Yeah, we get some shocking spiders down here. I particularly don't like that redback gear knob. Those things suck...The only good thing about them is that they tend to stay in the one spot (generally dark and in a corner, or under the toilet seat in the old style outdoor dunnies) which makes it easy to crack out the thong and let them have it.
We also get white tail spiders which suck more as they are nomads and wander about the place. Not nice at all to find one in your bed....They also don't survive the thong of death.
Redback and White tails are pretty much the only spiders I will kill.
Sydney gets the funnel web spiders but they don't make their way down here unless they have hitched a ride on a truck or in freight.
Spiders and snakes are a fact of life here and I'm not really afraid of them. Just aware. I was engaged to an American girl who told me how they used to play with these little snakes in North Carolina and that they were harmless. Basically we don't play with any snakes here as they will mess you up. Sure, the pythons are not venomous but we don't see them much. We mostly get the Brown, the Red Bellied Black and the Tiger snakes around where I live. And they are all very aggressive and poisonous. And I don't think the thong trick would work too well. Just makes them angry. lol
This was posted recently from Aus. Red bellied black snake on a car. Has some bad language. :-)
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oA4pjBN0uA"]Snake on Windshield Wipers Freakout in Australia - YouTube[/ame]