Funnel-web Spider –

Funnel-web Spider –

This spider builds a small funnel-shaped nest that is always hidden away in the dark shadows of a grass pasture or a tree.  The spider is about the size of a quarter and super fast.  The funnel area of the web traps grasshoppers and other insects that live in the grass.  Then the spider rushes out to bite its prey before it untangles itself from the funnel.

The venom will paralyze a bug very fast, but they aren’t dangerous to humans at all.  I’ve spent hours dropping ants or small bugs onto their funnel webs to see them scurry out, bite the bug, and carry it back inside.

Funnel-web spiders are very timid.  When anything big disturbs the web or gets too close, the spider will retreat into the little cave at the back of the funnel.  They stay there until the threat is gone, and they are pretty smart about it too.  They know if you have actually left or if you are just pretending.

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