Okay, okay. Oh! Oh, big fang. Whoa, that's pretty bloody x
-rated. Australia's funnel web spiders have a really bad
reputation all around the world, the most dangerous, the most
deadly, but is that reputation warranted? Well, I'm Ann Jones
from ABC Science and today we are watching viral videos of
funnel web spiders.
The fear is really getting to me.
While you're here, if you like this sort of video, hit
subscribe for more ABC Science. Righto come at me spidies. I
mean, I mean, only on the internet.
Open this one up.
Oh, wow. Hello, booty.
Not only are they one of the world's most venomous spiders,
they've gotta have one of the best threat displays I've ever
seen.
Oh! Aggressive stance.
Ah!
Where whoa! See how fast it goes.
This is her doing her best to look big and dangerous to a
threat, which is this man. So she's got her legs up, she's got
her fangs out, ready to strike. She's standing as big as
possible.
See the drips of venom forming on the fangs there.
They are known as aggressive spiders, but they're really not.
They're defensive spiders. They're generally only doing
this when you're playing with them or aggravating them in some
way. So leave them alone, and they probably won't attack you.
Unless you're millipede.
More spidies.
These guys are highly, highly venomous. These are the Sydney
funnel webs.
There's like 40 different types of funnel web spiders in
Australia. And that's just the species we know. This spider, if
it did strike you could kill you.
I'm going to attempt to handle her today.
Oh no, why?
The adrenaline in me is kicking. I can feel my nerves just going.
Why?
Why? Why? No, don't do that.
This is something I've wanted to do for a long time.
You hear me Australia? Don't do that. What's wrong with people?
So far, she's been a good girl.
You can actually die really quickly if you've got a deep
envenomation from a funnel web. Basically your heart and lungs
stop working. Just because you see it on the internet, doesn't
mean you should do it. Do not handle wild spiders. It's really
hard to tell which ones are extremely dangerous, and which
ones aren't. All of that being said, we haven't had a funnel
web death in yonks. It's been since the 80s in Australia, and
that's because we've got antivenom because funnel webs
are incredibly lethal if you happen to get bitten.
Next video.
I'm here filming for ABC Catalyst, and I'm just about to
go and find a bloke who quite ridiculously digs up funnel web
spiders for his job. Let's go get him.
They let me out of the studio occasionally.
God, am I going to walk into a spiderweb? Probably.
There were funnel web spiders everywhere.
I was on K'gari, which is Fraser Island, with some scientists and
they were digging up funnel webs and it was insane. So Glenn, why
would you do that?
Because they beautiful number one and they are venoms are the
most complex chemical arsenals in the entire natural world. Up
to 3,000 molecules in the venom of a single spider. What's
remarkable though, is that only one of those molecules are
responsible for the human envenomation syndrome, the thing
that kills us.
We're not their target, though? We're just sort of collateral
damage aren't we?
We are collateral damage.
So their venom is extremely complex is like 3,000 molecules
in it. And it just so happens that there's one in there that
can really affect us, mammals. They're generally preying on
insects, amphibians, things like that. They're not really after
us. It's just sort of like this crazy evolutionary bingo that
happened when it comes to funnel webs and us, humans.
What's happening there?
It's actually not that big.
What? Hello.
Here we go.
Next video.
My son left his shoes out over the weekend. And this is why you
should always check them before putting them back on.
Oh! Funnel webs, in particular, make a really cool little web
array on the outside of their burrow. It's an early warning
system, which you can see around the shoe tongue. Oh now he's
gonna poke it. That's good. Yeah, make it angry. Yeah.
He thought he found a really good spot. When insect or a
vibration of some sort hits the end of the web, it goes up the
webs that they've got on the outside of their burrow and all
the way down into the sock so that they can tell who's around.
You know, when you go into the milk bar, and it goes bing bing,
when you go through the door, it's sort of like that.
Next video.
Hey, guys, just come down to the pool.
Ahhh he's surfing. I wouldn't touch him like that! Ah why
would you touch it with your hand?
And that, although it seems to be dead, is a funnel web male.
He won't necessarily be dead mate. He's alive. So if you come
across a funnel web and you need to move it or capture it, for
some reason, make sure you get a jar that is glass or a container
that is plastic to get them in. Don't try and catch them on a
stick or a piece of paper because they can grip onto those
things. They can't grip onto smooth plastic or smooth glass.
Still, the best thing to do if you come across any wild animal
is to give it a wide berth. Let it do its thing. It's integrity
part of the ecosystem out there. Alright.
Is that an egg sack?
Looks like it's made out of paper, doesn't it? Wow. The idea
of having so many babies is basically as an assurance that
some of them will survive. If you have like 300 of them. Yeah,
one of them is likely to survive. Two spiders in a
container and that can only mean one thing... love.
The entire mating takes about five minutes, slowly just trying
to get to underside.
The female's the larger one. Male looks nervous and he
should. Many males don't make it out of a mating encounter alive.
You can see Harry there. He's just tapping. Minerva's a bit
hesitant so she's striking out a little bit just so he keeps his
distance.
She was reading a good book, you know? She doesn't want to be
irritated by a bloke. But then he starts his little drumbeat.
"Hey."
Seems Minerva's finally accepting Harry.
What's really crazy is that the females will stick with their
one burrow for their entire life. They'll only come out to
hunt. The males, however, they will. They will get out and go
in search of females so that they can mate just like what we
saw there. But it does mean that there are males wandering around
with two fistfuls of ejaculate. And if you think it was the
Kardashians that made the nice round booty all popular, nah,
it's not. It's bloody funnel webs. Look at it. Nice booty.