Huge huntsman spider tries to eat a mouse GuardianAustralia news This article is more than 7 years oldIn Australia: giant spider carrying a mouse is horrifying and impressiveThis article is more than 7 years oldForget pizza rat and cigarette crab and prepare yourself for spider mouse, the super strong and very hungry Australian arachnid Australia’s litany of fearsome fauna seems to have a new entry. Added to deadly snakes, man-eating crocodiles and poisonous jellyfish comes Hermie the huntsman, a spider so unusually large and strong that it had no problem carrying a sizeable mouse up the outside of a fridge.

The ObserverHeritageThe Iron Duke had lovers but his platonic friends meant most, a new UK exhibition reveals He was known as the Iron Duke, a moniker gained from his steadfastness in war and politics – and hinting too at manliness. But the Duke of Wellington, victor over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 and then twice prime minister, was not just a man’s man. He actively sought the company of intelligent female friends with whom he could discuss world issues, a new exhibition reveals.

The Walking Dead: episode by episodeThe Walking DeadThe Walking Dead season five, episode 11: The Distance – recapThe theme of the impossibility of trust in a post-apocalyptic world comes to the fore again as Rick goes crazier and Aaron tries to marshal the survivors Spoiler alert: this blog is published after The Walking Dead airs on AMC in the US on Sundays. Do not read on unless you have watched season five, episode 11 (which airs in the UK on Fox on Mondays).

US newsWhen the chaos of the big city began to drag, Paul Willis wondered if solitude might be the answer. Would his encounters with hermits yield what he wanted? A few years ago, beset by the same malaise that I suppose afflicts everyone who spends too much time in the bustle and chaos of a big city, I wondered if solitude might be the answer. I began to read about hermits and became obsessed with the idea of meeting one.

Reece Witherspoon walking the Pacific Crest Trail in Wild. Photograph: Allstar/Fox Searchlight Pictures/Sportsphoto LtdReece Witherspoon walking the Pacific Crest Trail in Wild. Photograph: Allstar/Fox Searchlight Pictures/Sportsphoto LtdWalking holidaysHiking has gone Hollywood with the film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling backpacking memoir Wild – and the Pacific Crest Trail is its real star. If the film inspires you, here are 10 trails that explore the stunning US wilderness More on US national parks in California | Washington | Arizona | Oregon | Texas | New Mexico | Utah