[Soar]

Thursday, October 23, 2008
© The Cairns Post

THESE amazing images of a mammoth spider devouring a bird were taken in the backyard of an Atherton property, west of Cairns, QLD, Australia.

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 said 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 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.

But he said the spider would not have attacked until the bird weakened due to its struggle to free its wings.

"The more they struggle, the more tangled up and exhausted they get and they go into stress."

"If a spider gets a bird, it`s a very lucky spider," Mr Czechura said.


Spider eats bird - Local News - Cairns, QLD, Australia

[chris]

Holy shit, if I saw that thing in my yard I would shoot it!

[niniane]

I don't even want to know that thing exists!

[niniane]

- of course I had to look though. lol

[chris]

Normal spiders creep me out, but damn, one the size of a bird REALLY makes me crazy!

[Nyckname]

The fourth day after I moved to New Orleans I woke up, looked up, and on the wall five feet over my head was a spider about five inches across. If I'd had an extra aquarium, I would've kept it. As it was, I trapped it and let it go outside.

[kellyhound]

lol i was about to post this.
Lot of scary shit in Aussie country.
Big ass spiders,crocs,snakes you name it they got it.
Falling asleep in the backyard during summer would be out of the question for me.
2 more pics.

[Soar]

Haha c'mon now...Aussie really isn't that bad.

I've managed to remain relatively unscathed so far (only 4 snake bites and about a dozen spider bites).

[Ugly]

reminds me of the movie Aliens. could you imagine waking up having that thing sucking on your face..

[güttsfükk]

that would be some scary shit