On Sunday it was bucketing down with rain as we had a big fat depression form just off the coast here and create some very wild weather; 50 knot winds and 250mm (10inches) of rain in 48hrs. There has been some minor flooding. It was a really good storm! My foul weather cycling gear was put to the test and passed! Ok, that aside, going back to Sunday arvo. The storm had just set in and our house was very snug, as a drafty tiled house, fireplace-less house can be. I was in my exposed study working on WeatherEye code. Leña was baking peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies with periodic naps in front of Fried Green Tomatoes and Dirty Dancing. While the kids Disneyed it up cuddled in Bodhi’s room in front of Laney’s computer. The cats and dogs were lounging. Alas when what should I spy in the rug there in front of me, but a fat little funnel web spider on a leisurely stroll through our living room! Well at first I thought what kind of spider is that!?!? Carl became curious at it too? He gave it a bat. And that’s when I saw it rear off the mat (well, rug, really but we’ve been reading a lot of Dr Seuess of late so ...). Anyhow, the spider looked to be some ground dwelling type, about the size of a 50 cent piece (legs included). So I shooed Carl from killing it, retrieved a small empty glass jam jar and coaxed the frightened funnel web into for the safety of all. However, at that time I was still dubious about the type of spider it was — could it be a trapdoor, or a mouse spider, or a funnel web? How did it come to be crawling across our floor? Curious! Even curiouser still, it did not see to be mature (fully grown) for any of the above species of ground dwelling spiders. So after the excitement of our little house gawking at this guest now in a glass jar, I thought I had better investigate. So we cling-wrapped the lid, and rubber-banded-it to be sure. Poked some holes in the top and placed her in a spot unmolesting.
That night while tucking Sailor in, and after singing her a song (a nightly request of hers of either her mom or I), Sailor was curiously talking about the spider, and I thought we should name her. So I asked Sailor what a good name for our uninvited guest should be, “Connie” was her reply.
So on Monday morning after taking the kids to school, and before I headed off to work, I took Connie to the Shoalhaven Zoo for their opinion on the type of Spider. They thought, most likely a female funnel web (either an Illawarra variety, Illawarra wisharti, or Sydney variety, Atrax Robustus), but were unsure due to her diminished size (immaturity) and the fact that no one there was a entomologist or zoologist. They suggested I take her to either Symbio Wildlife Park (https://symbiozoo.com.au) or Australia’s Reptile Park (https://reptilepark.com.au). As there are concerns about their numbers after the recent fires, if it indeed is the Illawarra variety, and breeding and milking her they might be interested in. In either case, neither of these parks are right down the road. Ok, well, I supposed, and thus went to our local Fins, Fangs and Feathers shop in Nowra and spoke with an enthusiast of spiders and keeper of them as “pets” ; a young adult in her twenties who seemed very confident in her husbandry.
Alas, Connie now resides a top a cabinet in our living room in a 25cm cuboid transparent plastic container with a red lid filled to 2cm with mixed Eucalypt and sand substrate and two small rocks. They rocks, mind you, Sailor found and reckoned Connie would appreciate. We have fed her two Australian Wood Cockroaches (Panesthia cribrata) and she has buried herself in the substrate.
The plan is to phone one of the parks and take her there when the opportunity presents itself. She’ll be in our care until then.
Some interesting facts and asides:
Connie can live up to 10 years and does not reach maturity until she is 5 years old
Her venom is not considered as dangerous as the males. In fact, there have been no reported deaths from female envenomation. The last reported death due to male envenomation was in 1980 right before an anti-venom was crafted. In any case, we will not be experimenting with Connie and ourselves with regards to envenomation. She is respected for the dangerous critter that she is as well as her being an integral part of our natural environment.
Connie smells like an ant — likely paying credence to her being of the Illawarra variety of funnel webs
Connie will live the first five years of her life in a single burrow
Still unanswered:
How did she come to be in our house?
What type of spider is she really?
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