January 20, 2006
By GEMMA JONES
Daily Telegraph - Sydney, New South Wales

SYDNEY'S wet weather has brought a plague of funnel-web spiders in unprecedented numbers, prompting warnings for families to take care.
Geardo and Irma Lopez in Kissimmee noticed their dog Penny had lost her appetite, and she had a bad odor.

More than 50 funnel-webs, usually rarely seen in January, have been caught by residents in Sydney and the Central Coast since the wet, humid weather set in this week.

The deadly spiders have been handed in to local hospitals and other centres and are now at the Reptile Park at Somersby, near Gosford, where they are stored in plastic jars on shelves.

Reptile Park spokeswoman Mary Rayner said there had already been one bite this year, with a person in the Blue Mountains saved last week after being given anti-venom in time.

"We've never seen funnel-webs in masses coming to the reptile park at this time of year, it's bizarre. We're concerned there will be bites," she said.

"They come in thick and fast in March and late February, but never in January which coincides with school holidays.

"Children who have been penned up inside in the wet weather will be outside playing when the weather improves." Ms Rayner said parents should be particularly careful to check for funnel-webs under their children's toys in the backyard.

Funnel-webs are found in Sydney, stretching from Sutherland to Hornsby, the Blue Mountains and throughout the Central Coast to just below Newcastle.

The northern suburbs, including Hornsby and even Palm Beach, and at Narara and Lisarow near Gosford, are known as the "funnel-web capitals".

Ms Rayner said male spiders looking for a female mate could hide in clothes, shoes and sheets, posing the greatest danger.

They are smaller than the female spider but are six times more deadly.

She said people should hang up clothes, shoes and towels to make it difficult for the spiders to find hiding places as they are too heavy to climb easily.

The NSW Ambulance service issued advice yesterday on what to do if someone is bitten by a funnel-web.

Bystanders should call triple-0 immediately and ask for an ambulance and then apply a firm bandage over the bite, covering the entire limb or affected area.

A bite victim should be kept still and calm.

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,17876053-5001022,00.html