[Jan Fisher]

Just to boost Australia’s reputation as the home of the world’s best place to be attacked by wildlife, scientists have discovered another spider. Go us.

Foreign reports are describing it as ‘giant’ but after a bit of digging and I discovered it is only 5cm long. I’ve seen huntsmen with longer legs.

It only lives in the Brigalow Belt in Central Queensland. As such, it’s been classified as endangered, even so soon after being discovered.

So not big, you are unlikely to ever come across it and last of all, it’s not dangerous to humans.

I feel our status to all things creepy and crawly has taken a blow.

Is it even that deserved? I know we have a lot of venomous snakes, but I have seen a snake in the wild twice in my life, a shark once – from the comfort of a restaurant balcony in Darwin – and have never been bitten by a spider, despite many, many close encounters with huntsmen (in my shoes, in my bed, behind curtains, in the car).

Do people need to calm down about how dangerous our wildlife is?

[Author]

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