Possums naturally grow a strong bond with their home and whether it be a tree trunk in the bush land, or the hollow space in your roof. Research has shown that removing possums from their home more often than not results in their death as they either die trying to return to their home, get attacked by predators or the trauma of being removed becomes too much. ANT-EATER Pest Control by law is not allowed to remove any invading possums more than 50m from their home, however this doesn’t mean you have to put up with them living in and around your roof!

For information on how we solve your possum problem, visit our website.

http://www.anteater.com.au/PestInformationandSolutions/Possums.aspx

For more information on ant infestations visit our webpage devoted solely to ants
Click HERE

The female Daddy Longlegs from our previous post has hatched her eggs, as you can see she is surrounded by her spider babies.

More information on spiders here 

Nigel gives us a valuable insight into how termites enter the home. Watch out for these conditions around your home, if you stay vigilant and have regular checkups, you can avoid thousands of dollars in home repairs

This is a photo taken of a Female Australian Daddy Longlegs spider. As you can see she is holding an egg sack of 20 to 30 eggs in her jaws. The popular urban legend surrounding the Daddy Longlegs spider is that their venom is the most potent among the worlds Arachnids, but their fangs are too short to penetrate human skin. This is untrue. The average Daddy longlegs fangs measure 0.25 mm and can penetrate human skin, however their venom produces a mild burning sensation to humans, nothing more. The urban legend sprung from the Daddy Longlegs practice of preying on Redback spiders and Huntsmen, the Redback being highly venomous.

The St Andrew’s Cross spider can be seen with its habit of sitting in its web with its legs in the shape of a cross.
The Australian species, Argiope keyserlingi and A. aetherea (this one taken on the Gold Coast in Queensland) are often recognised by their  large white zigzag in the centre of its web. It’s called the stabilimentum or web decoration. It’s suggested that the web decoration reflects UV light and is used to attract prey and provide visibility to larger animals so they don’t destroy the web.

This spider sits in the middle of its web by day and if preyed on will drop off its web, retreat to the edge or shake it’s web. Males are smaller than females and the male will build its web adjacent to the female in mating time. The female’s eggs hatch in Autumn but the spiderlings spend winter inside the sac emerging in spring.

The St Andrew’s Cross spider is harmless to people although they might bite if handled.

For more information on how to control spiders in your area, visit

http://www.anteater.com.au/PestInformationandSolutions/Spiders.aspx

A sneak peek inside the world of termites as well as a demonstration of their destructive power. If this is something that concerns you take a look at our website.

Whilst the females are not usually the culprits as they spend their lives (up to 20 years) living in their burrows, the males travel looking for mates and are usually implicated in bites. Children are most at risk with the onset of symptoms being less than an hour.

The Sydney funnel-web spider is sometimes mistaken for the Sydney brown trapdoor spider (Misgolas rapax) which looks similar but this spider is more retiring and shy and brown in colour.

The CSIRO recommends the following safety tips:

• wear gloves when gardening
• know what a burrow looks like
• wear shoes when walking

if camping:

• close tent flaps
• carefully shake out before use any footwear, clothes and sleeping bags left on the ground overnight, as the spiders hide during the day.

First aid if bitten:

• keep calm
• move only if necessary
• if a limb is bitten, apply pressure bandage to bite area and around limb towards heart
• immobilise limb with a splint
• collect spider specimen (even if squashed)
• seek medical aid as soon as possible.

For more information visit the ANT-EATER Pest Control Sydney website

For further information on how to keep your Sydney property free of termites, take a look at our webpage on termite solutions http://www.anteater.com.au/PestInformationandSolutions/Termites.aspx

Further Information on spider control visit our website.