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Mouse bites snake to death





A mouse bit a venomous viper to death after it was thrown into the snake's cage as a lunchtime snack.

The tiny rodent killed the snake after a fierce 30-minute battle, emerging with "barely a scratch on him", according to on person who saw the fight.

Firefighters in Taiwan who were looking after the snake - which had been found in a local resident's home - thought that the live mouse would make a perfect lunchtime treat.

But the furry creature had other ideas. Instead of cowering from the 12in snake's gaping jaws and long fangs, it went on the offensive.

"It attacked the snake continuously, biting and scratching it," one firefighter said.

Viper venom is poisonous for mice, but the snake proved unable to land a killer bite.

"Perhaps it used up all its venom when we caught it but the mouse barely had a scratch on him," said Lan Sengqiu, the leader of the fire team in Nantoun.

Vipers, which have jaws that can open to a 180 degree angle, usually use their venom to immobilise or kill their prey. The poison, which is injected through their hollow fangs, paralyses the nervous system and causes internal bleeding.

Vipers are one of the most widespread species of snake in the world, and their adder sub-species is the only poisonous reptile found in the UK.



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Giant spider eating a bird caught on camera





Photographs of a giant spider eating a bird in an Australian garden have stunned wildlife experts.

The pictures show the spider with its long black legs wrapped around the body of a dead bird suspended in its web.

The startling images were reportedly taken in Atheron, close to Queensland's tropical north.

Despite their unlikely subject matter, the pictures appear to be real.

Joel Shakespeare, head spider keeper at the Australian Reptile Park, said the spider was a Golden Orb Weaver.

"Normally they prey on large insects… it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he told ninemsn.com.

Mr Shakepeare said he had seen Golden Orb Weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.

Queensland Museum identified the bird as a native finch called the Chestnut-breasted Mannikin.

Mr Shakespeare told ninemsn the bird must have flown into the spider web and become stuck.

"It wouldn't eat the whole bird," he said.

"It uses its venom to break down the bird for eating and what it leaves is a food parcel," he said.

Greg Czechura from Queensland Museum said cases of the Golden Orb Weaver eating small birds were "well known but rare".

"It builds a very strong web," he said.

But he said the spider would not have attacked until the bird weakened.

The Golden Orb Weaver spins a strong web high in protein because it depends on it to capture large insects for food.