The Mud Wasp's are the chief enemy of spiders & machinery. Around here if a vehicle, or bit of machinery, has been left a while, it is a target. Radiators are popular & if you don't look before start up the fan is liable to hit one of their creations and do damage. They also like blocking up the cooling fins of stationary motors & blocking exhaust pipes. Open electric motors are also popular. & several here have fly wire over the cooling fans lest they jam it.

The most interesting recently was the baby sit Audi A4. After noting where one had been & removing the grille. I discovered that it had two air intake tubes neither of which by all appearances, any dealership had bothered to inspect & clean. These at least have a screen so nasty stuff doen't get into the air intake. However with their tardiness & the Mud Wasps efforts these two tubes had to be hosed out.

Back on the "huntsman" spider we get them at Toongabbie and wrangle them outside by herding along with a broom, that's as close as I want to get! Obliging ones hop onto the broom then its a race to get out of the house before they run up the handle and shake your hand!!
I had one in the car once, it hid behind the overhead visor and dropped down onto the steering wheel!!! Try that one for size.

The worst however was late at night typing a report up in the office. A little baby spider drifted past my nose on a thread. I brushed that aside and then another drifted past, then another, then another...……………………...I looked up and the ceiling was COVERED with baby spiderlings all parachuting off into the big unknown. I ran and the got the RAID can! Sorry about all you conservationists...…….RAID!!

When the smoke cleared there were thousands of the buggers dead or dying covering the desk, floor and about a million still pouring out of a crack in the plaster ceiling. Had to grab my files run outsdieand call in the fumigator, no way was anybody going to work in that office until it was sorted. I have never seen anything like it again. The bug guy said there must have been some big fat Mummy spiders up in there with egg sacs. Great...more RAID!

I had one in the car once

Twice I've had large huntsmen spiders suddenly appear on my windscreen while I was driving. Not a pleasant experience.

Even worse when they come out the gap in the door when the window is wound down. I almost wrapped a Torana I owned (legend of a car) around a power pole when that happened to me about 25 years ago.

I agree with the comments about eastern brown snakes, which Sydney also has its fair share of. Unlike most snakes, the eastern brown can be very aggressive and will almost cross a road to attack someone. They simply do not like humans. Most other snakes will detect noise made by people walking and use it as a signal to hide or escape.

For those wanting to view a brown snake I would recommend the bike track that runs along the M7. What I don't recommend is getting too close to them. They are the world's second deadliest snake and unless one is experienced at handling them, just give them as wide a berth as possible. Because of their attack mode, they are also responsible for more snake bite deaths in Australia then all other breeds combined.

For those wanting to view a brown snake I would recommend the bike track that runs along the M7

Friend of mine is a runner and she took a liking to the the tracks that head up to Pennant Hills. One late afternoon she told me she almost stood on what looked to be a log across the track. From a safe distance she took a photo on her phone and it was indeed a brown snake. I told her to buy a lottery ticket while her lucky streak was still fresh.

That area is pretty much part of the northern border for brown snakes in Sydney. Certainly anywhere north of there you'll be almost tripping over them at this time of the year.

In the last ten years I've noticed a big increase in snake populations and when I go camping, blacks and browns come into areas where I've never seen them before, such as the camping grounds themselves.

The last time I was confronted by a snake was about five years ago on a bushwalk on Mt Tomah. It was a brown but it must have lacked its usual instinctive tendency to stand its ground because it did bail.

It's true: don't trust browns! ..was surprised/chased by a 2ft one on edge of a dry creek in Samford,Q. He was fast on sand, but we were faster!

I've been told in the past that they can inflict a fatal bite straight out of the egg. I haven't bothered to try and prove anyone wrong.

Young'ns lack the ability to regulate the venom flow, so you end up with a higher dose.
Pretty common here.

Saw a red-bellied black snake on Thursday.

The wild ducks that live in my backyard found it in the grass, then followed it until the snake found somewhere to hide.

I suppose the ducks were lucky that their curiosity didn't get one of them killed.

Where I live Tiger snakes have become somewhat of a problem.

I am near the beach on Port Philip Bay Victoria (Werribee South) and events on the foreshore during Summer have been called off due to the snake problem.

It is however illegal to cull them as they are protected. They can also be very aggressive if provoked but generally avoid humans.

Our neighbour had one in their house and had to call a snake handler to have it removed.