believe it made it this far before jumping ship.....
 
  • #29
I just realised (googling banana spiders) that we had one of those at our house once too! I know them as Golden Orb Weavers, and it was a bloody long way from home. Scared me half to death it was so big. The funny thing was that the same week we found one on our front porch they also made the news for this photo someone took:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3353693/Giant-spider-eating-a-bird-caught-on-camera.html

You may have already seen it?

Anyway, I know this is getting off topic, but it's interesting nonetheless
 
  • #30
nah that isn't the banana spider you're thinking of... golden orb weavers =/= tropical, people call them banana spiders due to the color.
 
  • #31
banana spider = the wandering spider. they are mean too. about 4-5 inches across on an adult.

Alex
 
  • #32
I've heard they have been rated as the single most lethal spider, even more so than the Sydney funnel web...according to Animal Planet that is. BTW Alex, there is anti venom for the funnel web in Australia. The spiders are kept captive and milked of their venom on a regular basis.
 
  • #34
philcula said:
I've heard they have been rated as the single most lethal spider, even more so than the Sydney funnel web...according to Animal Planet that is. BTW Alex, there is anti venom for the funnel web in Australia. The spiders are kept captive and milked of their venom on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

that is my understanding aswell but their venom glands are rather small....especially compared to say a Sydney funnel web....
 
  • #35
BTW Alex, there is anti venom for the funnel web in Australia. The spiders are kept captive and milked of their venom on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
and you are right... where did i hear that then....
 
  • #36
Flamethrower.
 
  • #38
I personally haven't been to Australia, but this discussion made me think about this image.

pic10.jpg
 
  • #39
^LOL Very nice.
 
  • #40
Steven Magee said:
I personally haven't been to Australia, but this discussion made me think about this image.

pic10.jpg
Click to expand...

OMG...That would scare the health out of me..especially if I found it hiding behind the drapes! How creepy.
 
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