Tarantula The Size Of A Bread Roll Lives To See Another Day During Queensland Floods

Would you have saved it?


Article heading image for Tarantula The Size Of A Bread Roll Lives To See Another Day During Queensland Floods

9 News

This is exactly the reason people make fun of Australian wildlife.

A big 'ol spider (that's the technical term) was found clinging to a well-placed branch in raging floodwaters over the weekend by a Good Samaritan who filmed herself rescuing the beast.

Andrea Gofton spotted the enormous tarantula - which, to be fair, wouldn't have been hard - after it became stranded in the heavy rains from an oncoming tropical cyclone.

The north Queenslander captioned the video: "My excitement for the day... saving a spider." 

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There's a word we'd use if we ever came face-to-face with a spider that big and it's definitely not excitement.

It's believed that this particular arachnid was an eastern tarantula, which happens to be a protected species.

"It's great that someone has taken the time to rescue her," spider expert Alan Henderson told the Daily Mail Australia.

"But many people will kill them just due to misguided fear and myths about how dangerous spiders really are."

Henderson also reckons the spider "could be over 10 years old" and that Gofton should pat herself on the back for her actions.

"Of course, in the water it would drown, although the hairs on its body do protect it from drowning for a little while," he said.

Onya, Gofton.

12 March 2018




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