Again, this sounds much like the White-tailed spider bite (from what I can
remember - luckily, I've never experienced this ordeal). Another interesting
(useless?) piece of trivia is the fact that cats are immune to the Funnel-Web
spider's bite - the most deadly Australian spider (also a large, nasty looking
beast with fangs to match). I wonder if there's any similarity between the
two toxins?
>Brown recluses are hunters, rather than web builders (they can spin but seldom
>do), and love warm, dry places, like stacked cloth or clothing, attics, etc.
>A large one, perhaps 3 years old, may have a leg span about the diameter of a
>silver dollar. We've seen them live in the bottom of an open jar, in which
>they became trapped, for several months without food or water. Most people who
>are bitten are bitten because they exert pressure on the spider without seeing
>it - just as Dale describes moving the clothing with his body. (They know a
>person is too large to eat and will usually not bite if left alone. My former
>teacher has had one walk the length of his body, inside his clothing, without
>biting.)
What size is that in non-monetary terms? I was also reading (in a "New
Scientist" magazine from memory) about a spider that has been introduced to
England which is apparently very agressive - it will bite without provocation
and will strike several times in an attack. Although this doesn't cause the
necrosis of the others, it is still has very unpleasant toxic effects. I
can't remember the name of the spider, but from memory it has striking brick-
red legs (or was that the body?)
| John Taylor [The Banshee] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |