Dirty Jobs

Mike Rowe Takes on Birdseed Making and Spider Milking.

You have seen Mike do some nasty jobs such as removing toilets from buildings. He now finds a couple jobs like learning to make birdseed from fat and milking some of the most dangerous spiders. Also, he learns to milk scorpions. Sounds like he is having fun, but a job such as milking spiders can be dangerous.

Bird Seeds

On Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe learns how to make birdseed two ways: one with flies and the other maggots. Before making the birdseed, you need to clean out the tank that will liquefy the fat. Removing the fat that didn’t get liquefied can be used again and again. Most birdseed is not made with fat, but the birds sure do love it. Next, you get a bowl and mix the flies and the grounded peanuts together. After you are done doing so, then you put the mixed flies and grounded peanuts into the mold before putting the liquefied fat in. Note, the mold can be any shape you want. Then, you wait for half an hour for the birdseed to form inside the mold in a cold room. If the outside is even colder, then the food might be ready at a quicker rate.

Once the molding is done, you have to get it out. First off, you need to flip the whole thing upside-down onto a tray. Next, you get a torch and heat up the outside of the mold, which will help get the birdseed out. After heating the outside, the mold is ready to come off. It should come off really easy; if not, use a towel to remove the mold. All you have to do now is package it. Watch your fingers though. A mold with birdseed can weigh at least seventy lbs.

Milking Spiders

On Dirty Jobs, Mike discovered a couple that went out into the desert seven days a week, 365 days a year to catch spiders and milk them. This couple catches Black Widows for an example. They even milk scorpions, which are easier to milk than spiders. Milking for venom may sound dangerous, but it has a benefit. Scientists find that venom can be used for diabetes. First, you need to catch a spider. The best place would be the desert or a home with one too many spider webs. To catch a spider, you need a small container, tweezers, a picket, and a first aid kit, just in case a spider bites you. More than likely you will get bit. So be careful when catching one.

Next, you need to feed the spiders. Feeding the spiders takes a while for the scientists to do. Scientists normally catch about 50,000 spiders/scorpions for their venom. Each spider does get fed or they die and that means no venom from that spider. The smaller spiders get the housefly to eat and the bigger spiders get the fruit fly. Tarantulas get the crickets because these huge spiders need to eat. Each spider gets at least five flies and each tarantula get five crickets. Sounds like a little to us, but to the spider it is a perfect meal.

Once their supper is over, it is time to milk the spiders. Yes, milk them. You get a vial, which holds the venom, and the tweezers, for milking the fangs. First, you give the spiders a gas that will knock them out, not kill them. Then you use the tweezers and start milking the spiders. The Black Widow has very small fangs, so you have to use a microscope to see them. A scorpion does not need to be knocked out because its stinger is at the back of its body. Put a lid over the body and start milking the scorpion. You can store the venom in a fridge and it will stay fresh for thirty days.