...and this just in from Australia...

[Colin1]

The Daily Telegraph 8 and 9 January 2010

Deadly spiders invade Sydney
Deadly funnel web spiders are invading Sydney homes after a spell of wet weather sent them scuttling in from gardens. The Australian Reptile Park, which makes anti-venom for funnel web bites, has recorded higher than usual numbers of the spiders. Mary Rayner, the park's manager, said the plague could get worse.

The centre has a spider-milking laboratory to produce anti-venom. Since Boxing Day, people have delivered over 40 spiders. Several children have been bitten but nobody has died since the anti-venom was introduced in 1980.

Darwin the broken jaw capital
The Australian city of Darwin is the 'broken jaw capital of the world' a doctor claims. The Royal Darwin Hospital deals with 350 cases of broken jaws and noses each year - 17 for every 10,000 people. "This is well above anywhere else" said Dr Mahiban Thomas. The high rate of broken bones could be attributed to alcohol-related violence. The Northern Territory also has the highest level of alcohol consumption.



Do you guys do anything in half-measures?

Tourists are advised not to follow a night out in Darwin with a sleep-over in Sydney...

[piet]

I thank god i am from the netherlands no Deadly funnel web spiders here

piet

[vikingBerserker]

Does anything get along with anything else there??????

[Vic Balshaw]

Ahhh, shucks guys, so we've got one or two nasty's that may bite you and they may crack a few heads up in Darwin where it's always steaming hot and the beer tastes so good, but what the heck, we've got some sh1t hot beaches, some say the best in the world not to mention the chicks that lay on them and if your into cuddles, pick up a Koala or be adventuresome and sky dive in the Blue Mountains, or take a skiing holiday in the Snowy's. Whatever your dream, we've got it, 'SO WHERE THE BL**DY HELL ARE YOU'

[ccheese]

This prompts a question: why are they called funnel spiders ? Is their web shaped like a funnel, perhaps ??

Charles

[piet]

[Colin1]

Nasty-looking critter
you wouldn't want to cuddle it, that's for sure. Second in toxicity only to the Brazilian Wandering Spider, which also looks like an extra from a sci-fi movie

[B-17engineer]

I am sorry Aaron that I'd flush down the toilet... praying it doesn't crawl back up and eat me in my sleep.

[Heinz]

Then there's the snakes........oh and the drop bears.

[GrauGeist]

Whatever your dream, we've got it, 'SO WHERE THE BL**DY HELL ARE YOU'

Right here in California, where the spiders don't catch birds by the head and eat them, the snakes warn you with a rattle before they bite you, the occasional mountain lion roams through town and the only real dangerous critters roam in herds between Sacramento and the Bay area...

[Wayne Little]

Then there's the snakes........oh and the drop bears.

LMAO....

[Crimea_River]

Just when I thought the creepy crawly thread was put to bed....

Shudder!

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Nasty-looking critter
you wouldn't want to cuddle it, that's for sure. Second in toxicity only to the Brazilian Wandering Spider, which also looks like an extra from a sci-fi movie

That might be debunked. My wife's University is doing a study with a spider found in Africa called the 6 Eyed Sand Spider. It is supposedly more toxic than any other spider found to this date. Fortunately it lives out in remote areas and there are no recorded bites or deaths.

[Colin1]

...a spider found in Africa called the 6 Eyed Sand Spider...

Even its name is scary

[Colin1]

...oh and the drop bears

Must be an in-house Aussie joke...