Now the obligatory ...
Posted on 10/23/2008 3:40:41 PM PDT by Mikey_1962
THESE amazing images of a mammoth spider devouring a bird were taken in the backyard of an Atherton property, west of Cairns.
And the images, which are being cirulated via email worldwide, are real, according to wildlife experts.
The photos, believed to have been taken earlier this week, show the spider clenching its legs around a lifeless bird trapped in a web.
Joel Shakespeare, the head spider keeper at NSW's Australian Reptile Park, told ninemsn that the spider was a Golden Orb Weaver.
Normally they prey on large insects, it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he said.
Mr Shakepeare told ninemsn he had seen golden orb weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.
Mr Shakespeare said the bird, a Chestnut-breasted Mannikin which appears frozen in an angel-like pose in the pictures, is likely to have flown into the web and got caught.
"It wouldn`t eat the whole bird," he told ninemsn.
"It uses its venom to break down the bird for eating and what it leaves is a food parcel," he said.
Queensland Museum's Greg Czechura is reported ninemsn as saying cases of the Golden Orb Weaver eating small birds were "well known but rare".
"It builds a very strong web," he told ninemsn.
(Excerpt) Read more at cairns.com.au ...
ping
Nah, insecticides often do nothing to spiders. Best bet is to dose them with a nice, soapy water solution. It coats their spiracles (their version of lungs) and suffocates them lickety-split.
Now the obligatory ...
My general tactic is to spray (especially flying things with stingers) with something and then step on or hit with something else. The spray is just the first strike.
And no “Carrie” resurrections, they go in the trash (wouldn’t want a bird eating a poisoned insect).
Everglades Skeeters molest wild turkey.
;-)
I had a Mission Supervisor in the Air Force back in the early 60s. He might have been 40+, but he seemed older than water to the troops. He had been stationed in Brazil during WW2. He was a commo guy at an air base out in the bush where they serviced aircraft that were on their way to Africa. He told me once that he was taking a break at sunrise. He was sitting on the steps of the radio shack when he noticed some movement in the grass. An Early Bird was going for the Worm, when he became the prey and not the predator. A spider about the size of a manhole cover jumped the poor bird and the bird became Bre’r Spider’s breakfast.
There's also this one (warning: stuff nightmares are made of!).
One milisecond of that video was enough to make my flesh crawl. Thanks for ruining my day!
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