Hi everyone, I hope you don't mind, but I'm not actually an arachnid hobbyist, what I am is a keen hiker and camper with a question that no-one else seems able to answer, and I thought you specialists may be able to help me.
I live in Australia where (among other things) trapdoor spiders and funnelwebs are prevalent. These (as you know) are ground burrowing spiders and they can give quite a nasty nip if the choose to.
I am interested in their habits, for example, if I were to be hiking a planned but remote route and make it to my camp site around dusk, however when I get there there I see a few trapdoors or funnel webs in the area is it still safe to camp there? Most people would say never camp near such places, but in this instance, it is getting dark and another location would be too far to walk too.
I know the usual advice of making a fire to keep away some animals, keep your shoes and everything inside your tent overnight, keep your tent zipped up at all times and so on...but if a spider is buried in the ground, does that change things? If my tent were inadvertently put over a trapdoor, could/would it still attack or is it more likely to just stay in it's burrrow until I leave?
I guess I'm just trying to ascertain from a safety perspective whether it's safer to stay cause they'll keep to themselves for the most part, or if it's a dangerous site and you're better moving on, even in the dark! Any help/advice in this regard would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Andy
I live in Australia where (among other things) trapdoor spiders and funnelwebs are prevalent. These (as you know) are ground burrowing spiders and they can give quite a nasty nip if the choose to.
I am interested in their habits, for example, if I were to be hiking a planned but remote route and make it to my camp site around dusk, however when I get there there I see a few trapdoors or funnel webs in the area is it still safe to camp there? Most people would say never camp near such places, but in this instance, it is getting dark and another location would be too far to walk too.
I know the usual advice of making a fire to keep away some animals, keep your shoes and everything inside your tent overnight, keep your tent zipped up at all times and so on...but if a spider is buried in the ground, does that change things? If my tent were inadvertently put over a trapdoor, could/would it still attack or is it more likely to just stay in it's burrrow until I leave?
I guess I'm just trying to ascertain from a safety perspective whether it's safer to stay cause they'll keep to themselves for the most part, or if it's a dangerous site and you're better moving on, even in the dark! Any help/advice in this regard would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Andy
