NSW woman’s warning after venomous find in swimming pool

A woman on the north coast of New South Wales is warning residents with swimming pools to check the water before jumping in, after discovering four venomous spiders in her swimming pool.

Experts say we shouldn't assume spiders in the water are dead, with some of the state's most venomous species capable of living for up to 30 hours under the water.

Lynda Smith checked her pool after a rainy spell in New South Wales, and found no less than four eastern mouse spiders — similar to funnel-web spiders in appearance and venom — at the bottom.

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"Please always check your pools before jumping in especially after rain," she warned on Facebook.

"We haven't had any for a while, but all the rain we’ve had up here of late has obviously resurrected them.

"Not to be messed with."

The spiders can live underwater for up to 24 hours.

Australian Museum arachnology collection manager Helen Smith told 7NEWS.com.au: "Spiders do not breathe in the same way as we do, so it takes much longer for them to drown.

"Also, hairs on the underside can trap an air bubble. They can survive for several hours and sometimes a thoroughly dead-looking spider can suddenly twitch or come back to life slowly."

They commonly fall into the pool by accident while "wandering in search of a female".

"Many of the spiders that end up on the bottom in pools are ones that walk on the ground and fall in by accident

"The males of several mouse spider species can be seen wandering about by day during the late summer to early winter months (especially after rain)," according to the Australian Museum.

Smith said mouse spiders and funnel-web spiders alike can also bite underwater.

"But to bite they need to grip onto something — so don't poke them," she said.

Further south on the NSW coast, Suzan Cadman added: "We get them crawling on the bottom of our pool regularly, down far south NSW coast. We get them out with leaf scoop."

This was precisely the right approach to take if you needed to get these spiders out of the pool, Smith said.

"Do not handle it, scoop it out with something that keeps it at a safe distance, (like) a net or maybe an empty flower pot."

There are few cases of serious injury from the bite of a mouse spider, considered potentially as dangerous as that of a funnel-web spider. If not treated, the bite of a funnel-web can be fatal, but mouse spiders commonly "use less venom", according to the museum.

If you do get bitten, don't wait for the symptoms — which include intense pain around the bite area, nausea, vomiting and fever — to appear, Smith said.

"Take appropriate first aid — apply a compression bandage and keep still — and get medical assistance. If symptoms develop, then funnel-web antivenom is effective," she said.

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