I'm thinking about hiking on Lantau but heard there are really huge spiders. Some people have told me that some times of year are worse than others. Is that true? And if so, when?
I'm thinking about hiking on Lantau but heard there are really huge spiders. Some people have told me that some times of year are worse than others. Is that true? And if so, when?
I've seen some monsters out in Oct-Dec, but there should be some out at all times. They won't bother you if you don't bother them though. I use a long stick to break the larger webs if they're running across the path. I've even ducked under a few.
Hike on a well used path and you won't see any. Just make sure you are not the first person in the morning on the track!
Just keep a good lookout going through tree lined areas of tracks, there may be quite large webs (c/w large black/black with yellow stripes spiders in the middle) suspended across the path which you will probably have to duck to get under.
Should be no problem at walking pace as they are quite visible.
When I was 18 or 19, I was walking up a rarely used trail and something told me to stop, so I did. When my eyes focused, I realized my face was about 3" away from a massive black and red spider. I jumped backwards immediately and I'm lucky I didn't break my neck--the trail was narrow and rocky. You definitely want to keep your eyes open.
There is a theory that there is a 4 year cycle which corresponds to the Olypics, but frankly I think that MovingIn07 has it right - it's basically about taking well used paths and not being taller than the previous walkers (this is a problem I have being 6'4").
But they are not poisonous anyway, so no big deal if one falls down the back of your neck...
My A-Level biology teacher told me there are spiders here that can cause necrosis of the tissue over fairly large areas (meaning your skin might go black). I'd rather not get bitten myself.
From personal experience, they tend to appear in May and stay present until October or so. And not being the day's first on the trail is no defence, as they spin their webs fast.
I just went hiking on Lantau there are really huge spiders (the size of my entire hand) all around the trails we were on. We just ducked under the webs and ran!
Orb Weaver -- pretty benign, but definitely gets the heart pumping if you don't see it until the last moment. We get them all around the garden, I walked face first into a big one going up the stairs to the car one morning in July. Yowza! The dogs thought I had come unhinged the way I was flailing around.