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 Post subject: Re: What is this.........?
Unread postPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:41 am 
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Senior Virtual Ranger
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Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:25 pm
Posts: 1278
Location: Back "home"?!...........
We spotted this small mouse at Nossob.
She really was tiny and very fast.
Could it be that this is a Pygmy Mouse :hmz:

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 Post subject: Re: What is this.........?
Unread postPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:51 am 
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Location: Far South in South Africa.
:hmz: Looks like a African Pygmy Mouse :)

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 Post subject: Re: What is this.........?
Unread postPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:27 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:16 pm
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Location: England, previously Rietvlei, Natal - hankering to be back in KTP
KG, on the subject of spiders (which are NOT my favourite!) please can you tell me about the inhabitants of those huge clusters of webs you see in the roadside bushes? Being a coward, I always make sure my window is closed tight when we drive near them! Maybe if I learned a little about them, they would not be so scary :big_eyes:

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 Post subject: Re: What is this.........?
Unread postPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:23 pm 
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Location: Twee Rivieren, KTP
Here is some info as requested:

Stegodyphus could in fact have been called the tennis net spider due to its hackle web that is stretched between two points. The hackled appearance is due to the cribellate (teased) silk used. At one end of the web is a small ball-shaped nest attached to the vegetation, about a metre above the ground. In the Western Cape these webs are found in the Fynbos while in the Bushveld, the Acacia trees are used. However, fences, poles and other structures are also used. A new nest is started by as few as two spiders (usually female) that leave their original nest. As the colony increases, the nest is enlarged by successive generations. The nest includes mostly female and young; the latter living in chambers within the nest, much like a block of flats. The nest can be used for many years and can house in excess of 100 spiders. Birds often use the silk to line their nests.

When prey lands in the web, a few spiders rush out, overpower and collectively drag it to a nest chamber where they will be joined by other spiders for the feast. The larger the prey, the larger the number of spiders that assist with its capture and removal.

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 Post subject: Re: What is this.........?
Unread postPosted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 5:41 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:16 pm
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Location: England, previously Rietvlei, Natal - hankering to be back in KTP
Thanks KG, for the prompt and detailed reply. Much appreciated. It still sounds to me a bit like a horror story, but then I am an arachnophobe, and have been since the age of 3 - at almost 70 do you think I will grow out of it??
:big_eyes:

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