Over the last 50 years, as the leading pest control company and service in South Australia, we’ve heard and also experienced our share of huntsman spider stories. Do you know why it’s called the “Huntsman Spider”?
“Australian Huntsman spiders belong to the Family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae) and are famed as being the hairy so-called ‘tarantulas’ on house walls that terrify people by scuttling out from behind curtains”
Source: https://australianmuseum.net.au/huntsman-spiders
“Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider
Recently we’ve noticed a number of stories in the new and online that both fascinate us, and terrify us all at the same time. (We’re not really terrified……we are pest controller after all. Although the guys in the office don’ think they are so friendly).
Australian Huntsman Spider Stories
So when we saw this article earlier in the year titled: “Pest control operator called to Brisbane home to deal with the ‘biggest huntsman’ he’s ever seen”
We were certainly intrigued. The article appeared on 9news.com.au: http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/05/10/17/19/pest-control-operator-called-brisbane-home-to-deal-with-biggest-huntsman
An excerpt of the article is below:
A pest control operator has described a recent home call in Brisbane, where he came face to face with “the mother of all spiders”.
Gavin Shill, the owner and operator of a local Brisbane pest control business, received an urgent call by “petrified” West End home owners on Monday.
When he arrived at the property, Mr Shil, who’s been in the business for over a decade, said he was met with the biggest spider he’s “come across in all the years we have been doing pest control”.
“When we’re normally informed of big spiders they’re usually around half the size of this one,” he told 9news.com.au.
Mr Shil said the huntsman, likely a female, had a leg span of about 20 x 25 cm and covered about three quarters of the regular sized household broom he used to pick it up.
So while it’s hard to really gauge the size of the spider in the photo above, an huntsman spider with a leg span of between 20 & 25 cm is very very large in deed.
Adelaide is certainly not short on huntsman spider, and while they can be scary, the are relatively harmless, and can be removed carefully outside with a jar or ice cream container.
Giant Spider Species
With this in mind, we thought it might be fun to post some photos and videos of the some of the worlds largest spider.
Goliath Spider
Size of a puppy?
Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/terrifying-picture-shows-puppy-sized-spider-4479387
Giant Huntsman Spider
Exterminator Find Huntmans Spider Nest
Is it safe to pick up an Australian Huntsman spider?
We’ll let John Nurse answer this. We think he does a pretty good job answering it on quora:
“Peter has correctly identified the approved method for Huntsman removal by the male (well nearly always the male) of the human species -ie which Tupperware container (so you can make sure the little guy is safely inside) and the piece of cardboard. But that isn’t always possible.
Now this story goes back about 20 years. My wife (of the time) had dread fear of large spiders, and particularly the thought that they might drop on her in the middle of the night. One morning I was getting ready to head off to the airport for an overseas business trip. With ten minutes before the taxi was due to arrive, she told me that there was a Huntsman above the (not built-in) wardrobe in the bedroom.
The spider was perched too high and too far back to use the Tupperware capture technique. So I got a straw broom with the (vain) hope that I might flick it into a better capturing position. As might be expected, the result was that the spider scurried down behind the wardrobe.
As an honest man, of course, my first instinct was to say “I am really very sorry but the spider is still in the bedroom. I hope that everything will turn out just fine. I will be back in three weeks”.
My second, and prevailing, instinct was to grab my Tupperware and piece of cardboard, assemble them in Huntsman-carrying configuration, call out “I’ve got him!”, rush out the front door and fling the supposed arachnid into the bushes, before completing my travel preparations and hopping into the taxi.
Anyway, my virtual spider-catching technique proved successful. He was never seen again.”
What Twitter Says:
Lizard verses huntsman spider…
Who eats who??? pic.twitter.com/l2rBpXbCsk— Catherine jensen (@csjensen68) November 5, 2017
So while huntsman spiders look scary, they are a regular part of the eco system and should be treated with respect.
However if it’s simple to scary, you can call Murray Pest Control on 8388 1000 for fast and efficient removal. Our spider control service in Adelaide ensure we remove the spiders, and or the nest if we find one, and prevent them from coming back into the home.
Remember though, spiders are part of the environment and do their part by eating small insects and keep other micro monsters under control.
If you are unsure of the type of spider you have, certainly give us a call as Australian species such as Funnelweb and red back spiders are dangerous and venomous.
If you have a spider story (no matter how scary), we’d love to hear it. Simply add it as a comment below.
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