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Redback spider under men's basin at Pines


cruze

8-Dec-2009
1:50:16 PM

On 8/12/2009 egosan wrote:
>There are lots of spiders at the Pines. Maybe the answer is to do a little
>aversion
>therapy to teach them not to poke around in dark places.
Let me know when the tickets come on sale, that should be a good laugh. The Spider Whisperer.

gfdonc

8-Dec-2009
1:51:06 PM

On 8/12/2009 ajfclark wrote:
> Short
>of fumigating the whole place, I don't think there's much you can do.

Hey, there's an idea. Would 'fumigating the whole place' also include the bees on Collision Course?


evanbb

8-Dec-2009
2:01:49 PM

On 8/12/2009 wallwombat wrote:
>Evan, if you had a small child and there was a dirty big Redback living
>in your bathroom at home would you let the spider live?

I totally would. Only because I know how low the odds are. Others are not so assured of the unstoppable power of statistics.


wallwombat

8-Dec-2009
2:03:59 PM

No worries. Leave it there. I'll bring a couple of Funnel Webs down next time I visit. We have plenty up here. I'll make sure it's a breeding pair. I'll even ring some champagne and a little mood music.

We hadn't had too many deaths from snake bite since anti-venom was introduced but then had two last year and one was a bloke up near Newcastle, which is pretty close to a few hospitals.

Just because something hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't. All I'm saying is it's better to get rid of Redbacks when they decide to nest in places of high usage.

Put it in a jar and take it somewhere else if killing it is such a distressing idea.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter - by the time this thread winds up, the little f#cker will have died of old age.

egosan

8-Dec-2009
2:12:32 PM

On 8/12/2009 cruze wrote:
>On 8/12/2009 egosan wrote:
>>There are lots of spiders at the Pines. Maybe the answer is to do a
>little
>>aversion
>>therapy to teach them not to poke around in dark places.
>Let me know when the tickets come on sale, that should be a good laugh.
>The Spider Whisperer.

I do aversion therapy on children, not spiders.


cruze

8-Dec-2009
2:45:30 PM

Arguably more difficult.


evanbb

8-Dec-2009
2:51:45 PM

On 8/12/2009 wallwombat wrote:
>No worries. Leave it there. I'll bring a couple of Funnel Webs down next
>time I visit.

I also know a Funnel-Web is an entirely different kettle of fish altogether. Red-Backs just aren't aggressive, have very poor venom delivery and haven't killed anyone for bloody years.

My facetious post before was also trying to make the point that what you are advocating is very low-risk mitigation strategies. I don't think you apply this level of risk mitigation to your climbing.


pmonks

8-Dec-2009
3:22:13 PM

On 8/12/2009 evanbb wrote:
>My facetious post before was also trying to make the point that what you
>are advocating is very low-risk mitigation strategies.

I thought your comment about statistics was a subtle jab at the "anthropogenic climate change is a load of BS" boneheads over in the "OT: Skeptics vs Alarmist Cage Match unSpectacular!" thread. ;-)


IdratherbeclimbingM9

8-Dec-2009
3:28:52 PM

On 8/12/2009 evanbb wrote:
>The 'spider-life-deniers' among you are weak as piss. 'Oh no, the spider
>might bite me. Please, completely sanitise my life and experiences'.
>
>I love the risk-averse (and lets be honest, it's a stupidly low risk)
>nature of this bunch. You climb cliffs for fun! Yet a spider in the shitter
>must be stopped!

Yeah!
Paint the bugger with camouflage paint to make him less easily seen by the tourists walking on the track, and make sure it is a UIAA certified redback, and that the spider instructions are read carefully.
You know too that you don't have to clip that spider if you don't want an unsafe experience. Let the spider be bold, bring back the traditional spider experience I say.
Heh, heh, heh.


evanbb

8-Dec-2009
4:12:45 PM

On 8/12/2009 pmonks wrote:
>I thought your comment about statistics was a subtle jab at the "anthropogenic
>climate change is a load of BS" boneheads over in the "OT: Skeptics vs
>Alarmist Cage Match unSpectacular!" thread. ;-)

Yeah! That's exactly what I meant. The subtleties of my intellect escape even me sometimes.

Wendy

8-Dec-2009
6:08:17 PM

bl@ke

8-Dec-2009
6:33:45 PM

redbacks are big softies

simey

8-Dec-2009
7:33:05 PM

Geez Wendy, you are obviously putting off something that you should be doing when you start photoshoping pancakes onto spiders.

Fizz

8-Dec-2009
7:49:19 PM

Jon the Pom had a reback living in his guitar for months one time whilst at the pines. Unfortunately it didn't stop him from playing it. As long as he made sure to break the trigger strands of the web attached to the strings before playing, it wasn't a problem. It was fun to pluck a few strings before that though and watch her come racing out.
It even gave us something to do, by catching flies alive (she wouldn't eat them if the were dead already) and flicking them into the web. Pretty cool when the the eggs hatched and there was a squillion little tiny redbacks running around in the web.
As for the one in the toilets, it's not the first. Leave it be, it's not going to hurt anybody.
If you're worried about a toddler getting bitten then supervise and educate them.

Wendy

8-Dec-2009
9:36:20 PM

On 8/12/2009 simey wrote:
>Geez Wendy, you are obviously putting off something that you should be
>doing when you start photoshoping pancakes onto spiders.
>
after all that practice last week, i'm almost an expert. it was a 2 minute job and I couldn't resist.


jkane

9-Dec-2009
1:03:49 AM

On 8/12/2009 evanbb wrote:
>Please, completely sanitise my life and experiences'.

I was under the impression that bathrooms are supposed to be sanitised :-)

most buildings are built for people. Would you let termites eat your house? The bog is one small building on the edge of a nature reserve. People collecting firewood thus destroying habitat would be much more of a concern than the destruction of one individual specimen of this common species. I wouldn't think twice about squishing it.


masterofrup

9-Dec-2009
7:11:27 AM

perhaps some kind of committee is this best way to handle this situation?


rodw

9-Dec-2009
7:49:40 AM

I know 2 people who have been bitten by red backs....both caused by brushing up against them unknowingly...one bitten on the arm just had a painful bite for a day and thats about it..the other bitten on the neck got pretty sick and was feeling pretty ordinary for a week or two.

And our cat got bitten by one and was parralysed from the neck down for a week and half and slowly recovered..but even now 4 years after is still not 100%..it certainly slowed her down.


evanbb

9-Dec-2009
7:59:48 AM

On 9/12/2009 rodw wrote:
>And our cat got bitten by one and was parralysed from the neck down for
>a week and half

Would you say this was a likely outcome for any cat that was bitten by a Red-Back?

Wendy

9-Dec-2009
8:16:20 AM

On 9/12/2009 rodw wrote:

>And our cat got bitten by one and was parralysed from the neck down for
>a week and half and slowly recovered..but even now 4 years after is still
>not 100%..it certainly slowed her down.

I think my cat is purralysed.

Actually, my cat loves all the places that redbacks do, maybe I should fumigate the house, garden, shed and woodpile.

really, squish the poor spider if you want, but there'll just be more of them.

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