He's related to the American black widow.
The redback's poisonous - supposedly, it's bite may kill if you're elderly and sickly. Even the healthy may lose a limb if medical treatment is not sought. Though, I must say I haven't heard of any recent cases.
They lurk under the rims of flower pots and get your fingers when you try to move your pots without checking first.
They're also known to live under the toilet seats of outdoor toilets (dunnies) and bite you in sensitive spots!
One of my neighbours once had so many redbacks in his letter box, that the postman refused to deliver his letters!
Listen to this snippet of an ozzie favourite: The Redback on the Toilet Seat by the Wayfarers.
This redback still lives: I'm waiting for a brighter day to get a better photo of it before I kill it (maybe).
There's a pretty good WA beer named after it, too.
Yo Arthur, those bar posters you picked up could be worth a fortune in some years from now! Keep it as heirloom for your grandkids!
ReplyDeleteThey cost us a couple of hundreds to thousnds of $ for some of the old ovaltine, milo, soap, cigarette, etc metal posters that we used for decor at the Night Safari Ulu Ulu Restaurant!
Cheers, Yew Kee