Blog_Oz-Stories
Tricks of Huntsman Spiders
Huntsman spiders frequent our area of tropical North Australia and have two tricks we humans can't match.
These spiders come in two varieties, the Brown and the Grey. An interesting observation I made in our first year of living in this house was that, like Chameleons, they can change colour. Those…
Fear and Loathing of Spiders
How one woman's fear and loathing of spiders turned to interest and respect.
Life in the tropics features a cosmic variety and super-abundance of insects. Creeping, crawling, flying, biting, sucking insects. That's just the six-legged members of the family. Them, I didn't mind so much.
- Th…
Spidery Lovers
'Love is in the air' for Myrtle the Magnificent – she has a suitor...
They say everyone loves a lover but we won't ever know how Myrtle gets on with the male who appeared in her web yesterday. Now, you know a mating means an inevitable explosion in the spider population and with spiders of Myrtle…
update shows Myrtle's golden spots
Here's an update on Myrtle the magnificent Orb Weaver with a photo I took a minute ago from behind her. There's a helpful arrow to show you where she is in the photo.
The picture shows the golden spots at back of her thorax and leg joints, as she hangs in her enormous oval web.
The camera angle exag…
Myrtle the Magnificent – a new resident at our home, with outside lodging only.
'Myrtle the Magnificent' – pictured in her web – is a female Golden Orb Weaver who took up residence at our place last week. I'm sorry the photo doesn't show you the feature that gives this species its name: the bright spots of yellow that gleam like tiny nuggets of gold behind each joint of Myrt…
Must we Lock Up Cats for Fear of Harm to the Wildlife?
All cats are predators. Just like humans, the cat hunts and kills its food. Living in our mega-cities, we have lost an every-day awareness of the basic fact of Life: it's eat or be eaten. While I applaud and support the efforts of enlightened Zoos and wildlife conservation projects, I think a balanc…
Should we keep Hands-off the Wildlife in our Backyards?
The accepted wisdom warns that feeding wild creatures makes them dependent on handouts. They lose their skills at finding food for themselves. If we ever stopped providing for them, they would starve. It's a bit like saying that if all the take-away foodshops closed, the human population would starv…