Pastures Past: Bird‑sized spiders, silk webs and a deadly snake tally

In 1880, the Hawke's Bay Herald reported on bird-sized spiders in a Buena Vista cave. Photo / 123rf

Kem Ormond takes a look at the world of farming back in the day. In this week’s Pastures Past, she’s found newspaper articles from 1880 and 1939 on spiders and snakes.

While New Zealand has its share of spiders, we can probably be thankful they don’t grow to the size of small birds, as reported in the Hawke’s Bay Herald in 1880.

The report, from San Francisco–based newspaper Alta California, suggested these bird-sized spiders’ near‑indestructible webs could be used as thread — handy, perhaps, if you were about to lose a button.

Like many late‑19th‑century curiosities borrowed from overseas newspapers, the report now sits firmly in the realm of legend.

Closer to home, in outback Australia in 1939, three young sisters armed with short sticks killed 307 snakes over three nights.

Some of them were up to three feet long, but that was nothing for these sisters, who calmly noted they had previously killed a 6ft tiger snake.

Below is a selection of historical stories from the Hawke’s Bay Herald (1880) and the Central Hawke’s Bay Press (1939).

Spiders as large as birds

Hawke’s Bay Herald, August 2, 1880

The Alta California is responsible for the following: — A short distance from Buena Vista is a cave inhabited by spiders, which differ from other spiders in their enormous size, and are quite useful to the needy people of that region.

The cave was discovered last December, by a party of sightseers, and the spiders and their work were witnessed.

On entering the cave, one is first struck by the funny-looking webs.

They work like other webs of spiders, but every fibre is ten times as large as the ones woven by ordinary spiders.

On passing further into the cave, the spiders are encountered.

They are about the size of small birds and make a strong sound while weaving their web.

Their webs are so tough and the fibre so large that it is almost an impossibility to break down the web.

Some weeks ago, while looking at the cave, a miner got to examining the webs.

Their strands were about the size of a No. 12 thread, and he thought they could be used for thread.

Having a needle in his possession, he broke off one of the strands and found that it fitted the needle.

Sewing on a loose button to test the efficacy, he found it as strong as silk thread, and it answered his every purpose.

Since then, the people have flocked in and carried away hosts of the webs, but the spiders do not appear to object in the least.

There is some talk among capitalists of starting a thread factory there and using the webs for thread.

Short sticks used as weapons by three plucky girls to kill 307 snakes

Central Hawke’s Bay Press, March 24, 1939

Melbourne, March 15.

Determination and courage typical of so many outback girls, were displayed by three sisters at Milawa, near Wangaratta, this week, when they killed 307 snakes along a stretch of 150 yards of Horseshoe Creek.

The girls used sticks only two feet long, and even shorter, because the longer ones broke easily.

Their bag included all kinds and sizes—pink and copper snakes, brown snakes, and grass snakes.

The girls were the Misses Mollie, Elizabeth, and Nellie Melte.

Miss Mollie Melte said she was cleaning away some debris along the creek when she found the first of the snakes, and she killed four.

The next night, she saw several more and, with her sisters, killed 174.

Again, the next evening, they killed 129.

The snakes varied in size from 3ft to smaller grass snakes.

The pink and copper snakes had not been seen in the locality before.

Miss Mellte added that she and her sisters had previously killed 6ft tiger snakes.

- Source: Papers Past