Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Spiderwebs blanket Australian tourist stopover
Unless looking to relive a scene from Steven Spielberg's "Arachnaphobia" (1990), travelers should be wary of a visit to Wagga Wagga, Australia anytime soon. One of several towns affected by the recent floods in southeast Australia, Wagga Wagga is experiencing a curious phenomenon: thousands upon thousands of spiders looking for higher (and drier) ground are working together to weave massive webs across sticks and bushes. In some cases, the webs have grow so large they cover entire fields.
The strange spiderweb blankets were first reported by the BBC. According to the news outlet, approximately 9,000 people in Wagga Wagga been forced to evacuate due to flooding. Wagga Wagga is a popular stopover for people heading between Adelaide, Sydney or Melbourne. What would you do if you were on the road and survived a flood but were then greeted by thousands of hairy-legged spiders? Just the thought gives us the creepy crawlies.
Photos by Lukas Coch, EPA / Landov.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ian [EagerExistence] Mar 7th 2012 11:16AM
Remember when this happened in Pakistan?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110331-pakistan-flood-spider-trees-webs/
Survival. Gotta do what you gotta do.
John Mar 8th 2012 3:13PM
Seeing the spiders pulling together, it is just like nation people pulling together in times of trials and tribulations.
Maddie Mar 7th 2012 11:56PM
R A I D !!!
Michael Mar 7th 2012 1:01PM
I'm am officially creeped out!
Angie Mar 7th 2012 1:04PM
The webs look beautiful and I know they are creatures of GOD but I wouldn't be forced to evacuate, I would be out of there soooooo fast !!!!!
Koz Mar 7th 2012 1:03PM
Wasn't there a movie made of this some years back.
EasyG Mar 7th 2012 1:49PM
Arachnophobia?.
skyeye Mar 7th 2012 2:17PM
Kingdom of the spiders William Shatner
DJ Mar 7th 2012 2:28PM
it was in the 70's called Tarantulas, The deadly cargo. about a town totally enveloped in a web
deb Mar 7th 2012 2:33PM
In the 70's called "Tarantulas, The Deadly Cargo" about the entire town being enveloped in a web. it really freaked me out
In between days Mar 7th 2012 1:17PM
Watchout where the crawlies go and don't you eat that creepy snow.
Julie Lantz Mar 7th 2012 6:04PM
That's not snow (in third pix) - spidey webs all over - yikes!
Marissa Mar 7th 2012 2:00PM
Awesome!
Jessie Mar 7th 2012 1:17PM
Networking Spiders... for survival! LOVE IT!
weirdos Mar 7th 2012 2:37PM
burn them!!!!!!!
Sherry Mar 7th 2012 1:34PM
Would somebody set that whole area on FIRE before it spreads , or otherwise eats someone ???
swasdiva Mar 7th 2012 5:30PM
Since I'm nowhere near these millions of icky spiders, I can safely say their webs are stunningly beautiful.
WBT Mar 7th 2012 1:21PM
I want to know just how elevated my "creeped out" feeling needs to get? Are these spiders "working together" all of one species? Are they one of their poisonous varieties? OR are all these spiders "working together" a mix of all sorts of spider species? Just what do they expect to catch in these webs? Tourists?
walkerhds Mar 7th 2012 2:18PM
well, Oz is home to like 7 of the world's most poisonous snakes, tons of different types of jellyfish, 6 of the deadliest spiders on earth, and of course... the duck-billed platypus.
so I gotta guess that a lot of the spiders avoiding the flooding are probably from species that can make a human sick or dead.
Hard2 Mar 7th 2012 2:31PM
I have your answers... From the first pic shown I can see at least five different species of spider. All spiders are venemous, it's how they kill prey. Most aren't lethal to Humans. As for the webs, most of the spiders I'm seeing in the pic look like ground spiders, they normally hunt prey and only use webs as anchors. The webs you see in the pics are just normal traveling webs left by spiders roaming. They just happen to be concentrated in areas because of the flooding. These webs are just an accident of survival, too many spiders in small spaces. I doubt anything could get trapped in these webs since they arent made to catch prey, theres nothing "sticky" in them...
As for how I know this stuff, I've been keeping spiders for over 30 years.