Monthly Archives: January 2017

Random Rants

Spider kills Snake – the media storm hits!

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Wow – I really can’t believe this myself.  All those years I wasted in my 20’s trying to get famous with acting and doing stand-up comedy.  What I should have been doing is taking photo’s of dead animals – that’s where the acclaim is!

Since my first blog post with the infamous picture of a Redback Spider killing a Blind Snake went viral on Facebook and Twitter, I’ve been contacted by internet, newspaper and television sources for the story!  Apparently deadly Aussie creatures killing each other is a newsworthy story all are eager to get their media mitts on.  I’ve done 3 phone interviews in the last 2 days – it’s wiggy but kinda cool!

 

First off I talked to Andrew Kacimaiwai, the editor of Swan Hill’s The Guardian who ran the story on page 2 of their newspaper today (09/01/17), written up by Joshua Wells:

And have also put the story up on their website which you can read here:

 

I was also contacted by Elliana Saltalamacchia of The Herald Sun.  As far as I know they didn’t run it in their physical newspaper (unless they did on Sunday and I missed it) but it went up on their website Saturday night which you can read here: 

 

Today I was contacted by Ben Kimber of Prime 7  asking if they could cover the story.  It appeared on television on their local news updates for those in regional Victoria tonight at 9pm.    You can watch it on my Youtube Channel and  as well as in the video section of my website HERE.  

I was also contacted by Niki Burnside of Storyful News who wanted to run the story if I had video.  Sadly I had to inform her that I had pictures only.  Oh well, I know for next time I see something killing something else eh.

 

Once again kids, if you want fame don’t bother curing a disease, winning a medal or honing your acting skills.  Just photograph creatures killing other creatures – works a treat!

 

Care to comment?  Would love to read it below!

 

Related Blog Posts:

Redback Spider killing Blind Snake – my morning surprise!

Redback Spider kills Blind Snake – television news report

Snake, Earthworm or Lizard? The debate heats up!

Tales of the Trev

Redback Spider killing Blind Snake – my morning surprise!

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This is the tale of an amazing natural sight I saw yesterday.

 

It’s 9am on a Friday morning.  The missus has left for work, I’ve gotten the kids up, fed and dressed and it’s time for me to start the farm chores of the day.

I grab my keys and go open the shed door, anxious to get the more onerous of the jobs over with before the temperature reaches the forecast 37 degree’s – typical for the Mallee in January. Just inside the door is my big beer fridge and close to that is a black crate I’ve been using to sort my Transformer books and DVD’s (yes, as well as being a hobby farmer I’m also a big TF nerd).  I notice immediately that there has been a big web spun between the crate and the fridge that wasn’t there the night before.  There are a few bits of twig and dry grass in it.  Also a great big Redback Spider is busy in the web, hungrily sucking on the tail of… a snake.

A snake.

A bloody snake!

I’ve got a real thing about snakes.  I didn’t used to, affording them due respect so they wouldn’t bite me but otherwise not worrying about them.  However several years ago I lost an immediate family member to a bite by a juvenile brown snake.  Combine that with the fact that I live on a farm and have two small children, I’m pretty damn paranoid about them now.  Don’t want to lose my kids or for them to lose their dad the way I lost an older sibling.

I recoil immediately but morbid curiosity quickly brings me back (that and I’ll want to be able to grab a beer that evening).  It is indeed a young snake and quite dead.  We only get three types of snake on our farm that I’ve seen; brown snakes, red-bellied black snakes and blind snakes.  While I initially think it is a brown snake, as they are the ones we seem to get most commonly, I realize upon closer inspection this is a Blind Snake, in particular a Ramphotyphlops australis.  I’ve usually encountered them when I’ve been digging up various big bull ant nests around the farm but they are known to come to the surface on warm humid nights, which is what we had experienced the night before.  It’s grey, about 20 centimeters long and as stated, very dead.

Holy Hell!

The Redback Spider, which judging from it’s size and the nearby egg sacs is a female, has cocooned the Blind Snake’s head thickly in webbing and the rest of the body to a lesser extent.  The snake at its lowest point is hanging about an inch above the floor and the spider is chowing down on the tip of its tail – maybe where the skin is thinnest and easiest to suck the undoubtedly now pureed innards out of.  It’s a pretty disturbing sight but fascinating none-the-less.

I dash back to the house to grab my phone to take a picture.  Of course with a child’s instinct to run towards danger both my kids follow me back out.  I manage to take a few photos whilst blocking my daughter (my son is old enough to know if Dad says ‘Stay back – it’s dangerous!’ to do so but my daughter just gives a frustrated yell and tries to push past to see what all the fuss is about).  I then reach for my watering can.  Whilst having a spider that can take down snakes seems to be very desirable, having one right in the doorway to the shed all the family goes in and out of 50 times a day is most certainly not.  I instruct the little ones to look away and then Daddy turns spider, snake and web all into a memory with a couple of decisive bangs.

 

And that’s the story, one of the most amazing predator-prey events I’ve seen up close!  It even led me to make this meme:

After all this I wondered how the spider managed to get the snake off the floor and into its web.  Subsequent research I’ve done says that Latrodectus hasseltii (Redbacks) attacking and killing snakes is a very rare occurrence but it does happen. I believe the incident I witnessed however may actually be the only recorded case of a Redback taking down this particular species of snake.  Apparently the process with other species usually involves the Redback turning it’s abdomen towards a snake slithering on the ground after it gets caught in a trap line and shoots web all over it.  As the snake thrashes and becomes more entangled the Redback slowly hoists it up into the main web where it can then bite, kill and feed at its leisure.  Despite the fact that Blind Snakes are not venomous I assume this happened in the same manner and it makes the above meme all the more appropriate, don’t you think?

 

Care to comment on the story you just read or have a similar story of your own?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Related Blog Posts:

Spider kills Snake – the media storm hits!

Redback Spider kills Blind Snake – television news report

Snake, Earthworm or Lizard? The debate heats up!

Ask Trev!

Ask Trev: Can you get rid of flatulence odour with a vacuum?  

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This question comes from Scott in Yarraville, Victoria: 

Hey Trev. First up Happy New Year to you & your family.
Got a question. Does farting into a vacuum cleaner (while it’s on) remove the smell or is that just ‘hot air’?

Well, this is one of the more unusual but interesting questions I’ve received but I’ll do my best.

I’m supposed to stick what into this?!?

First off, the composition of flatulence is not actually hot air as such but methane gas, caused by the breaking down of food particles in the stomach which then in turn travels through the lower intestine and is released by the anus when either appropriate or comically pleasing.

Now, as to whether having a vacuum cleaner in place will remove the smell.  You say farting into a vacuum cleaner; I’m assuming by this you mean having the nozzle placed outside the sphincter ready to go upon flatulence excretion, rather than just sucking the smell out of the air post eruption.  This shows that you are a still a young man, nearing 40 I don’t always have control of when I let one go, though I’ve found a beef vindaloo the night before will guarantee a plethora of gas as required the next morning.

 

To answer your question I tried the following experiments:

TEST 1: The Dog

Hypothesis: Dogs pass gas all the time, making them excellent to blame your own indiscretions on.

Experiment: Chasing the dog around with a vacuum cleaner switched on induces a great deal of fear from the dog, but little gas to suck up.  Also required a long extension cord and avoiding eye contact with the neighbors.

Result: Inconclusive.

 

TEST 2: My Children

Hypothesis: My kids poop – a lot!  Should be a simple matter of catching them mid-fart before the main show arrives.

Experiment: Following my children around with a vacuum cleaner switched on and pointed at their nappy-wearing bums resulted in a very irate babysitter threatening phone calls to child protective services.

Result:  Again, inconclusive.

 

TEST 3: Myself

Hypothesis: Following small creatures around waiting for them to pass gas was time consuming and seemed to irritate all concerned. Since a good 65% of the time I realize I’m about to pass gas before I actually do, catching myself in the act should be an easy matter.

Experiment: I loaded up on beer and curry, topping if off with a couple of hard-boiled eggs, then let my gut percolate.  After a few hours I could feel that the chamber was full and ready to vent.  So I excused myself to the bedroom, removed my trousers and underwear and got the nozzle ready.  However just as I was about to reap the gaseous gold of my lower intestine my wife walked in…

Result: …finding me standing there half naked, with a switched on vacuum cleaner nozzle near my nether’s and a surprised look on my face.  This seemed to disturb her.  When I informed her that I was ‘simply trying a scientific experiment in vapor removal so as to answer a blog question’, I was called a ‘filthy, lying, perverted f*ck!’ before she burst into tears, got the kids and her suitcases and went to a hotel.

 

So to answer your question – does farting into a vacuum cleaner remove the smell? – all I can say is that it probably does but remains unproven. However I did manage to prove it definitely removes all chance of you being intimate with your spouse for the next 6 months.

 

Thanks for your question.

 

Got a better answer?  Write it in the comments below!