Welcome to blokeh's block blog: a (very irregular) chronicle of my adventures at Eva Valley in Australia's Top End (and whatever else springs to mind). This page contains the most recent posts as well as links below to older ones. You're welcome to comment if you wish.
Creatures #1: SOME OF OUR SPIDERS
I figured it might be interesting to do a series of posts about the block's birds, beasts and bugs.
Posts in this series will be 'living', in the sense that I will update them (and send them to the top of the pile) each time there's a worthy update.
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SOME OF OUR SPIDERS
Okay, you've been warned.
As the title tends to suggest, this post may not be your bag if you're a bit thingy about arachnids.
However - and unless you're in the 'lose control of a car on the freeway when a daddy long legs pops out from behind the sunvisor' zone - I'd still encourage the spider-wary to have a look at what follows below.
I'm sure I'm barely scratching the surface, but here are some of the more interesting spiders I've encountered at the block.
(The creepiest are towards the bottom if that helps.)
Rainbow Horned Orb Weaver
These amazing little things (they're no more than 20mm at the longest dimension) are everywhere in the rainforest and paperbarks.
They come out at dawn and rapidly build large webs - it's hard to get a photo when they're at work. Occasionally the webs are more horizontal than vertical in alignment - which can make for interesting pics if the light is right.
Spectacular Crab Spider
These tiny little blokes are renowned for their ability to catch much larger prey. In the pic below, the insect (a katydid I think) was about 40mm long. The spider was carrying the victim's entire weight (including by using its fangs, which, if you look closely, are embedded in the insect's throat).
(Although I'm fine with spiders, I'm also grateful that they are not dog-sized.)
Green Tree Ant Mimic
Anyone who's been in tropical Australia will be familiar with green ants. They live in their thousands in elaborate tree-borne nests and they're everywhere.
It's extremely easy to bump into a nest without realising; however, the delay in realisation is usually short lived, because the sensation of being repeatedly bitten is difficult to miss.
Apparently they're edible by humans (which is only fair).
They're also edible by spiders - and one in particular: the Green Tree Ant Mimic spider
The name is clunky, but basically says it all. It's a highly adapted type of crab spider that insinuates itself into green ant colonies and (to get scientific for a second) pigs out on unsuspecting lookalikes.
GTAMs are not easy to spot; the subterfuge is amazing - even to the extent that they overcome the presence of an extra pair of legs (a dead giveaway to any green ant with half a brain) by holding their front legs above their head to mimic antennae (as in the pic above).
Although I'm a believer in evolution and natural selection, I sometimes wonder how some species have managed to get where they are. I mean, it's pretty clear that the GTAM is an incredibly evolved creature; but, assuming it started out as something that didn't look like a green ant, there must have been a few million 'lean' years (characterised, presumably, by a series of suicide missions whose only redeeming feature was that they slowly became less frequent).
Still, hard to argue with the outcome:
Giant Golden Orb Weaver
(Heading into creepier crawlier territory now.)
These magnificent (and completely harmless) spiders build elaborate webs of golden silk all though the forested parts of the block.
They can be huge - I've seen examples with bodies 50mm long and leg-spans of more than 100mm.
They are also a species in which there is an extraordinary disparity in the relative sizes of the sexes.
Here's a pair (that's the male sitting on his partner's back - the appearance of little boxing gloves seems entirely appropriate for someone punching above his weight):
Huntsman
Okay, nothing terribly unique about this one, but the colour is cool.
Barking (aka Bird Eating) Spider
Apparently this is Australia's only species of Tarantula.
According to Google, the noise it makes is closer to farting than barking - presumably the PR person put their foot down.
It can apparently grow to 200mm.
This one, which turned up one wet night in the shack, was maybe 80mm. (Pic is with a mobile phone - will replace if the opportunity arises.)
The Quad
On the front mudguard of the quad bike was a warning label.
As far as I could be sure, the only prohibition we were heeding was the one about alcohol - and only then because I had not (yet) had a drink that day and was already confident that the driver was a man of sober habits.
Otherwise, we were definitely on a public road.
And there was definitely an impermissible passenger: me. My skinny 6 foot frame was perched awkwardly behind Paco, a diminutive 75 year old Spaniard. Fearful of unbecoming physical contact, I had my legs spread as far apart as possible and was firmly grasping the metal frame behind me.
It was also clear enough that neither my floppy wide-brimmed hat, nor Paco's little black cap, were likely to qualify as an 'approved helmet'. Perhaps my steel toed-work boots passed muster as protective gear, but that could not be said of his (once) bright green soft-rubber 'Croc' gumboots.
The label said nothing about what the quad was not allowed to tow. So it was at least arguable that the trailer behind us was permissible - except that it was a contraption Paco had cobbled together from scrap metal and wood in the workshop.
If the quad had rear-view mirrors (Paco had removed them to make way for a heavy duty plastic storage tub), a green and yellow ride-on mower would have loomed large in them.
The mower was bigger and heavier than the quad. We'd driven it up onto Paco's trailer back at the shack. Loading was an interesting process; the trailer was barely the width (or length) of the mower and the makeshift ramps were actually much narrower - so that the mower's (larger) rear wheels were half in mid-air as Paco deftly drove it up the incline.
The mower was securely held in place by ratchet straps attached to various anchor points on the trailer (or, if you want to be particular, salvaged ceiling fan brackets).
It was about a year ago to the day and we were headed for what I now know as corner 4 for my first class in paddock mowing 101.