Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

There are a lot of nonsense stories around white-tails. People seem to be very frightened of them; I blame the media, who don’t seem to have a scientific bone in their bodyThese species are from Australia – came here in the 1800-s, probably with household goods in containers; we now have a couple of species Lampona cylindrata and Lampona murina.Recent taxonomic investigations showed there are 61 species of white-tails in Australia; imagine what we’ve missed out on so far!They are nocturnal huntersLove to live on the outside of our houses – their favourite prey is grey house spider; the one that makes those messy cobwebs on weather boards and in the corner of windows – and yes… also the one that lives in your car’s side mirrors!Warm summer: people sleep with windows open; easy entry for the spiders.When disturbed, they tend to run quickly and hide in all sorts of nooks and crannies; yep – they may find their way under the sheets as wellWhite tails can and will bite when trapped or provoked.But… the media repor