Sydney Funnel Web Spider
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 Sydney Funnel Web spiders are found 160 kilometres from the centre Sydney. Their favourite places to hide are in clothing, equipment that is stored in a garage, any type of shed, sandpits and also in pools.
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 They can inject 0.17mg of deadly venom into its prey. That amount of venom can easily kill a human. Because of the size of the fangs, if they become deeply embedded they must be torn off. An average Funnel Web spider is 7cm long. A male Sydney Funnel Web Spider has a spur on the second leg from the front. The spurs are important during mating because he uses them to stop the female's fangs from coming down and splitting his head open. |
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 The Sydney Funnel Web spider uses pincer like fangs to strike its prey. It lunges backwards and forwards in rage. The only way a funnel web spider can strike an object is to raise its body into the air. If it misses it's
prey, the venom that was on the fangs falls onto the ground.
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 Ten minutes after a person is bitten by a Sydney Funnel Web Spider the first symptoms start. The first symptom is numbness around the tongue and mouth. Next the person will have spasms of the tongue and the heart rate will rapidly increase. Nausea and vomiting will soon start along with sweating and salivation. The victim will then become agitated and soon find it difficult to breath. They may become confused and not be able to concentrate. By this stage the victim may be in a coma and the blood press will rise dramatically. The muscles will begin to twitch. At this stage the possibility of death is extremely high.
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The Sydney Funnel Web Spider is the most dangerous spider in the
 world. It is also the only
spider that can kill children in less than two hours. A two year old died in fifteen minutes. Its deadly cousin is the Toowoomba or Darling Downs Funnel Web Spider.
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 A nine month old girl was sitting on the floor when the fangs of a black spider plunged into her hand. The father, hearing her scream, ran into the room to see a Sydney Funnel Web Spider firmly clinging to her hand. As a pharmacist, he knew a Funnel Web spider when he saw it. His yells brought his wife running. He then tore the spider off with his bare hands. The next action would have saved their child's life. The mother was an intensive care nurse, so she knew exactly what to do in this situation. She applied a pressure bandage over the bitten area and the forearm. While she was doing this, her husband rang the ambulance. Twenty minutes later, the girl was in hospital with a pulse rate over 200, she was salivating and was sweating constantly. She needed six ampoules of antivenom to change the effects of the venom. After some time she recovered, by her mother delaying the venom she saved her daughter's life.
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