A hunter falls after a spider bite, APNZ reports.

A hunter who got a badly swollen leg from a spider bite was successfully rescued Monday amid ill weather in Te Urewera National Park.

The hunter, a 28-year-old Waikato man, had been bitten by what was believed to be a whitetail spider while hunting in the park. The man made it to Ngahiramai Hut, down the Whakatane River before one of his legs got very swollen.

Police said the man was lucky because others staying at the hut had a mountain radio with them, otherwise he would have suffered hours longer before alarm was raised.

Emergency services were contacted about 12:30pm Monday, and a police search and rescue team set off from Ruatahuna a few hours later, walking the 11km to the hut.

Due to the nasty weather, a helicopter based at Murupara was sent to retrieve the man.

Whitetail spiders are known to exist in Australia. They are also known to bite humans and effects may include local pain, a red mark, local swelling and itchiness. Nausea, vomiting, malaise or headache can also possibly occur as a result of the bite. A scientific study by Isbister and Gray (2003) was not able to confirm whether whitetail spiders' bites cause infections.

The man was eventually retrieved by a team in a helicopter, and was subsequently sent to an ambulance at a Murupara hospital.

"It is heartening to be involved in an incident where those involved have done all the right things and made the job of emergency services easier,'' police said in a statement.

Australia