Hadge, it’s the right shape, but I seem to recall the one I encountered was a fair bit darker. THanks for your help. I can’t take any more pictures for tonight so I’m off to bed to have nightmares!

Most spiders will raise their front legs when feeling threatened like this funnel web spider

They also do it when mating like these African tarantulas

If really angry they might also flip on their back, this is the male

Alpha the one you saw could be a huntsman. They do have a habit of wondering into homes, though I’m not sure how good they are at climbing or even if they are that big. There are quite a few different types within the family so the one you saw might be a different colour. Did it make any noise when in the threat pose?

2hottie There are a few dangerous spiders in Australia but as Hadge has said most or all have anti-venom. There are plenty of charts like this
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There are a couple of things to remember. There are not any spider species which hunt humans, this means they will tend to try to keep out of our way. While almost all will have venom the vast majority are harmless to us. A lot can’t even pierce our skin. No-one has ever dies from a tarantula bite, though some might make you feel rather ill.
There are some rather interesting spiders in Australia, it might be worth getting familiar with some and then you can enjoy them rather than fear or panic.
Anyway I’d be more concerned by the snakes 🙂

awesome pictures of awesome spiders 😀 (am becoming quite fond of them now * 😯 *well the ones that cannot kill you with their venom anyways/those funnel web spiders scare the c*&p out of me 😯

Roper: did it make a noise? SPIDERS CAN MAKE NOISES?! Oh dear….

I don’t think it made a noise…but even if it did, it was probably drowned out by my yelping as it ran at me.

I’ve now seen a few pics of Huntsman spiders and it’s the most similar it seems and fits the description. Either way, it was (IMHO) massive and pretty aggressive!

Quite a few funnel web spider holes at the bottom of the garden, but not seen any wandering males yet? Bloody sore
bite apparently. Been checking my shoes religiously lately 🙂

Alpha1653, you did the right thing getting out of its way, better safe than sorry.
Some spiders can make a noise called stridulation, the same name is used for cricket noise. Spiders make it with their mouth parts by rubbing them together. It is a sort of hissing sound, or it sounds a bit like they are trying to clear their throat 🙂 They tend to do it when in the threat pose and it is a warning.

0pt1cal where are you?
If you want to see one, get a tuning fork, tap it and hold it gently at the edge of the funnel, touching a bit of silk. If it is hungry it will dart out. Be careful though, funnel webs can be very fast and aggressive and it could mistake a finger for a bug. Failing that go and look at night, they tend to sit at the egde of the funnel.

Be careful though, funnel webs can be very fast and aggressive and it could mistake a finger for a bug.

There’s a plan: provoke a potentially lethal spider with a tuning fork 🙄

There’s a plan: provoke a potentially lethal spider with a tuning fork

Not all funnel webs are “potentially lethal”, though quite a few are 🙂

Thought you lot might like these I took a couple of years ago, on a geological mapping field course in eastern Victoria. I’d already picked up one rock to find it had a Redback sitting on its underside.. Queue flappy arms, and a squeaked mwahhh noise from me..!
Later we found these 2 fighting it out.. A Redback, and I’m pretty sure, a Huntsman… The fight had already been won by the Redback; the Huntsman was paralysed and being wrapped up. Pics were on a cheapy Pentax compact, but not too bad for it in the bright sun.

Fantastic!!!!!
What a great chance to see that. I can’t imagine the fight took very long. Both beautiful spider though and they have come out very well in the photos.
I am very jealous 😀

Cheers!
It was pretty one sided, and over very quickly. The Redback was being very efficient in wrapping the Huntsman up. I’d been quick in sorting out the camera, but you can see how much silk it’d already laid down in the first shot.
Those are the best photos.. Click through to the album and there’s a couple more. The Redback was pretty aggressive. It took a disliking to me halfway through and came for me! It was obviously more bothered about it’s lunch though.

Those pictures are superb! I’d love to do a field trip looking for T’s and maybe one day I’ll head off over the States to do one. Thanks for sharing them with us too 😀

Top spider thread again, thanks Hadge and Roper. Fascinating stuff.

When I was in Oz a few years ago we discovered a couple of rather large spiders, Huntsman I believe, when staying in rural Victoria and I was surprised just how big they are when I was up close and trying to catch them.
I thought it best to just shoo them away in the end but didn’t let the then GF know that! 😳

I’m a little bit alarmed at how interested I am in all of this, given that I’m normally pretty reluctant to get near spiders. They are amazing creatures though. Hadge, Roper & Geetee, thanks for the information!