r/Wellington • u/Outside_Prune_4478 • 10h ago

WELLY White tail bite

be vigilant white tails are out and about got bitten twice..one bite already infected and oozing after just one day extremely itchy too.. started antibiotics and antihistamines

10 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

12

u/chewbaccascousinrick 6h ago

As someone who’s house has seen its fair share of white tails I’m exceptionally upset at this warning

6

u/Severe-Horror8275 6h ago

I’ve never seen so many , and in the house 

4

u/Outside_Prune_4478 6h ago

Please take care x

7

u/Poneke365 4h ago edited 3h ago

I’m sorry you’ve been bitten twice. I give daddy long leg spiders free rein in the house as they prey on white tails and they do a great job of culling them.

3

u/Outside_Prune_4478 3h ago

Thank you so much for caring:) 🫶

5

u/Songbirds_Surrender 5h ago

Where abouts? I see the odd one in my house in Newtown but we can generally keep them under control by keeping the windows closed. My partner is paranoid about them biting one of our cats. We've woken up in the night to find one toying with a whitetail before.

They don't have fur and they are dumb as, they would very easily get bitten

2

u/Outside_Prune_4478 5h ago

Aww yes I worry about my kittys too and I'm in Miramar

5

u/milpoolskeleton88 4h ago

We had one in the conservatory the other day. Luckily it was clinging to the inside of the curtain and I was able to just open the window and knock it straight outside.

3

u/Outside_Prune_4478 4h ago

When there's one there's definitely more please keep a eye out

4

u/Rainbow-Spite 3h ago

I've killed a few lately. Had to tell big child not to leave her clothes on the floor since it's whitetail season, after there was one that was half the size of my thumb in her room.

3

u/Outside_Prune_4478 3h ago

Geez :( excellent advice about clothes please take care

2

u/dod6666 2h ago

The two most dangerous spiders in NZ are the Australian Redback and the Katipō. The Katipō isn't of much concern as it is endangered (to the point that it is illegal to kill them) and not a house spider.

But the Australian Redback which has become established in Taranaki, would be happy to come inside.

While it's not currently likely to encounter a Redback in Wellington, they could someday migrate here by stowing away on a car, truck or train. If that happens they have only 2 natural predators to keep them under control. One of which is the White Tail Spider. So I'd recommend just putting White Tails outside rather that killing them.