July 16, 2007 09:31am
Article from: AAP

THE Gippsland floods in Victoria's south-east have triggered an
explosion in the the birth rate - of the spider population.

Local residents have reported an unusually high number of spiders taking
up residence in their homes.

Senior curator of spiders at Queensland Museum, Robert Raven, said the
recent heavy drought-breaking rains had led to abnormally high spider
hatchings.

"They have been hanging around waiting for this change in moisture level
because things have been dry," Mr Raven told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"Normally, if they did hatch (when it was dry) they would just die
because there's no food, or get eaten," he said.

Mr Raven said the rain, which caused flooding late last month from Sale
through to Lakes Entrance, had set up ideal conditions for the baby
spiders to hatch and survive.

He said it was not unusual to hear that thousands of spiders were now
spinning their webs in homes and buildings as they searched for dry and
warmer areas.

"The babies come out and are now going looking for other places to go."

Up to 30 species have been identified in the area including Money, Wolf
and Crab spiders.

Mr Raven said most of the spiders were harmless.

"We've had bites from most of them and they are pretty mild," he said.

"The big danger with this sort of situation is that there is a whole lot
of rubbish out there and spiders have been walking on this and sticking
their fangs into it, and if they then stick their fangs into you the
chances of an infection are very high."

Gippsland residents were also reporting sightings of snakes, which have
been flushed out of their holes during flood waters.

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