This is not a hoax nor a false Halloween story to startle you. The mightiest spider you'll probably ever see can be found in Australia.
According to United Press International, an Australian man named Jason Womas of Coppabella, Queensland shared on Facebook a video of a spider carrying its meal -- a full-grown mouse.
"So I am just about to leave for work... and me neighbor 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," Womas wrote.
The clip shows the hungry spider, which they named "Hermie" carrying the big mouse all the way up on the fridge of his neighbor. The Guardian reports that the arachnid clutched the mouse on its head using its chelicerae.
To have an expert opinion about the behavior of the huntsman spider, The Guardian also interviewed Graham Milledge, the manager of the Australian Museum's arachnology collection.
According to Milledge, it is unusual but not unheard of for spiders to target vertebrates.
"This is the first time I've seen one catch a mouse, but I have seen huntsmen catch geckos. I've seen a redback spider catch a snake in its web, I've seen a golden orb spider catch birds," he said.
Live Science reports that a huntsman spider is the world's largest spider by leg span. They are often mistaken as tarantulas because of their size.
"Huntsman spiders usually have legs that are splayed out to the sides, crablike," said entomologist Christy Bills, Invertebrate Collections manager at the Natural History Museum of Utah.
The report added that these spiders are notorious for the unique way they catch their prey. Unlike other spiders which use their webs to trap their prey, they hunt down their prey; thus the name "huntsman spider."
CBS news notes that these spiders are not just found in Australia but also in southern areas of the United States, including Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
© 2024 NatureWorldNews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.