British Expat Forum

Yes, I'm with you Sue. I don't mind snakes, but I detest spiders - Yuk.
You have some really nasty ones where you are as well... Are you in the area for the funnel web?

Mostly the worse ones we have here are black widows. I can usually find them in the airbricks around the house. I've never seen one indoors though - thankfully. My brother has been bitten about 5 times by black widows. He restores antique American cars over in California and has no choice to put his hand up inaccessible places on a car that has been sitting for 20 years or more. He says he can't wear gloves because he can't feel what he is doing. Rather him than me!

We get wolf spiders which are huge, grey armour plated looking things. They're not particularly venomous, but give a nasty bite.

Although we're not really in the "official" area for them, we have had one or two cases of bites by the brown recluse spider, which is a small inoffensive looking thing that can cause terrible injuries and necrosis for years after the bite. There have been cases where a bite on the finger by one of these beauties has had to be chased up the limb for years and resulted in complete amputation of the arm.

You can imagine why I jumped a conservative 6 feet into the air last week when I had a spider running across my leg while watching TV (That is, I was watching TV, not the spider).

Alan.

Or an Alfa Romeo spider? 8)

Whilst i'm not exactly the world's biggest fan of spiders or snakes, i don't have a problem with either, or at least, don't have a problem with spiders until they get to the size where it looks like they could wear about size 6 boots. At that point, i normally decide it's a good idea to start travelling long distances again. Immediately. And at a somewhat high pace.

Yes Alan, we lived in funnel web territory for twenty one years, and learnt to be very careful. I only ever saw one inside my house, but many outside. They like to crawl into boots, shoes, and any clothing left on laundry floors etc. We had a few deaths, which could have been avoided easily, folk just think it'll never happen to them, if they think at all, that is.

I buy some surface spray, and spray around all doors, windows etc, and if they walk over it they die instantly, gives me peace of mind. It also kills a multitude of other creepy crawlies too. We are also in cochroach land, and they fly in, and come up the drains, given the chance. They're prolific breeders, and they reckon that if you kill a baby cochroach, you kill ten thousand or more, as that's how many it would produce in it's lifetime.

I've never seen a snake in my yard yet, neither would I want too, but they are definitely around and about, and neighbours have sighted them. Have seen them squashed on the country roads too.

SSue 8)

Hi Sue,
My first try at this so be nice to me please
Having watched your great ambassidor Steve Irwin on Tv here in the Staes I am kinda glad I am just about far enough away! Having said that I have seen more snakes in the past ten months of living here in Ohio than the previoud 50 years living in England. As I understand it there is only one to be careful of around here thats the cotton mouth but it truth any snake in these parts in foder for the lawn mower. Like Alan we get balck widows but as far as I am concerned I haven't seen any yet, but I don,t go looking too hard! As its about -15 degs f outside I guess I am safe at the moment we just have a host of ladybirds bettles over wintering in the basement, not harmful but boy do they stink! Anyone know if ladybirds suffer from wind?
Dave

Hello and welcome Doc

Of course I'll be gentle....oops nice to you, I'm always nice, I'm a nice person

First of all though, Steve Irwin is no ambassador of mine, or many other Aussies who have a brain that functions (it do, it do). His last stunt, where he held meat in one hand, and his new baby son in the other, above the gaping mouth of a huge croc, did his popularity, which is better overseas than here, a lot of damage. His stupid wife (californian) must have the same intelligence, to even consider letting him do this. In a newspaper article, she stated that it was beneficial for the baby to 'bond' with the crocs, as early as possible! I've never heard so much cr@p.

Anyway Doc, make yourself at home, we're a very friendly bunch, (we don't bite) so feel free to chip in with your tuppence worth any time.

SSue 8)

Hey, there's loads of good things going on here! (But I'm "unstickying" it because it's way off the "share a moment" topic started by SSue and suggested as a continuing feature by Alan).

Welcome Doc! As SSue says, we're a friendly bunch so join in and make yourself at home.

I found the photo of me with the python - I'll scan it in later. Unfortunately I look squint-eyed in it. I was only doing it cos there was a guy who was scared of snakes (you can see by his body language in the picture) and I was just there for moral support.

(Rich: I was wearing a BE t-shirt but you can hardly see it.)

Urghh! Spiders. There's a small and innocuous-looking type of spider here which we call the "jumping-spider" for reasons which I'm sure you can guess. It gives a bite a bit like a mosqito but harder and less itchy. I kill them as soon as I see them - and we get quite a few.

In Bangladesh we used to get massive spiders inside the house occasionally. Bigger than the size of a man's hand. Urk. I hated them. But since then I'm not as scared of normal sized ones as I used to be. I expect Peter (who is a psychologist) would call it desensitisation or something.

We also have some huge spiders, can't tell you the name off hand, but they would be almost the size of my hand, in all. They really have an effect on me, just like something crawling over my skin, is the best way to describe it. I have learnt over the years to kill them, at first I would just freeze in horror, but if I was alone I had to just steel myself to kill them. I daren't not kill them, because I would never know where they would appear next.

SSue

So, I'm becoming unstuck .........don't know whether I like that description!

SSue 8)

SSSSue, ssssorry you're unsssstuck. I didn't mean anything by it, honessssstly.

Can't believe you don't like ssssssnakessssss. They're lovely.

PSSSSSSSSSS: Dave is going to possssst me and the python ssssssoon.

SSSSSSSSssssssuuuuuuuuupppppppppppppeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrr!

SSue

As long as it's not to my address! LOL

SSue

Here ssssshe issssss....

Brave girl, were you pppppsssssttttttttt?

SSue

ROFL!!!

Cheeky ssssod.

Charmed I'm sure

SSue