Hunter residents are being warned to watch out for funnel-web spiders this Spring, with wet weather and humid days bringing about the perfect conditions for the venomous critters.
Male funnel-webs spend the breeding season out of their burrows and looking for a mate - however, the spiders frequently end up inside the home or in the backyard.
Funnel-web spiders will often look for a home in cool, damp, and shady spots like the laundry or garage, and are likely to turn piles of clothes or pairs of shoes left sitting around into makeshift burrows.
Jake Meney, reptile supervisor at the Australian Reptile Park, says it is important Australians living on the east coast are aware about how to safely deal with the deadly spiders.
"They are one of the world's most dangerous spiders and they are a reasonably common spider within the Sydney region, from down south toward Nowra, all the way up to Newcastle," Mr Meney said.
Mr Meney says people most often run into trouble with funnel-webs when they put on their shoes without checking them beforehand.
"If you are bitten, the best thing you can do is immediately apply a firm pressure bandage - exactly the same as you may have seen for first aid for Australian snake bites," Mr Meney said. "Once you've got your bandage on, you need to get to hospital as quickly as you possibly can."
The Australian Reptile Park is the only supplier of funnel-web spider venom for antivenom programs - since the program's inception in the 1980s, not a single death has been attributed to the arachnids.
"What we're actually advising, only of course, the adults to do, is attempt to try and catch the funnel-web, which might sound like an odd thing, but we actually rely on the public's support and their donations of funnel-web spiders for our venom program," Mr Meney said.
"If you're a responsible adult, and you feel comfortable to do so, that's what we're actually advising people to do."
Members of the public who have safely caught a funnel-web can bring collected spiders straight to the Reptile Park or to one of many drop-off points such as the John Hunter Hospital or the Animal Referral and Emergency Centre in Broadmeadow.
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| Image credit: Australian Reptile Park |
