Regarding snakes and spiders in Australia…while there were more snake deaths but I am more terrified of spiders because I saw a video on Sydney Funnel Web and that little guy can kill in hours it seems and its so small and can be found throughout not just in the wild that is terrifying to me…because at least snakes have a certain size that might be more easily visible…
If you are out for a bushwalk it’s snakes that you will generally encounter not spiders. As for the Sydney Funnel web, the clue is in the name - they are generally found around a small area in the Upper North Shore of Sydney - an absolute ghetto that no self respecting Aussie would want to go to anyway. I’d actually suggest the male Mouse spider is a more liekly threat.
Ya generally because in Singapore, we live with spiders in our house but not snakes so our danger radar regarding spiders are lower and especially small spiders, I would never expect them to be so deadly…but it does make me more aware even as a visitor to Australia when I am visiting more rural regions to check my shoes, not go mess with rotten logs or pile of leaves in case something is hiding below etc…haha I still remember my first time ever visiting Australia some time ago and I went to Philip Island and saw deadly snakes in the area signs…and I was like still thinking how deadly can it be…until i started asking locals that I realize for the first time that Australia has the most or one of the most deadly animals in the world.
Its really amazing for such a small spider, the size of those fangs…
They’re not that small:
Loosely related, I live in Guatemala, spent 3 days in intensive care from a black widow. No antidote here.
Apparently 14 times stronger than a rattle snake.
Most Singaporeans like myself are pretty much insect or wildlife naive. Is this spider usually bigger than say a Tarantula? Cos when I was very young and saw how big a Tarantula can be, I was like shit compared to it, alot of spiders are small. It’s so different here in Singapore in terms of such insects or wildlife… We have our own Singapore species of Tarantula that has not been seen in decades 
Those are fucking horror stories my OZ friends love scaring us with… ‘you can fucking die in 30 minutes if you don’t get help…’ I was like fuck if I am hiking somewhere… I am definitely not gonna get help in 30 minutes!
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Well it was bad luck. Bit me while I was asleep. I woke up struggling to breathe. Didn’t know what had bitten me. Went to the clinic, student doctor thought I was having a panic attack.
Had a close encounter with a funnel web the other day. Nearly trod on it and had no shoes on so I’m alive to tell the story. Angry fuckers they are and not just on the tippy tappy Sydney North shore.
As for snakes at least they piss off when they hear you trudging through the long grass and bush. But my wicked golf slice often sends the Titleist into bushes where the red bellies lurk. Once we thought it a good idea to taunt the big fella by rolling golf balls at it. Man can they react and we split like screaming children.
When I was working in Mildura on the vineyards, we constantly came in contact with large huntsman om developed vines and redbacks on the new vines. The vineyards put milk cartons around the base of the new plantings which is where the spiders will hide. We had to lift these cartons to ensure no new growth was happening at the base. About 1 in every 25-50 boxes had something in it…
The huntsman however, those bastards would hide on the shady side of a leaf. One time I had one drop on my shoulder and I FELT its MASS when I landed.
I remember one of the Dutch on our group commenting “Oh, I think the Canadian found another one” as I was doing the chicken dance down the row trying to make sure it was off me. Fuckin hell it still haunts me.
Not afraid of spiders anymore though.
At least where I live now, you hear it coming before it kills you.
Om topic … anyone ever go to Scruffy Murphy’s near Liverpool St in Sydney?0
Is this the big Liverpool bar in Sydney? Think I might have been there once upon a time…
Unfortunately there are plenty of stories of snakes ending up in the wrong place such as toddler cots and beds. Like this Eastern Brown found in a bed on the Gold Coast found in a bed
I recall a tiger snake finding its way into a bushwalker’s sleeping bag many years ago on the Overland Track in Tassie. I guess the only good news is, in Tassie at least, most of the famous walking tracks are like Motorways of humans in the months that snakes are out and rangers are often along them so getting a bite victim to help isn’t such an hopeless task.
In Australia in general there is excellent distribution of antivenoms, good methods of identifying snake species from venom testing kits plus good crossover of species coverage in antivenoms themselves thanks to all Aussie snakes being similar - short fanged elapids, often dry biting, most species being pretty chill and getting out of dodge as soon as they feel you coming, which is nearly always before you even know there’s a snake.
Nearly all the deaths in the last decade have been people in very remote areas of the country, those who didn’t seek treatment or foreign seasonal workers that probably didn’t even know they were bitten and hadn’t had the education to recognise a bite from an Australian snake. A good majority of the Aus population lives in the E/SE coastal belt which means treatment is easily available.
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In 3 visits to Australia i’ve seen sharks,dolphins,crocs,rays and turtles in the wild,i’ve even managed to stand on a sea urchin in clovelly which relly hurt but that’s about it.i’ve never seen a snake or spider outside of a zoo in Australia.
baby huntsman next to AA battery, trapped it in my apartment in Randwick
Indian Head, Fraser Island. shark breeding ground and migratory whale path. magical place
a residence overlooking the inner harbour in Vaucluse (Sydney). the bumper sticker on the Mazda says “Go To Heaven, Ski Like Hell” which was a slogan of Blackcomb Mtn about 2.5hrs from my home. 
some memorable moments
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Been watching this guy on Netflix… He runs courses for anyone wanting to learn how to catch a crocodile…! Everything seems a bit reckless the way things are done, or maybe we have just gotten soft in the UK. Me thinks it is only a matter of time before someone loses an arm while being filmed on camera…
I lived in randwick(dutric st) for about 6 months in 95/96 before moving to coogee.Spent most of my time in the coach and horses.really nice place to live
I lived at 110 Doncaster Ave, at the very back overlooking the racecourse. used to leave the windows open at night for the breeze as we didn’t have AC but the clip-clop of the horses going out for their early 4am walks was a rude awakening…
worked at the Beach Palace hotel in Coogee as a glassie
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Not sure about reckless but these guys have a lot of respect for the reptiles. Personally loath the crocodile and I’d like to see them culled and their numbers significantly reduced.