Disbelief over 'massive' huntsman found in Aussie woman's cupboard
The size of a small mammal, this critter's been branded the stuff of nightmares.
Footage of an absolutely enormous spider found scurrying around in one Aussie woman's cupboard has sent arachnophobes all over the country running for the hills.
The mega-huntsman, which, judging by the video compares easily to the size of a small mammal, was found hiding in the woman's wardrobe behind bundles of clothes. It's wasn't immediately apparent which jurisdiction the footage was snapped up in, adding to Aussies' fears.
Posting to the Reddit thread "Another average day in Australia" the woman said "the true scale" of the creature wasn't even really able to be shown due to her "not wanting to get close enough to be bitten".
But the footage was more than enough terrify some, with over a thousand users — 1300 in total — flooding the comment section in response.
Disbelief over creature's size
One person pointed out that the eight-legged critter is the "ninth most dangerous spider" in Australia, according to the National Geographic. The outlet reported that while they don't pose any direct threat to humans, the "danger comes more from causing accidents by the terrified drivers who react to a huntsman jumping out from behind the sun visor or dashboard of a car when it’s in motion".
"In other words, you have nothing to fear but fear itself!" the user exclaimed. "Would happily take my chance against a bear. No way would I go against that spider. It's bigger!" joked another.
"I swear Australians are built different. I would cry and lock myself in the bathroom," wrote a third.
"There would be so many accidental shootings if we had these in America," another said.
Expert urges caution over 'spraying or killing'
But while the animal may seem fearsome to some, one Aussie entomologist explained that it's important to remember to live in harmony with spiders, and to try avoid killing them even when frightened.
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"Yep it’s real, and looks like a common huntsman (holoconia immanis)," Sydney University's Dr Thomas White said.
"They’re gentle giants, and pose no meaningful threat to humans. You can see in the video that they’re as scared of us as many of us are of them. They’ll work diligently to keep the flies and other critters at a minimum in the house, so I’d suggest just leaving them to their work.
"But if people really need to move them along, then just pop a container over them and release them outside — there’s definitely no need spray or kill them. They’re furry friends!"
After viewing the footage, some will surely argue that's a little easier said than done.
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