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Lukas Coch / EPA
Thousands of spiders build new webs after floodwaters forced them to move to higher ground, in Wagga Wagga, Australia on March 6, 2012.
Thousands of spiders have cast eerie webs over vast areas of flood-hit Australia after being forced to seek shelter by the rising waters, Reuters reports.
Daniel Munoz / Reuters
Wild plants covered in spiders' webs in Wagga Wagga on March 7, 2012.
Experts said the spiders may be spinning the sticky webs to help them survive the deluge, which has forced thousands of people to leave their homes over the past week.
"What we've seen here is a type of wolf spider," Owen Seeman, arachnid expert at Queensland Museum, told Reuters. "They are trying to hide away (from the waters)."
The spider webs were seen near the inland city of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, where 8,000 people were forced from their homes before the flood waters receded on Wednesday.
Thousands of spiders are spinning webs across parts of Australia that are dealing with severe flooding. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
The Australian Museum's entomology collections manager Graham Milledge said the spiders' behavior was known as ballooning, and was typical after spiders are forced to flee from floods.
"They often do it as a way of dispersing and getting into a new area," Milledge told the news.com.au website. "In an event like this, they are just trying to escape the floods."
Last year PhotoBlog published images of a similar phenomenon in Pakistan.
Daniel Munoz / Reuters
A house is surrounded by spiders' webs next to flood waters in Wagga Wagga on March 6, 2012.
Lukas Coch / EPA
Sydney's Taronga Zoo said Australia's spider population has boomed in the wet weather.
Leave a Comment:
Arachniphobia.............
I would probably cry if I lived in that house lol. Imagine how many spiders must be out there....
Now this was an interesting story. Alot better than US politics.
mary jones.... a lot like US politics if you ask me :"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive"
I agree Mary J, although someone will probably try to place the blame on one party or the other!
So much for my dream of living in Oz. I don't mind a few spiders in my house, but this is about 3 billion spiders too many.
Where are the crop dusters with the DDT? If I lived in that house they would be delivering my Bug B Gon by the tanker truck, and I'd be applying it with a fire hose! EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
"My Spidey sense is tingling................"
It's easy to rebuild when you managed to carry all your building material away with you.
oh my...gives me the creeps seeing just ONE wolf spider...
but if I remember correctly, the wolf spider always like to hide...& then pop out onto their prey
let's hope humans can avoid their weird balloons!
can spider silk be harvested?
Yes, but it's a pain in the ass.
Is it flammable? If I lived in that house, I'd be finding out.
I was thinking the same thing Chris
That would be a pain in the butt to harvest cuz u gotta pick out all the spiders and then delicately take the webs off the trees and junk! Very tedious work and very expensive fabric probably.
that is really scary...
Pretty amazing! Proves how many there were before the floods and nobody noticed.
hey, never thought of that Cavey Wavey...spiders are one critter I'd rather not have near me...
a large dock spider sat next to my head on my pillow...I could actually sense that something was there & got up to turn on the light...it came in on fire logs we think...have seen just one wolf spider on a fire log I picked up outside...could hear my scream for miles...now I am careful to bang logs before being startled
just wonder what precautions the Aussies are taking...like they haven't got enough to worry re the flood !
Not a big spider fan either Sylvia but know they are essential to healthy farm crops. Had no idea how bad the floods in OZ were till after I read this article either. Had to look up what a Dock Spider was too, thanks for teaching me something new.
Sylvia, I read your post with interest. I am very afraid of spiders. We lived in an older farmhouse with a partial dirt basement. They were all over that house. Very large, furry, brown spiders. I got to where I could sense them also. I would wake up in the middle of the night with a weird feeling, and when I turned on the light, sure enough, there one would be! I never talked about it much, because my family thought I was paranoid about the spiders. (I probably was, with good reason!) But I'm glad to know someone else senses them also. Thanks!
Remind me not to go to Australia in the near future...
I would be calling an exterminator and wiping them out while they're all collected in the webs. That is screaming for smoke bombs to be set off everywhere.
I would literally lose my mind. I have arachnephobia so badly, I would be gibbering within a day, and begging someone to airlift me out of there! That said...
eew eew eew eew eeeeewwwww!!!!
If I lived in that house, I would burn up the entire yard...............creepy...............really creepy.........!
Living in Australia is probably a good way to get over a fear of any kind of animal. Spiders, wasps, frogs, sharks, snakes... whatever you're afraid of, they have the nastiest and most dangerous species there. Survive and you'll never be bothered by the little buggers again.
My God! This something right out of my nightmares! :-(
Aw, sweet! These aren't wolf spiders. These are tiny, harmless little things called Linyphiids. Also known as "money spiders," because of the charming folk belief that if you see one skittering over you, it's good luck: you'll come into money. Derived from the idea, according to Professor Wikipedia, that the little spider has come to weave you new clothing. You shouldn't fear them any more than you'd fear a bunch of ladybugs. They aren't going to eat you (they can't, even if they all got together and agreed to do it, which they won't, because they don't know you exist and are only interested in surviving and noshing on bugs).
SpiderHugger...thanks for the info....I wondered about the spiders in that photo...they looked so small...thought there was perhaps a tiny Aussie version of the "wolf" out there
hairy legged wolf spiders...look more like a tarantula...plum, juicy and very scary...only met one once...& that was enough for me
I appreciate these creatures & what they do for the planet...catch & release them (use a plastic glass)
however, they do die when they crawl over me during the night!
nature is amazing!!!!!
IN THE NAME OF MY FATHER GOD king of the universe in heaven thru JESUS CHRIST the son, until now people in AMERICA NEVER UNDERSTOOD THAT SIGN ? Remember this our FATHER GOD king of the universe in heaven is coming to the earth thru "WATER" this is the day of JUDGEMENT to the world soon. how long the people in the world we will believe the message of my FATHER GOD king of the universe in heaven which I delivered long time ago in the world. Is TORNADOS, EARTHQUAKE,FLOOD'S , FIRES, HURRACANES ,ECONOMIC CRISIS IS NOT ENOUGH to understand it the message of my FATHER GOD king of the universe in heaven to the world ? WORLD is under the EVIL POWER because of "GREEDY " to the MONEY & POWER. REMEMBER this only your SPIRIT is the one who will come back to my FATHER GOD to be JUDGEMENT in the HEAVEN OF LUCIFER or KINGDOM OF MY FATHER GOD "HEAVEN". Be hold & prepare when the day is over. THE MAN CAN'T CHANGES .
amen to that . everyone wake up, you are seeing the Wrath of GOD.
Looks like some B-budget horror movie but this is real! Too cool nature at its best.
I live in Australia, I think bears and lions seem like a much scarier prospect than spiders and snakes!!
Ooooooooooooo Just came in from trimmimg red bud trees out front now i feel like things are crawling all over after looking at all these spiders. Yikeeesssssssssssss
As scary as this is (I could have a panic attack just thinking about it), I do feel sorry for them, and everyone, man and animals alike, who are battling these floods. I am amazed at the spiders' determination to survive and start over! Got to give them some credit, I think.
But, if that were near where I live, I would be a basket case. I can't imagine what I would be acting like. Now I feel like I have one in bed with me!
Take a torch and burn those webs - just cinge them out and clean it up!! Spiders bite and you don't know which bites are easy or very painful til it bites you. Venom can destroy tissue and be very painful if not dangerous.
Imports from this area could have a bunch of spiders in it now. Just treat it like an infestation and burn them out. Easily done without losing crops or trees. JUST DO IT!
For mosquitoes and flies you can find natural sprays and use those. This is an imbalance.
Very not cool to let it just occur without combating it. They aren't your new pets and your doggie doesn't like it either.
I'd be so freaked out~! Im super afraid of spiders! I'd be calling the police asking to be airlifted out my house. In the mean time, grabbing some food and bug spray from the kitchen(checking that theres no spiders on it), running back to my bedroom, locking the door, shoving a towel under the door, draw all the curtains, shut the windows(if their open) and wait patiently for my rescue crew!