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Giant Spiders Invade Australian Outback Town

Posted by samzenpus on from the welcome-to-my-sleepout-said-the-spider-to-the-bloke dept.

youth68 writes "Australia is known around the world for its large and deadly creepy crawlies, but even locals have been shocked by the size of the giant venomous spiders that have invaded an Outback town in Queensland. Scores of eastern tarantulas, which are known as 'bird-eating spiders' and can grow larger than the palm of a man's hand, have begun crawling out from gardens and venturing into public spaces in Bowen, a coastal town about 700 miles northwest of Brisbane."

12 of 373 comments (clear)

  1. I for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...say g'day to our new tarantula overlords.

    1. Re:I for one... by buswolley · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't want to hear bout spiders until they're on a plane.

      --

      A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.

    2. Re:I for one... by Pav · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I live about 200km (~125 miles) from Bowen; in a small city called Townsville, Queensland - population 150,000. Brisbane is the capital city of this state, and maybe more likely to be known by an international audience(?). I could probably travel another 700km north through Cairns to Cooktown and still easily be in the state, although the roads would be getting bad. Australia has a lot of space per capita, so for example we have cattle stations (ie. ranches) larger than Texas. Bird eating spiders have fangs strong enough to penetrate a thumb nail. An old friend of mine from my university days has been telling me about occasionally meeting "whistling spiders" ie. the common name for these spiders because they make a hissing sound when they're agitated. She once met one threatening her poodle through a screen door. They caught and released it at a golf course, and could see this dark spot on the lawn running off into the distance as they drove away.

    3. Re:I for one... by martin-boundary · · Score: 5, Funny
      A Texan farmer goes to Australia for a vacation. There he meets an Aussie farmer and gets talking. The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, "Oh! We have wheat fields that are at least twice as large".

      Then they walk around the ranch a little, and the Aussie shows off his herd of cattle. The Texan immediately says, "We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as your cows".

      The conversation has, meanwhile, almost died when the Texan sees a herd of kangaroos hopping through the field. He asks, "And what are those?" The Aussie replies with an incredulous look, "Don't you have any grasshoppers in Texas?"

  2. Story overhyped by Media by CuteSteveJobs · · Score: 5, Informative

    Story sounds like typical Media hype and exaggeration: Tarantulas are venomous in the way all spiders are venomous (and Bee's too! Venomous Bees == normal Bees.) This type of spider venom isn't harmful to humans and they're not aggressive spiders. This is why they let them crawl over kids at Wildlife parks. Oh BTW despite calling them bird-eating spiders it's rare for them to eat birds. Plus if you did into the article you'll see the unlabeled scale of that photo is centimeters and not inches. 5 centmetres. I have wolf spiders > 10 cm running around and often through my home. They're shy of people, never even came close to being bitten and they eat cockroaches.

    If they're having a "spider plague" in Bowen then there must be lots of roaches, locusts or other insects. Let them be.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula

    This shock story will get web hits and the reporter will get a pat on the back. But ll note the COUGH COUGH journalist didn't even bother talking to anyone from the local University; Just the local "Pest Controller" who is trying to whip up business. They're probably Wolf spiders anyway, not "Bird Eaters". The media should stop trying to whip this up and go back to what they do best: Reporting false wiki quotes by Jean-Michel Jarre.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_spider

  3. Re:Not that big, or that venomous. by SpazmodeusG · · Score: 5, Informative

    They're only 6 inches

    CENTIMETERS!!!!
    They are 6 CENTIMETERS! We Australians were one of the first to convert to metric and that's a metric ruler in the article.

    /Just in case you thought this article had any worthyness whatsoever.

  4. Re:Think of the children! by Matt_R · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's because it's been blown out of proportion - http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/qld-news/web-of-lies-uk-press-plays-up-queensland-spider-invasion-20090508-ax58.html

  5. HEY! by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 5, Funny

    large and deadly creepy crawlies

    HEY! I take offense to that!

    im not THAT deadly.

    --
  6. Interesting factoid about Aussie spiderwebs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Austrailian spiders spin their webs in the counter-clockwise direction, the complete opposite of the clockwise webs American spiders spin.

  7. Re:Fuck your fucking spiders! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Could the interwebs please, please stop showing me pictures of gross disgusting huge spiders when I least expect it?

    You clicked on "Giant Spiders Invade Australian Outback Town" and didn't expect to see photos of giant spiders?

  8. Re:Fuck your fucking spiders! by martin-boundary · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes some might bite you, but there are far greater dangers out there.

    Dropbears.

    Dropbears are pretty damn dangerous. You can walk around, minding your own business, and then suddenly.

    POW.

    Another dropbear victim. They disappear as fast as they appear. Nobody is safe.

    Nobody.

  9. Re:Come to Australia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Huntsman Spider? They're scary looking but totally harmless. Bloody big (bigger than an adult male hand) and hairy (like a tarantula), but BLOODY fast.... like an olympic sprinter... except this one can run really fast on your ceiling. And they have pretty big fangs too (need 'em to tackle the huge cockroaches here). But like I said, totally harmless to people... not poisonous, and run away from you most of the time.

    You went to Malaysia and expected less creepy things? That Orb Spider you have there is related to the Orb Spiders here in Aus.... just love the huge Golden Orb Spider in Queensland... maybe the biggest spider in the world?? :)

    Nah, over here in Western Australia it's the Redback Spider you have to watch out for.... bloody poisonous and likes to make home in your home and outside in any little cranny it can get.... where you like to put your fingers. I won't even mention the deadly trap-door spider. Oops, I just did :)

    Shit, even our cute/cuddly Platypus has a poisonous sting. And the Kangaroos can rip your guts open so they fall out on the ground with just one kick/slash of their feet (they balance on their huge tail and rip you open)... you'd be lucky if they just punched you in the face (which they do).

    But even that's a joke compared to the deadly snakes here.

    But even the snakes aren't really a problem... it's the Blue-ringed Octopus and the Stonefish which you step on while out in the rocky/reefy sections of the coast. Step on one of those and you're dead within minutes... which is why alot of beachgoers wear the rubber surf-shoes.

    And then there's the sharks :)

    So, when you coming to visit Australia everyone?