The redback thing is fairly understandable
The thing that petrified me as a kid was the redback's long sharp legs, it just made it look more painful and dangerous, the big arse with red lightning bolt also looks quite evil.
I do remember seeing them both in displays in shopping centres, they were fascinating to watch.
Yes both spiders will kill humans, the anti-venom for redbacks has been around for quite a while though hence why they weren't seen as dangerous, if you got bit you went to a doctor and got fixed.
I do remember reading in the papers every year or so about the deaths from funnel webs. It was only within the last two decades that they found the anti venene. Apparently cats and I think rabbits are immune.
I can't recall reading about anyone dying from a redback bite though I know that you can.
The male funnel web is 6 times more poisonous than the female and it is much smaller.
I have heard one story of a guy that was bitten by funnel web, he drove himself to hospital and was fine.
It all depends on where you were bitten, how much venom you got, body size, age, etc.
There is also a big myth about the white tail that people still believe. Old ladies were getting degenerative skin diseases and because they work in the garden it was assumed white tail spiders were the cause. So people are petrified of them thinking their skin will get eaten away from the venom.
This myth may have derived from one case where a woman was coincidentally bitten by a white tail and her skin disease appeared soon after.
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