How common are spiders in Melbourne?

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soph

PS** I have lived here my whole life and have NEVER EVER seen a red back spider except for in box at the zoo.

Spiders are probably just as common here as anywhere else - they are not crawling everywhere and you certainly don't have to check everywhere for them, but there is, in my house, the occasional daddy long legs and the even more occasional huntsman - neither are venomous.

Also if you are gardening you might encounter one or two.

Apartment buildings - probably a bit less common than in a normal house but still there is a chance of spiders.

In the country though there are more spiders and you are more likely to encounter some nastier versions - but you don't find these ones in the city.

I honestly don't worry about spiders at all - my sister gets freaked out if there is a spider anywhere inside but it doesn't happen very often except for the totally harmless daddy long legs spiders.

puppysyndrome

I'm Canadian but lived in one of the western suburbs of melbourne for 6 years. There are lots of daddy long legs everywhere. You often see Huntsman spiders and they won't hurt you but they do give you a bit of a shock the first time you see one in your house because of the size of them. In the entire time I was there, I think I only saw 2 Redback spiders which are poisonous and they were in the back yard, under a rock in my garden.
Like you, I was almost paranoid about spiders (and snakes) when I was preparing to move there...........I never did see a snake.
Every other day I had to clear cobwebs out of the windows of my house and in the corners. You wouldn't always see the daddy long legs making them, but the cobwebs would just turn up so you knew they were around.
I worked in a funeral home and I often saw them in the chapel.
To be honest, when I was out in parks and on public transit, I didn't pay much attention as to whether there were any in those places.

Xzafa

We have spiders like everywhere... except queensland, who like all their insects, have some gigantor disease and grow to the size of small rodents lol, but they are not as bad as we anticipate before moving here.
I'm from NZ, where we don't really have these issues, so spiders have always been a bit of a 'freaky thing' for me, but it could be worse...
The only real worry here are the 'white tails'. They seem to be getting bigger and bigger every year, and come inside, unlike most redbacks (again, unless you live in Queensland lol).
Your pretty right on public transport and in public buildings if there frequently busy and cleaned. Parks I think you have to worry more about midgies and ants mostly.

SafÃ¿re

As everyone's already stated... we have just as many (or just as few) spiders as anywhere else (ie America, Britain, etc).

I live on the third floor, and I've only ever had two Huntsmen in the place -- both of which hitched a ride inside (ie they didn't come in of their own volition).

As to what sort of spiders you get -- depends where you are. Funnel Webs are more prevalent in Sydney, and to see a Tarantula (and we do have them), you have to go way up into the tropics (top end of Queensland). I've never seen a Redback, although there are plenty of White-tails. We also (in Victoria) have Wolf spiders (nearly as big as Huntsmen), and plenty of Golden Orb (Weaver) spiders -- but you never see Orbs indoors.

For me though -- living in inner city Melbourne -- I rarely see spiders.

i.LovE.HoMeWorK...!!!

Pretty much the same as any where else

*Bu$y*

As common as Beer in a Bar

cho

ive lived here my whole life
and now that i think of it, i havent seen a spider for years
i live in the eastern suburbs but go to school and do most things in the city
sometimes in my room there are cobwebs around the window frames but they would just be from daddy long legs which are completely harmless and thats also just because my roon is so messy and i never clean it
dont let spiders be the reason for not moving here!
queensland on the other hand has a LOT of spiders.
probably there are also more in country areas of course
but yeah i never see them, so not that common

Yahoo! Answers Master

More common in the summertime. Winter, not so many.

Sammy

Spiders are just as common in Melbourne as they are in any other city. You can get all types from ones that can harm you (but not kill you) to completely harmless ones.

Obviously you would be more likely to find them in outdoor areas as they tend to live in trees etc. And they might be less common in and upper floor apartment, but I'm pretty sure they're not afraid of heights. They are probably less common in city areas though as there are not as many trees around.

I'm pretty scared of spiders myself, so here are my tips:

-Avoid parking your car under trees. Spiders will very easily drop down and make a new home in your car.
-Get your house/apartment treated for spiders. I did this earlier in the year and I can now live spider free. It only cost $220 as well.
-If you can't afford that, you can get surface spray from the supermarket or hardware store. It's not as effective though, and you do have to do it yourself.

Melbourne is a great place to live, so don't not come here because you fear something that is all over the world.

Dame

YIKES - I seem to remember they have one of the deadliest spiders in the country down there.

The ones that live both indoors and out doors.

The red backs hide under the toilet seat - that is why you always lift it and check. Found a nest of red backs under the bus seat the other day - good thing I looked before I plonked my bottom down there - would have been most indilicate having to display my bottom with a red back spider bite.

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