New Zealand, we need a chat.

[serebit@floss.social]

@georgepenney Are NZ mini-fauna broadly as dangerous as Aussie mini-fauna?

I've encountered one of Maryland's two most dangerous spiders (the black widow), but their reputation exceeds their practical danger... We don't have much to fear spider-wise at this latitude.

[lovestha@floss.social]

@vicarvernon @georgepenney a good friend those ones

[mees@sunny.garden]

@georgepenney aah nononono not imagining lalalalalalaa

[grizolda@sfba.social]

@georgepenney thank you for no pictures. But believe me I am picturing it!

[kimota94@mas.to]

@georgepenney And whose idea was it to give two such diametrically-opposed (in terms of dangerousness) spiders rhyming names?

[georgepenney@sunny.garden]

@si_fuller This one was AT LEAST half Shelob's size. (My partner is disputing this but it's all a matter of perspective and I was the one who almost sat on it )

[ladynorris@mastodon.art]

@vicarvernon @georgepenney Spiders and toilets, is this a thing in New Zealand or Australia?

[georgepenney@sunny.garden]

@LadyNorris @vicarvernon Definitely in Oz, but here at this time of year the tunnel web males go hunting for females and tend to stick to damper places like bathrooms, loos and laundries. In Australia they just hang out in loos because they're vindictive hell beasts looking to maim the unsuspecting. (That's my story borne of a childhood of finding spiders in our loo in Outback Oz and I'm sticking to it.)

[jutta_wa@kirche.social]

@georgepenney
I'm completely with you on not sharing my house with spiders, be it loo (noooo!) or bedroom (also absolutely noooo!) or any place else.*
And we don't even have spiders that are dangerous (or resemble dangerous ones by look or name).

*I've learned to be okay with them in the garden over the years as long as they keep their distance.

[doublesandal@mastodon.art]

@georgepenney did you do the 'cat sees cucumber' jump?

[annabaguenaude@tenforward.social]

@georgepenney I'm sorry George, that sounds horrifying!

[petermlittle@mas.to]

@georgepenney Having looked at images of both, discretion definitely better than valour. Yeeting, I got from context. (But more violent than I thought) Conniption I guessed from context but I confess I had to look it up. But being bested in vocabulary by an author is no shame. I love learning new words.
When visiting NZ due to temperate climate, I didn't think to worry about spiders. Australia though, paranoid is too strong, let's say extremely cautious, wary... hostel dunnies...

[ninedragons@mastodon.online]

@georgepenney

Yeah, sorry about that, but I'm from Germany and we don't have dangerous spiders.
Besides, I love spiders! If I encounter one in my home, they usually startle me a bit (something moving where I didn't expect it), but then I either gently evict them outside or, if house spider, move them somewhere safer if necessary.

Pretty sure my attitude would be different if I were an Aussie.

[ygathgoch@cloudisland.nz]

@georgepenney those are the ones that learned how to use our cat flap.

[irix@cloudisland.nz]

@ygathgoch @georgepenney TIL the AU Huntsman is the same as the Avondale spider used in the Arachnophobia film. I always thought they were native to NZ but it turns out they were introduced.

[cadbury_moose@wandering.shop]

@PeterMLittle @georgepenney

I read a similar anecdote somewhere about a survey team, but that involved a tarantula in the thunderbox. 3:O)>

[jawarajabbi@mastodon.online]

@georgepenney

Poisonous or not, any spider you can hear walking towards you is worthy of a complete freakout. I applaud your ability to remove it rather than squash it. Very brave.

[jawarajabbi@mastodon.online]

@ForgottenHero18 @georgepenney

LOL great story!

[nancylwayne@mastodon.social]

@ForgottenHero18 @georgepenney Worth the experience to tell the tale for the remainder of your life?

[nancylwayne@mastodon.social]

@ForgottenHero18 @georgepenney Maybe not very unusual -- it all depends on the storyteller. You spin a great yarn, and so it might seem more unusual than if a boring person told the tale.