The Huntsman spider, common in Australia, aren’t as deadly as they look, but will bite if provoked. In this video, “Daddy” does his best to safely remove the arachnid from his home. His daughter has some choice words for him afterwards.
-via Bits & Pieces
Lauren
*jibblie* How soon can we jettison Australia and its giant spiders into space?
Daz
Hmm. I live in Melbourne, Australia and haven’t seen a huntsman spider in years. (checked ceiling, just in case, then knocked on wood)
They’re not really as common as your article makes it sound.
It’s not like we see them all the time, especially one THAT big. In fact the one in this video would be the biggest I’ve seen: ever. Yikes.
They’re usually about the size of an adult’s palm (leg span) which still kinda scary size, but much easier to get rid of
joe
from the setup and the kid’s reaction i think (i hope) this is fake
it must be fake. there are no spiders that big in real life.
don’t tell me otherwise, i don’t want to know about it
Morgan
…..and I watched it. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Doesn’t mean I’ll be watching arachnophobia anytime soon.
Jessss
I live in Sydney and let me tell you, these spiders are VERY common.
I once had a huntsman lay eggs in mny bedroom when I was away for a few days, only to return to hundreds and hundreds of baby huntsmans making formations on my ceiling. I found the mother (as big as the one in this video – the biggest I’ve ever seen) a few days later in my bed (when I was in it).
They also have a nasty habit of laying in hiding on cars and then darting out onto the windshield when you’re driving (this has happened to me about 5 times). If you try putting the windscreen wipers on they only dart around them and begin running all over the car, only pausing to periodically peer in at you through the various windows.
They are as the video says lightning fast. This method of catching them often results in the loss of a few spider legs.
Tany
Wow, that was a big one! The biggest one I have seen was bigger the size of my hand. They are not fatally poisonous but the speed they move and the size is VERY intimidating.
J
Chances are that this video is from New Zealand – his accent is definitely Kiwi, and I haven’t seen a huntsman of that colour in Australia.
Kid Cnote
Thats the funniest chit I seen in months. What makes it great is his little daughters warnings…LOL
Morz
J – His accent is not kiwi. The big giveaways are how he says catch and big. Someone from New Zealand would pronounce them more like ‘ketch’ and ‘beug’. This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs_rXxi0zhM is what a kiwi accent sounds like.
They’re pretty common in my part of Melbourne. I know one bloke who was bitten on the chest by a huntsman when he was eight years old. When he was asleep. The biting woke him up.
Justin
I was cringing the entire time expecting it to leap onto the camera scarring the girl for life.
chudez
what is it about australia that it seems like every other native animal there can either poison, dismember or at the very least freak you out to another continent?
PS. the accent is very thick; what did the little girl say to her dad?
Larfin Jackarse
yet another Melbourne, Australia video demonstrating the Neatorama bias that they love it more than anywhere else in Australia (and so they should!).
The video is real, the spider is real, the accent is from Oz and yes they get that big and bigger again in Sydney (Blue Mountains). I have never seen one in Queensland (up north) but then they have ‘Garden Orb’ and ‘Bird Eating’ spiders which may explain why I have never seen a Huntsman there. This year in Melbourne there are few Huntsman’s around for some reason (LOL, I just caught myself looking around for one to make sure one isn’t sneaking up…they LOVE sneaking up).
However, the Huntsman is your friend. Although they have a ‘sharp’ bite they are not poisonous, don’t like biting humans and eat the killer smaller spiders in your house like the red back and white tail (US=brown recluse). I don’t know if they eat funnel webs (that is Sydney’s problem) but maybe that is why they are bigger in Sydney http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/austr alia/6951425/Deadly-funnel-web-spiders-invade-Sydney.html
Sorry for the essay but I like to thing of the thing as a lucky talisman for the house.
@18 Johnny Cat: That is indeed what she said. They don’t even have a thick accent.
Foreigner1
My wife is hysterically deadly afraid of the small spider we have over here (Netherlands). I just HAVE to show her this one…!
Kaboom
Bah! A tiny Huntsman, compared with those we get in Queensland.
Totally harmless (although it can “fang” your finger), and a delight to have around the house. Certainly keeps the kiddies entertained.
We love our Huntsman spiders.
Kaboom
In fact we (in Brisbane) suffered from an epidemic of Redback Spiders in the late 1990′s/early 2000′s, and these bastards can in fact kill you.
They are small (10mm body, 25mm leg circ. at their largest) and seriously deadly.
Brisbane became infested with Singaporean Geckoes in 1991, and they cause no harm apart from their shrill screeching, and prediliction for sleeping in door-jambs.
Open door = squished gecko.
Do you know what their favourite food is? The Redback Spider!
We had literally hundreds around our house in 1991, and with young tackers, was cause for concern.
By 1994, you could not find a single, solitary Redback.
A species that I am happy to see go extinct…..
Kaboom
Sorry, I am a decade out:
The Singaporean Geckoes came in 2001.
At that time, (2001) we had hundreds of Redback spiders, all gone by 2004.
Sorry about that!
Dragonflye
Ack. Who cares about the accents? The point is there is a giant leaping spider about to pounce on dude’s face…
I would have run too.
Gail Pink
It would have been so great if the spider had fallen on his face while he was talking to the camera.
R00B0y
…. there is something no other Aussie has mentioned so far…
When these bastards run … they tend to run straight at you! They don’t turn and run, they make you turn and run if you’re afraid of them..
Nightwatch
D: Huntsman are so uber they do not have to bite to subdue their prey. In the words of Ripley, “Nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure…”
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