Today, a weird scene awaited us. A baby mouse (or rat?), slighlty mumified and madam red-back atop. Had she killed it? What would she do with it now?
For those non-Australians in the readership, the red-back is one of Australia's fabled 'poisonous' spiders, endemic to the suburban backyard. If you think me foolhardy, you probably need to take into account that as a Primary School student before there were anti-venines for the more poisonous funnel-web, I was taught how to collect them and take them alive and healthy to the Council for 'milking' of their venom so that they could develop an antidote. I am not afraid of spiders.
Now that is odd.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to watch and see what happens. I wonder if there will be an 'Alien' like moment when suddenly from inside the chest cavity will burst 100 baby red backs?
DeleteWhat a discovery! The spider is venomous though, not poisonous.
ReplyDeleteChances are she will not eat it, even though redbacks have been known to catch larger prey such as small birds and reptiles before, they generally sit in the web. She probably reacted to it as a threat and dealt with the situation accordingly to preserve herself. However I would be curious to whether she attempts to digest it, because im unsure if the body of a mouse can be digested by a spider. Mammals have difference organic tissue compared to an insect, and i dont know if her venom would turn our insides to jelly like it does to insects.
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