"Kathy Garner" wrote in message news:%xfoc.66$RM.40@edtnps89...

Also, my nephew is freaked out about Australian spiders and thinks there
will be one lurking under each blanket. What is it with the spiders
anyhow? They'd be deep in the bush, right?

The most frightening spider [to visitors, that is] is the huntsman.
This is a large rather hairy spider which is often found in houses.
Large in this context means about the size of the palm of your hand.
For most of the time they just sit stuck to the wall, but if approached
[such as with a broom], they can move quickly. They are completely
harmless, but boy do they look like the sort of thing Wes Craven would
put in a movie about evil mutant spiders taking over the earth.

Mike McBain