Fantastic evening at Downfall Creek Bushland Centre with Russell Denton from Brisbane City Council Environment Centres talking about spiders commonly encountered locally. I arrived late but the group was enjoying great snacks and networking before the talk.
Great photos and handouts but the part that got our hearts racing was when Russell handed spiders around in open containers to look at and took some out in his hands and had them walking on his arms.
It is worth knowing that further back into the ranges there are about 38 rainforest spiders and they are all venomous and very dangerous.
Of the spiders commonly encountered around here many are not venomous but some surprised me. The Green Jumping Spider is responsible for the most garden bites. It causes some ulceration of the skin. It is bright green with two lines down its abdomen and dark ends on its legs. The Wolf Spiders that hunt on the ground at night are venomous but not lethal. Grey Huntsman will bite and pain for up to 24 hours. The Red Back Spider is arguably not indigenous but thought to have been brought into Australia around 1880 on timber from the US to Bowen. Before anti-venom was produced there were about 13-14 adult deaths none since. The bigger ones produce more venom. Daddy Longlegs eat Red Backs. The Silver Camel Spider (Leucauge Granulata) very common in our garden is not toxic. It is a member of the family Tetragrathidae. Funnelwebs (not Mouse) spiders are found in the Kedron Brook area and Trapdoor spiders are common in the upper reaches of Kedron Brook too. Some of our local spiders are very beautiful.
Websites for spiders: www.findaspider.org.au (don’t use the email address on this website; it is wrong)
and www.brisbaneinsects.com/pchew_brisbane/index.html
Anna Bourke from Brisbane City Council who is Kedron Brook’s Environmental Ranger was there along with John Wrench from Angligreen and the Mountains to Mangroves Committee of the Brisbane North Branch of the Wildlife Society and Jim Hansen Chair of the Northern Catchment Network and of the QLD Geographical Society.
The Mountains to Mangroves Committee organises an annual bus tour from the D’Aguilar Range down to the mangroves (run under the GOLD program) in October. People to contact are Terry Hampster and John Wrench.
Brisbane City Council is the 2nd biggest metropolitan area in the world (with massive amounts of biodiversity) but they only have four environmental rangers.
Healthy Waterways are responsible for all the water monitoring in creeks – worth contacting to find out what monitoring is done in Kedron Brook and what the readings are.
3rd Thursday of the month 6:30pm are the meetings of the Northern Catchment Network at Downfall Creek Bushland Centre. Contact Donna.
Downfall Creek Bushland Centre (although outside the Kedron Brook catchment /The Grove) is worth a visit as a key local environment centre. To do soon.
Next Seminar is on Threatened Species on Wednesday 1st September at Downfall Creek Bushland Centre. They are hoping to get Bob Irwin to talk.