Not Scared Of Many Things...

[zebba]

I've mashed in, and getting the keggle ready to go for it's virgin brew day. There's a big of dust and stuff in it, so I grab the hose, give it a good squirt inside, then grab it - one arm on the handle on top, the other grabbing it by the base, and I start tipping, then lie it down on it's side so the last bits drain out the tap hole. I start to head back to make sure the mash temp is stable, and I see it...

Now, I'm not scared of much. Being a country boy, snakes were a weekly occurance around the house, and they never even raised the heartrate a fraction. But spiders... Just the sight of one is enough to make me go crying to the wife and asking her to take care of it. So seeing this, just centimetres away from where my had was just seconds earlier... I swear, the heartrate went from 70 up to 200 in a flash!



Biggest redback I've ever seen! And to make matters worse, the wife has gone out with the kids so I had to deal with this on my own. Shaking like a little girl, I had enough composure to grab the camera and get a pic, before grabbing a broom (nice LONG handle) and leaving nothing but a black smear of the thing. Once the brew is done, the mortein bombs will be coming out in force. Scorched earth policy. Nothing under 10cm in size will be left alive. I goddamn HATE spiders.

(But, the brew is going well! Hit mash-in of 55, infusion up to 67 was degree perfect, and the keggle, now spider free, is on top of the burner, valve attached, waiting for some precious wort!)

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Mate hate to tell you thats only a baby compared to the ones we have over here in WA. I could go around the house now and find 10 of them.
GB

 

[zebba]

Mate hate to tell you thats only a baby compared to the ones we have over here in WA. I could go around the house now and find 10 of them.
GB

In a couple of days I'll gladly concede that it actually isn't that big, but right now I'll swear black and blue (or red) that it was as big as my hand.

 

[manticle]

As someone who grew up dreaming of big black spiders in every corner and who still gets a shiver from them occasionally I'd like to say that redbacks are really, really hard to get bitten by.

Timid and not vagrant (ie homebound) you really have to threaten them to get bitten. A healthy adult will survive the bite without antivenin too. They control insect/pest numbers in your garden.

My first ever tattoo is of a redback - partly protective and talismanic I guess, a bit like the idea of surfers wearing a shark's tooth around their necks.

I guess my point is - relocate it or leave it alone. That smear makes me sad. Any more and I'll have to send you a copy of my drawing of tarantula skins.

 

[Pennywise]

Biggest redback I've ever seen! And to make matters worse, the wife has gone out with the kids so I had to deal with this on my own.

:lol: You big bloody wimp, it was even running away from you



Have to admit though, I'm not really a spider person myself, my son how ever is apparently Spiderman, so I constantly have one around on brewday B)

 

[Pennywise]

Any more and I'll have to send you a copy of my drawing of tarantula skins.

:icon_offtopic: Any updates on those pic's Manticle? They're pretty f**kin' mad

 

[manticle]

I'll post some stuff up shortly but it will probably be old(ish). Have some incomplete new stuff which I'll be getting into post January.

Sorry for OT Zebba

 

[zebba]

Sorry for OT Zebba

U shouldn't be - I'm all about OT

And yeah, I am a big wimp when it comes to spiders. I don't know what it is, but they just freat me out. I know I shouldn't kill 'em, especially as after years of trying I'm finally acquiring a green thumb and appreciating the work they do for me in that regard. When I encounter big black monsters pulling weeds from under the passionfruit, i take a breather and let 'em go. But when they get in the brewery, or in the house, I can't be held accountable.

 

[legham]

Heres one I found in the infested shed I brew in on one of my first brew days!

 

[Steve]

Ive a red back living in my little office at work, hes just moved in since they were doing some work in the attic. He lives up between the top of the bookshelf next to my desk and the vent just above it. Mean looking thing. Not much red at all. I just leave him alone but always check he's there when I get into work and not setting up home under my desk.

 

[QldKev]

This thread has helped me work out why Matilda Bay called the beer RedBack, cause after you drank it you feel very sick like you are going to die.

QldKev

 

[zebba]

This thread has helped me work out why Matilda Bay called the beer RedBack, cause after you drank it you feel very sick like you are going to die.

QldKev

Well in honour of the event I'm calling this my "amberback ale". Dark crystal, special b, pale malt, styrian goldings and willamette. And, cause it's what I do, she'll be bulk primed with some vanilla soaked in glen fiddich.

Just finished and good lordy having a proper size kettle makes life SOOO much easier. I was doing a two pot stovetop thing up until now, and it was a major pain. This was easily my easiest AG brewday to date.

 

[WarmBeer]

Well in honour of the event I'm calling this my "amberback ale"...

Maybe "Brownjocks Ale" is more appropriate?

 

[Bizier]

Funnel webs scare me because they are fast and aggro. Give me spiders over snakes any day of the week though. I've been chased by tigers and browns, and even the odd pissed off red belly, and if they are warm, they move a lot quicker and further than a spider. But I had one time as a teen, where a funnel web was in my room, but kept disappearing behind and under shelves, made for a few uneasy nights kip.

 

[InCider]

I carried an esky full of beer from my kitchen to the car. I carried it high, leaning against my chest. I then drove from home to Mooloolaba, faffed around and got a park about a K from the BBQ area, then carried the bloody thing all the way to the party.

When I put the esky down (2 bags of ice and a box of headache from CUB) I saw in the recess for the latch a nice Redback, who had been enjoying the sweat off my solar plexus for a while. He was very quiet, and wandered off when I gave him a new home in the sand dunes.

To ensure this never happens again, I started brewing.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

I watched a monster Red Back ,in the court yard of a pub in SA. wrap up a mouse and then eat it over a few days , heard the mouse get caught ...

and I was bitten on the big toe in the shower when I was a jackaroo out there many years ago ,, thought I was going too die , so I grabed a flagon of green ginger and went to my quarters sat down on my bed and started to drink ,, haha next morning I wished I did ..toe was as sore as buggery for about a week , but no long term effects ..don't know if it made me crook or the green ginger but got over it anyway ,, haha .....

cheers

 

[pants]

I co-exist with a few red backs in my brewery from time-to-time, and didn't think much of them until my 3-year old junior brewer started hanging out with me. She wasn't too concerned, but let me know where they were and stayed away from them. Then a mate moved over from England, and I mentioned one day that they could be lethal. He was more concerned than I was for my little girl. Apparently, they don't have anything dangerous in the land of the pom!

 

[super_simian]

I just relocated a whitetail bigger than a 50c piece not 5 minutes before reading this... I still have a scar on my leg from a whitetail bite, it went ulcerous and sloughed for a month or two. Bloody annoying!

 

[peaky]

I just relocated a whitetail bigger than a 50c piece not 5 minutes before reading this... I still have a scar on my leg from a whitetail bite, it went ulcerous and sloughed for a month or two. Bloody annoying!

Shit, that's a big one. Bloody dangerous those things!

 

[Fourstar]

when i was cleaning out the now brewshed and prepping it the become said brewing chamber i had to move some stacked tiles and clean up A LOT of red back webs (they are easy to destingiush as they typically no no pattern and are very messy/dusty looking, as are the egg sacks.)

anyway, i spotted many small males and let them do their thing whilst cleaning up and then came across the big mother redback. The body seemed as big as a marble and whilst i quickly extinguished the mumma spider i felt quite alright until i noticed a handful of babies over my shoe and one on my leg. Yep, bare skin.

I proceeded to crap myself, swipe away the one on my leg and kicked off my shoes and socks quicker than i could if i spotted Natalie Portman on all fours.

The hair still stands up on my thinking about it. im just glad they where small.

There was a bigb momma huntsman in there once which actually scares me more than the redbacks. as Manticle noted the redbacks are generally quite harmless but my arachnophobia took over when they where on my skin. h34r:

Probabaly serves me right for killing their momma!