ORIGINAL: jefx
Funnel Web spiders. That's what I was think of. Is that what that spider is?
Maybe I need to see a shrink. I just can't help it. I hate spiders, but I'm oddly infatuated with them. I've never had any uniquely bad experiences with one to cause my fear, I am just allergicaly afraid of them, yet if I see a show about them on Discovery, I can't help but to watch (while paralized in fear)[&:].
Jefx:
That's not a funnel web, It's a Huntsman..they are actually a distant relative to the Tarantula that you see in Southern US and Mexico, but about 100 times FASTER and not as fat and hairy. Now the Funnel Web..THAT is a nasty piece of work. A single bite from him, and you betterr be near a hospital. Their venom contains a neurotoxin that stops your breathing (ONLY affects primates for some reason). These bad boys see you, then rear up on their back 4 legs, trow their front four up in the air as if to say (BACK OFF ****!!) if you don't run away, they come after you! They will actually chase you! They don't get super big...maximum size body length is around 1 inch, so with legs, I guess around 2.5 inches....which is still a pretty good sized one. Of course at teh end of the day, if you have shoes on...one step and he's history. The worst part about them is that they are pretty common in Sydney. I have a picture somehwere of a web that I found from one of these while poking around in the country...