Spiders walk along the Avon River

Trapdoor spiders often emerge from their burrows after rain - but why?

Newly matured male spiders emerge from their burrows and go looking for a mate, after spending anywhere from three to seven years living exclusively underground.

If you live in the micro-world, moist soil is perfect for digging in - so many types of juvenile trapdoor spider emerge after rains to start excavating their own private burrows. It's important for them to find a good spot, as they will stay there for life!!

This Mouse Spider (Missulena spp.) was walking along with purpose under some Jam (Acacia accuminata) trees down by the Avon River in Northam. He seems to know where to go, but he'd better look out - there's an army of obstacles for him to avoid, like:

• large hungry centipedes looking for a bite to eat,
• cunning wasps who would might carry them away;
• sharp eyed magpies and butcher birds who watch for tasty spiders at dawn and dusk, and
• racehorse goanna's and bandicoot's who can dig them out of their burrows!

No wonder he's moving so fast!

So, if you see a big spider walking along the ground this winter/autumn, spare a thought for the hard times it has overcome to get that far and take a moment to watch it go along on it's way.

Do feel free to take a picture though, and send it to info@wheatbeltnrm.org.au so Wheatbelt NRM can help you find out a bit more about it.

The last one we had someone ask us about was a brand new species all together!

Regional Landcare Facilitators going Social

During the 20011 National Regional Landcare Facilitators meeting in Melbourne this week, facilitators from across Australia explored the values of promoting the NRM/Landcare message via social media, whats going on with the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) and how to best engage their local communities.

In a digital world, where environmental action is becoming more sought after, one of the challenges of Landcare is getting the message out and attracting volunteers to events, both locally and from afar.

Social media may just be the key.

It was agreed that timely and appropriate use of social media (such as Place Stories) has the potential to increase the communities understanding and appreciation of Landcare activities, as well as taking local issues to the global community.

The group also got an update on the CFI from Australian Government representatives, including information on the funding available, how they relate to each other and the time frame for delivery of incentive programs.

We also ran a break-out session where small groups tried to untangle some of the barriers to successful engagement of their communities.

Overall the meeting was a great success, and a chance to discuss common issues in Landcare across the nation, get up to date info on the national Landcare program and forge new and exciting networks with other Regional Landcare Facilitators.

For more infromation on any of the above topics, email info@wheatbeltnrm.org.au