Victorian gold prospector finds black mouse spider

PUBLISHEDWed May 10 2023 15:40 GMT

UPDATEDWed May 10 2023 15:43 GMT

A prospector made a rare - and nearly deadly - find while digging for gold.

Chris Bogusis, 33, discovered a highly-venomous black mouse spider while looking for gold in the remote bush of northeast Victoria in late April.

Mr Bogusis shared a video of his encounter with the spider online.

'I found something way rarer than gold out metal detecting,' he said in the clip.

'While digging in a waste rock pile from an 1890s gold mine, I accidentally uncovered an incredibly dangerous animal.'

Gold prospector Chris Bogusis found a black mouse spider (above) while digging through a waste rock pile from an 1890s mine

I Picked Up Something I Shouldn't Have!
Gold prospecting brings me to some remote locations most people don't go to. And I've been fortunate enough to come across several rare types of animals in my adventures. In this case, a rare example of a black Mouse Spider. It's more common, Red Headed Mouse Spiders, can be found across Australia's East Coast. However, comparatively little is known of the black Mouse Spider. Other than that, it shares the same venom as the Sydney funnel web spider. Ranked as the most venomous spider on earth. They live in burrows up to 50cm deep and ambush prey from their homes using a series of trip wires. Known to be aggressive, but also to deliver dry bites, they have not recorded any human fatalities unlike their funnel web counterparts. Go me for picking that up and putting it into the scoop 👌🙃
Posted by Vo-Gus Prospecting on Sunday, April 30, 2023

Footage shows the moment Mr Bogusis scooped the spider, hidden in a pile of dirt, into his shovel using his hand.

Just seconds later he spotted the large spider and was shocked by its large 'fangs'.

'Look at that - woah,' he said while poking the spider.

'There are not many things in Australia that get me nervous but spiders with fangs like that definitely do.'

The black mouse spider is found throughout Australia and its venom has been likened to the Sydney funnel-web spider's - one of the most dangerous spiders in the world.

While the mouse spider's venom isn't lethal it can cause severe illness, particularly in young children.

Mr Bogusis relocated the spider to a nearby tree and continued with his prospecting.

The black mouse spider is found throughout Australia and its venom has been likened to the deadly Sydney funnel-web spider's

Mr Bogusis (above) said he thought the spider was a funnel-web at first and was shocked by its large 'fangs'

He recalled the incident with Nine News earlier this week, saying he thought it was a funnel-web spider at first.

'I noticed a big, black squishy thing that was definitely not a rock,' he said.

'I'm just thankful that when I pushed it, it must have pushed it in butt first by the way it was oriented in the scoop.

'It was very unusual. I didn't see any of the webs, normally when you did up a funnel-web you see the webs and the silk.'

Victorian gold prospector finds black mouse spider

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