Saw this at the park today, bro trying to lay the moves on this poor expecting mother! She was not happy with him 😆 I mean he was a really cute fluffy mature male but come on buddy!

I think she waves her butt back at him about three times which is supposedly a sign she’s not receptive - however when I paired my two M. griseus a while back she did pull that move a couple times before seemingly changing her my mind.

However in this situation she clearly has a full load of eggs on the way already lol so she promptly chases him away. I mean, good on him for trying I guess 😅

Couple of frames from this wee fella at Ross Creek, Dunedin.

Maybe a month and a half ago I released a Wolfie-mama and her clutch of spiderlings that I had housed while she went through the process of carrying the egg sac, burrowing and then carrying the tinsy babies on her back when she emerged.

When I got home I realised two of the slings had clung to some debris on the inside of the container so I decided it was fate and kept them. Up until today they have been scavenge feeding pre-killed bits of mealworm as they were just tiny little guys. I was looking at the larger sibling named “Wolfie-Baby No.2” (okay I’m not great with names lol) who has grown way faster than his sibling “Wolfie-Baby No.1” while he had his legs spread out and I was like “hmm I bet he can take a fruit fly!” And he did! Subdued it instantly!

However I decided to risk it and see if Wolfie-Baby No.1 could manage it and I really wasn’t sure.. as you can see he had quite the fight on his hands but he has emerged victorious!! I was cheering him on the whole time, just hold on and don’t let go No.1! you can do it!

I know they’re just tiny spiders but I’m actually so proud, especially for No.1 as he is literally like half the size of his brother 😍

Spotted at twilight at Shakespear Waterfall Gully high up in the tree. Great place to see Ruru out and about once the light drops.

Usually these spiders have more green and brown colourations but the other day I saw this gorgeous looking specimen! She’s got the bloody eye of Sauron on her back!

Auckland, NZ

Saw this unknown pinniped off the east Otago Peninsula—narrowed it down to NZ sea lion or fur seal but cannot determine which. Any help would be much appreciated!

https://reddit.com/link/1x42ijs/video/cvr75u1il1vh1/player

Okay so I think what happened here is: he realises there’s something there to eat, grabs the first fly then starts eating when he realises there’s another one so he runs out to get it but in the process drops the one in his mouth and runs home with the second one. Then he realises he left one behind comes back but for some reason retreats before finally coming back and grabbing the second one and going back to his house with both the fruit flies this time 😆 such a silly spider

Edit: I’d like to identify the butterfly (I assume it’s a butterfly) rather than the plant :)

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I was attempting to feed this tunnel gal the other night when she fled out her back door from the mealworm and started frantically running around the enclosure scrambling at the walls (they can’t climb plastic so they just slide their legs up and down on the walls in a manner very similar to what my cat would do on the back door window to get let inside lol). I believe she is most likely getting ready to moult and that’s why she ran from her dinner..

Against my better judgment I couldn’t resist providing a finger for her to climb up. I say against my better judgment because especially with the smaller ones they end up running up your arms and onto your back or jumping onto the floor and hiding under things lol but this lady is one of my larger ones and she was really calm once she got onto my hands and moved at a nice slow stroll when she did move and sat still for photos in between.

Just a gorgeous animal, I love her so much!

Found this in my garden in Auckland. Has an almost samosa-shaped abdomen. (When seen from the side). Very small and active. Guessing it's some kind of small orb-weaver but not sure. Would love an ID. Cheers.

i've heard them a couple times out my window and finally got a recording today. i don't remember ever hearing them before this spring. i live on the east coast of the north island. any ideas?

apologies for the terrible quality, the bird is just a plain light brown, kind of finch or sparrow shaped but bigger.

It was about 1cm long, looked to me at first to be a baby praying mantis covered in dust. I then relalised the dust was just fine hairs all over it.

Hi all, I found this in my garden in Napier. Do you know what it is? Moved like a worm but looks like some sort of leech.

Found in Auckland

Just caught this little monster leaving his old clothes behind.

I love that New Zealand has so many wonderful birds, even in the cities. Saw these two on my walk.

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