Deadly Sydney Funnel-web Spider Groomed With Paintbrush at Taronga Zoo
Posted on June 10, 2011
The Sydney funnel-web spider is one of the world's most deadly spiders. Despite the venomous nature of the spider, only 13 people have died from its bite, according to the Australian Museum.
The Taronga Zoo in Sydney has some of the venomous spiders and has to take great care when grooming them. In this video, a funnel-web spider is groomed with a small paintbrush to remove mites. Brett, one of the zoo's invertebrate keepers, says, "They're not aggressive, they're just defensive, they only ever rear up if they feel threatened, they don't go looking for trouble."
Take a look:
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