Warning: giant, rodent-eating spider below.
So what’s your worst spider experience?
Everyone’s had a run-in with an arachnid at one point or another. Or at least a surprise encounter.
Sometimes, even small spiders are scary.
In fact, arachnophobia is a common fear.
Johnny Depp’s terrified of spiders. Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series famously loathes them.
Arachnophobia’s right up there with the fear of heights as the most common fears.
Years ago, Jason Womal of Queensland, Australia saw something straight out of a horror film. Maybe worse.
Look at those eyes.
He’s already seen too much…
They’re splashed with spider-stricken sadness.
Unfortunately, reality’s scarier than fiction.
What Jason witnessed that day is straight out of nightmares.
“So I am just about to leave for work about 0030 and me neighbour says ‘You want to see something cool’ and I say ‘Hell yeah.’ So we proceed to his place and he shows me this. Huntsman trying to eat a mouse.”
Right before his eyes, a large huntsman spider carries a dead mouse up a vertical incline.
I have goosebumps…
Speaking of which, shoutout to the Goosebumps series of horror books.
Anyway, the spider ascends what looks like a refrigerator, one leg at a time.
Despite hauling a heavy mouse against the force of gravity, this huntsman moves with haste.
Obviously, there are a few reasons this is scary… This begs the questions:
- Did the spider kill the mouse?
- How does the spider have enough strength to carry the mouse, much less up an incline?
- Will the spider proceed to eat the mouse?
- Is this spider dangerous to humans?
I mean, killing something your size with your bare limbs isn’t exactly easy…
Scaling a fridge is challenging enough.
Is this some sort of Super Spider?
National Geographic grabbed ahold of the footage, proceeding to fill in some blanks:
“A large huntsman spider carries the carcass of a mouse across a refrigerator in home movie footage captured in Queensland, Australia on October 23. Despite its impressive appearance, this kind of spider is not considered dangerous to people.”
Whew, that’s a relief.
But still…
Would it be out of line to suggest that regardless of how horrifying it may be, that it’s actually pretty impressive?
Scaling a vertical incline might not be a big deal to a spider, but simultaneously lugging around a dead rodent… that certainly takes a lot of work.
That mouse might be even larger than the spider! Speaking of which… that poor mouse…
Despite their size, the huntsman spiders native to Australia aren’t all that dangerous.
At least to humans.
Millions across the globe have seen Jason’s terrifying footage.
Jason then gave a hilarious update on the spider’s status:
“We have named him Hermie. We have adopted him, and he is now running his own extermination business out of our town Coppabella. Oh, he is also now paying rent.”
I’m sure arachnophobes won’t find that comment funny… In their defense, the footage is pretty shocking.
I’m not sure how well I’ll sleep tonight…
The mouse deserved better. That was tragic.
So what do you think of spiders?
Do they give you the heebie-jeebies?
If they do and you still read this article, then kudos!
That takes some serious bravery!
I wonder what came of the mouse and the spider. Actually… it’s probably best not to think of it.
If you dare, watch the full footage of the mouse captor in the video player below!
IF YOU DARE!
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