Adventure Ausrama Blog

It is commonly believed that spiders are land dwelling creatures that eat air breathing prey. However, this is a misconception. New research shows certain spiders eat fish. These spiders exist on all continents except Antarctica. No less than eight kinds of spider consume fish up to twice their size. they also eat amphibians, mice, bats and birds. The diving bell spiders lives underwater. Many spiders live on the edge of water bodies and will eat just about anything that can be caught. Some fish they catch are very large indeed. Spiders take the chance of a rough fight because nearly all of a fish is edible. They hunt by holding on to something solid on the land with two of their rear legs. When a fish actually touches one of the six legs in the water the spider pounces completely leaving the land and bites the fish on the neck. We do not know everything about nature. Much of the living habits of animals is still unknown. As time goes on and data are accum...

The Hendra virus was first identified in 1994. It killed horses and several veterinary scientists. Oddly, this deadly disease has only appeared in Australia. This is very unusual. Diseases tend to spread across national borders. Outbreaks are spasmodic. Horses in Queensland and New South Wales have died recently in the latest outbreak. Scientists are intensively examining all aspects of the Hendra virus. A dog was found to be a carrier. Though unaffected and quite healthy the dog had to be put down. Promising results have been obtained by using human antibody m102.4 on monkeys who were intentionally infected. The animals remained well for three days before needing treatment. All of the subjects survived. A control group of monkeys who were not given the antibody died. Though unproven, the ailment is believed to be carried and spread by bats. A similar bat borne disease is widespread in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia. The Asian Nipah ailment identified in 1998 is of interes...