I'm a believer in trying not to pass any fears or phobias that we may have as parents on to our children through observation of our behaviour. If we can....
I am not a huge fan of the spider but as long as they are a meter or so from me then that's fine and I can happily catch them in a glass and deposit them outside. In light of our pending relocation to Australia - the home to lots of poisonous spiders, we have considered it pertinent to start teaching the children that spiders are/can be dangerous.
We talked about doing this a while ago but the perfect occasion to start this arose a couple of days ago when Finn pointed to a spider in the hall and started talking about it. Andy and I exchanged a look which non verbally confirmed to each other that we should start now. Therefore Andy started to explain to Finn that spiders could hurt you and that he shouldn't touch them. This event did make my stomach lurch in a 'Oh my god we are moving to Australia' kind of way.
Having been to Australia a few times over the last 9 years I have only ever seen 1 really big spider:
This was in Brisbane in 2008 and it was in the rafters of a BBQ shelter. It was pretty big and did give us both the shivers!
However, I can be quite pragmatic about the presence of spiders and although there are nasty ones in Australia I know that you don't see them that much. However, to be on the safe side I will be buying a bug bomb to deploy in our new rental when we move in. I know, I know the Huntsman is good for Australia and they aren't poisonous but they are feisty and I really don't want them in our house!
Of course it's not just the spiders that are venomous! Here are a few more toxic inhabitants of that great big continent that we are soon to call home:
2. Irukandji (A Jellyfish)
5. Stone Fish
7. Brown Snake
8. Tiger Snake
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