Huntsman Spider

It's a well-known fact that Australia is infamous for its spiders, and with good reason. 

They're pretty scary looking, have shiny hairy bodies and eight legs!

Unless trapped behind a glass enclosure, even fearless Aussie children, like my grandson, is a bit leery of them.

I hadn't intended on capturing a Huntsman spider on this day. 

But if you read many of my posts, you know that I just let life happen when I'm in Sydney, and something astonishing usually does.

Grandson looks at a Huntsman with suspicion.    

It was a warm Spring afternoon, and our doors were wide-open. 

For some reason, Aussie homes don't have screen doors, which I don't understand since this is Australia. 

I would want screens around everything!

While walking past the open doorway, I noticed a Huntsman spider on the top of the roller blind.  

I've developed a special knack for spotting critters I don't want to see.  

I knew a Huntsman spider flattens its body to get under doors and windowsills, and because our door is near a window, I was able to figure this one out.

Door open - no screens!

I surprised myself and didn't panic . . . this time. 

After all, this was not my first dance with a Huntsman. 

Once I woke up in the middle of the night to discover one getting ready to crawl up the wall.  

I didn't sleep at all that night!

Huntsman spider with dust on its legs.

Another time I noticed one through the window that appeared to be trying to make its way to the window pane. 

Huntsman spider outside the window.

Huntsman spider on the window.

It's comforting to know that they are non-aggressive unless provoked, and I wasn't about to do that!  

Besides, I've never actually heard of them crawling or dropping down on people - my worse fear!

They have venom, but it's considered low-risk, nontoxic to humans.

 

A bite may cause swelling and minor pain, and an ice pack and a topical anesthetic are all that is needed to treat it.

To avoid the unnecessary stress of dealing with the spider myself, I quickly texted my daughter, who was on her way home from work, to ask her to hurry!

Then, I sat patiently staring at it -  willing it not to move till she came home.

A flattened Huntsman spider.

 

She arrived within minutes, rushed in, and asked where it was. 

Lucky for me, she's a real Huntsman spider trapper!

I was happy to point out its location. 

She pulled the shade down a bit, startling the critter, and it was on the move.    

Huntsman spider crawling down the blind.

Without blinking an eye, she placed a water glass over it, abruptly stopping its descent, slid a piece of cardboard underneath, and captured it in a matter of moments.  

What a pro!

Huntsman spider - captured in a water glass.

The Huntsman is a massive brown hairy spider with a one-inch flat body and eight legs banded and twisted, enabling it to spread them to advance forward and sideways in a crab-like fashion. 

They are often are called crab spiders.  

They molt to grow, and their old skin can be mistaken for the actual spider. 

When they are not inside, they live under loose tree bark and in rock crevices and feed on insects and other invertebrates like mosquitos, cockroaches, and sometimes geckos and small skinks. 

They come inside to grab a couple of common household insects and to escape Sydney's hot summer weather.

Some Aussies like to keep them as housemates because of their passive temperaments and appetite for household pests like roaches - not happening here!

Just looking at them makes me squeamish!

Huntsman spider crawling up our wall.

As their name suggests, they are true hunters.

They do not construct webs to catch prey.

Instead, they stalk their target, run it down, then pounce.

Like all spiders, they are nocturnal and can get into cars at night, so be sure to close car windows and doors.

They hide behind sun visors and steering wheels and scuttle out, startling drivers going 50 miles an hour on the freeway. 

Knee-jerk reactions have caused car crashes.

Huntsman spider - inside of a moving car.

The mere sight of this enormous spider is the stuff of nightmares, and the movie industry made it the star of their 1990 horror-comedy thriller Arachnophobia.

Named after the debilitating fear of spiders and other multi-legged creatures, many people have Arachnophobia, and many more are just plain afraid of spiders and don't know why. 

These eight-legged critters just freak us out!

While filming the movie, the Landcare Research organization in Auckland flew three hundred Australian Huntsman spiders to the set every two weeks. 

They were selected because they're scary-looking yet nontoxic and relatively harmless. 

Fortunately, unlike the movie, only one comes in the house at a time. 

The Movie

Australian Huntsman spiders in the movie Arachnophobia.

There are 1,207 species of the huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae, and 155 of them are in Australia.

  

Spider experts have identified 4,000 other species, with another 8,000 more still a mystery. 

Aussies love their native animals and critters - harming them is never an option. 

They believe that the huntsman spider deserves a place alongside koalas and kangaroos and, therefore, should be treasured. 

So my daughter took it outside to set it free in a nearby bush  - which is the recommended way to remove spiders from the house.

If you swat a pregnant spider,  it could release 200 spiderlings before dying.  

The redback, funnel-web, trap door, mouse, white-tailed, recluse, and tarantula spiders are dangerous and deadly, and if one of those had gotten in the house, this would have been a very different story.

Infamous Huntsman spiders . . . 

Spiders that crawl under doors . . . 

Spiders that hide in cars . . . 

I am NOT in Kansas!

Sydney Barristers

Spoiler Alert - Aussies lawyers wear wigs in court!

A barristers wig.

The Australian legal system is different than in the US.

 

In Australia, lawyers are called solicitors. 

When seeking legal advice, they are the first to be contacted. 

They hold a law degree and a license to practice law.  

However, they do not have to take the standardized bar examination. 

On the other hand, a barrister has all of the credentials of a solicitor, plus they must sit and pass the bar.

In Australia, barristers are the only lawyers allowed to argue on behalf of clients in a court of law.

Barrister vs. Solicitor

My son-in-law, a barrister, invited me to the courtroom to observe him present a case. 

I was thrilled to see first-hand the Australian legal system at work. 

I arrived in the courtroom just minutes before the judge. 

As I looked around the room, I spotted him and a row of other men sitting in the front of the courtroom, wearing wigs (peruke) atop their heads. 

Seeing lawyers in wigs was like stepping back to a time before I was born. 

American attorneys and judges dumped wigs in the 19th century.

I felt like I was in Dorothy's Oz and had just landed down in Munchkinland.  

Bench wigs consist of a frizz crown with four rows of seven curls in the back and two long strips of hair hanging below the hairline on the back of the neck. 

Perukes are made from horsehair and can be coarse and stiff. 

Wigs that look worn-out are associated with a barrister's years of court experience. 

For that reason, some neophyte barristers will tousle wigs making them appear older, so others think they have more courtroom experience than they have. 

Australian traditionalists believe wigs dignify the court by bringing a sense of formality and seriousness to the proceedings.  

It also creates a cohesive courtroom environment.

Barrister wig.

Barrister wig - back view.

In addition to the wig, barristers also wear formal regalia, consisting  of a robe, jacket, and jabot. 

The robe adds gravitas and promotes a professional image and one of authority!

Like the robes of graduates differ depending upon the degree earned, a barrister's robe distinguishes senior barristers from juniors.  

Barrister's jabot.

Barrister's regalia - back view.

Junior barristers wear robes made of wool, and Senior Counsel (SC) or Queens Counsel (QC) wear silk gowns.  

Silks is the name given to a limited number of barristers who have demonstrated remarkable ability and achieved the status of Queens Counsel.   

Silks are most likely to be appointed as judges. 

Silks - Queens Counsel.

I carefully observed everyone as they entered the courtroom.

Each person entering the court genuflected to the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, which hung prominently behind the judge's bench as a sign of respect. 

Sydney courtroom.

An awe-inspiring and prestigious-looking symbol, it features the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, and South & Western Australia, which were united in 1901 when the country became a nation. 

A kangaroo holds up the shield on the left, and an emu stands on the right - only in Australia!

To conduct day-to-day business, barristers rent or purchase personal office space called chambers which are executive-style rooms usually in high-rise buildings.

Chambers on higher floors are usually pricey and typically reserved for senior barristers.

As a tenant of a chamber, barristers have access to administrative staffers, law clerks, conference rooms, printing, copying, video-conferencing services, and other barristers. 

The 'Office of the Judge' is the name given to a judge's chambers.   

To meet a judge in his office is called to meet in camera.

A gavel, sometimes used by a judge.

Most barristers are self-employed and may charge a fixed, hourly, or conditional fee. 

 

Payment may also be by arrangements. 

 

If a solicitor and a barrister are on the case, the solicitor may include barrister fees in their initial retainer or final payment and pay the barrister for services directly.  

Otherwise, a barrister may invoice the client.

Barristers are not permitted to have connections to partnerships or public companies if they owe an allegiance with them.

Richard Richard Roxburgh is the Australian actor who stars in Rake, 
an Australian TV show about a misbehaved barrister. (I loved it!)

There are many rules of etiquette followed in an Australian courtroom,

such as: 

• arriving on time

• sitting in the public seating areas in the back of the courtroom

• wearing clean and conservative clothing 

• refraining from eating or drinking

• standing and sitting when directed 

• behaving respectfully

• addressing the jury officer as, 'Your Honor' 

Failure to follow the court rules can result in disciplinary actions such as being asked to leave the court, receiving a fine, or imprisonment for more serious offenses. 

Since I was there by invitation from my son-in-law, I wasn't about to break any rules, have bad manners, or risk receiving a fine, so I genuflected, bowed, and kneeled to the code of arms on my way out the door.

Solicitors, barristers, & silks, oh my . . . . 

Courtroom wigs . . . 

Bowing in court . . .  

I am NOT in Kansas!

Mushrooms and Toadstools

After a week of steady rain, I was eager to go outside for a lovely sunny walk. 

I got only as far as my next-door neighbor's front yard when I noticed a patch of colorful fungi sprouting in his damp lawn.

I looked twice with amazement as I recognized the mushrooms with the bright red caps and white spots as the classic toadstools from my childhood fairy tales.

Fairy Tale Mushroom aka Amanita mascara.

Immediately, I began to photograph them when my neighbor came out to see what I was up doing. 

He wasn't a stranger; we had met on several occasions, and he was very friendly but surprisingly curious about my curiosity about the mushrooms. 

We chatted about them for a moment, then he went back inside, probably thinking, crazy American, hasn’t she ever seen a mushroom!  

If he had asked, I would have told him, not these, and not up close and personal!

Although I call them fairy mushrooms, their scientific name is Amanita muscaria, Fly Agaric, or fly mushroom for short. 

I was surprised at its size, almost as tall as my 4-inch coffee mug.  

The part of the mushroom above ground is its fruiting body connected to the stipe, but underground the mushroom has a large build with many hair-like fibers. 

When sprouting, they are bright red but turn orange and yellow before flattening their tops, releasing spores, and fully decomposing.

This process is essential to our ecosystems because it releases enzymes that break down decaying matter - nature’s way of recycling and putting chemical nutrients (carbon and nitrogen) back into the soil, water, and air.

New sprouting Amanita under a decaying one.

Last stage of decay for the Amanita muscaria mushroom.

Mushrooms and toadstools are both fungi with interchangeable names.  

Poisonous mushrooms became known as toadstools because toxic toads used them as seats or stools.  

The composition of the mushroom cap is toxic alkaloids called isotonic acid and muscimol.  

They are also called shrooms or magic mushrooms.  

If consumed, their agents can affect the nervous system and cause diarrhea, nausea, intoxication, delirium, and hallucinations within 20 minutes after digesting.  

Some folks pick them, dry them, mix them in food, or brew them into a tea to make an intoxicating drug. 

A high can result in bad trips that last up to six hours, so daredevils, beware!

It would be rare for humans to die from ingesting small amounts, but it can be lethal for dogs in large quantities.  

Luckily, sometimes dogs have an instinct to stay clear of them. 

However, flys attracted to their scent become intoxicated and possibly die, which is helpful in Sydney since they have a fly problem. 

It's easy to kill a drunk fly!  

But if you need help, crush the mushroom cap, mix it with milk and make an insecticide.

Sydneysiders colloquially call folks that harvest these mushrooms mushie pickers.  

They look for them in wet areas with lots of fallen pine needles, mulch, and heavy leaf debris, which was the composition of my neighbor's yard on that day.

Wet pine cone and leaf debris - the perfect breeding ground for Amanita mushrooms.

Foraging wild mushrooms can be a thing, but please, leave that task to serious mushroom hunters unless you know which ones are safe to pick and eat.

If they have an acrid smell, they may be poisonous or hallucinogenic.

This hallucinogenic fungus often upstages fantasy characters in art, text, video game literature, and cinema.

There are legends that Santa Claus dresses in Amanita mushroom colors and feeds the fungus to his reindeer, making them believe they can fly. 

Children grow up seeing illustrations of Gnomes and fairies under umbrella-shaped mushrooms with red and white caps.  

Alice in Wonderland shrinks and grows after eating magical Amanita mushrooms.

Mario eats them in Nintendo's video game which makes him grow -  turning into Super Mario.

Papa Smurf lives under a fairy tale mushroom which may be why he is a bit pie-eyed.

Papa Smurf sitting on a magic mushroom.

I was so glad that I captured a few photos of the Amanita mushrooms from my neighbor's yard because when I returned the next day for a second photoshoot, they were gone.

Perhaps they dried up or decomposed overnight, or a dog ate them like they did my homework. 

Or maybe my neighbor thought I would harvest them for myself or, worse, snitch because they were growing wild in his front yard - the furthest things from my mind! 

He may have just been playing it safe because, according to Wikipedia, possessing large quantities of Hallucinogenic mushrooms is illegal in Australia. 

After meeting my neighbor once or twice, he should have known that I had only good intentions, but maybe not since I may have been trespassing.  

Ultimately, I'm just a curious American visitor who loves to photograph all things Sydney!

Neighbors yard without mushrooms.

Before I stumbled across the mushrooms, I thought they were just fantasy illustrations designed to appeal to children's imaginations.

But I should have known better - psychoactive toadstools in fairytales - really - you can't just make this stuff up.

I still take note of mushrooms growing wild near the house, just as long as they are not in someone's front yard.

Mushrooms in a nearby field.

Tree mushrooms.

Sometimes, being in Sydney is like being in Dorothy's OZ, where fantasies become a reality.  

And while I agree that there's no place like home in the US, I also think there's no place like Sydney!

Disappearing mushrooms . . .  

Hallucinogenic fungi . . .

Sistah in Wonderland . . . 

I am NOT in Kansas!