What To Do If You Find A Critter In Your Car
If you’ve ever been driving and spotted a crawly critter by your side, chances are you’re not having a leisurely drive.
There are more than 49,000 species of spiders in the world and around 4,000 of these live in Australia. So sometimes these guys are going to end up in our cars.
There are no official statistics on road crashes from spiders or snakes but being distracted while driving is one of the leading causes of car crashes, and let’s be frank, a big hairy huntsman is pretty distracting.
If you ever find yourself cruising around with a spider in your car, Jake Manny from The Australian Reptile Park has some top tips on what to do.
“Of course it can be quite frightening for most people. The most important thing is thinking of your own safety first and foremost. Spiders do cause accidents so try and stay as calm as possible and pull over the car.”
“Most people want to go and get out of the car themselves but just make sure that you’re doing that safely because 9 times out of 10, the spider is just going stay where it is while you do that” says Manny.
Snakes have also been known to try to hitch a ride with us. If you ever find a snake in your car Jake recommends to get in touch with a licensed snake remover as snakes can get themselves into some pretty tight spots.
Sometimes these spots are so tight the snake can’t get out and it’ll need to be physically removed by a snake catcher. In those instances it’s best to leave it to the experts.
“Often when we see snakes in cars they’re actually on the outside of the car or sometimes they find their way into the engine. So it would be incredibly rare that you would actually find a snake inside your car because they’re not as good at getting through the tiny nook and crannies like a spider” Manny tells me.
But if you’ve ever wondered why spiders or snakes get in there in the first place, most of the time they’re just looking for a place to hide out. If you park under a tree or near a spot where spiders like to hang out, during the night they’ll wander around and make their way into our cars.
Cars are cosy spot for spiders, this is until the car starts moving and that’s when you are most likely to encounter one on your drive.
“Often when people encounter spiders inside their cars, it’s really early in their journey because the spiders just kind of worked out that the car’s moving and it it’ll often expose itself as a result” says Manny.
The most common group of spiders we see in cars are Huntsman and they’re one of the largest and also scariest looking spiders.
They’re really active, as their name suggests, because they move around and actively hunt their prey. They’re also really flat spiders and can sneak into tight spots other spiders can’t.
But if you do ever find one of these guys in your car, try and remember to stay calm and pull over safely.
“The most important thing to remember is that a human is a very, very large animal in comparison to them. So they are going to be far more frightened and they really don’t wanna have anything to do with us.”