Creepy, Hairy 'Babies': Meet Woman Who Lives With 1,500 Tarantulas

A woman in Indonesia has an unusual hobby of collecting tarantulas.

According to the New York Post, Ming Cu has been collecting an assortment of this eight-legged creature since 2010. In fact, her love for tarantulas is enough to make her spend $55,000 in the last years.

In total, Ming already has 1,500 tarantulas at home, which she tends to at least 10 hours a day. Fortunately, each tarantula is kept in a glass jar, which shapes vary according to the arachnid's type.

"In the last seven years, I have spent tens of thousands on buying my favorite animals. I have 60 different varieties of the tarantulas which I have keep in different jars according to their type and size. I feed them regularly and take care of them like my babies," the 28-year-old said, as per Story Trender.

Ming discovered her fancy for these creepy crawlers after seeing a spider on their garden. Fascinated by its color, she began taking photos of it. Soon, she started buying more spiders with incredible colors.

Her first tarantula was Avicularia Versicolor or Antilles pinktoe tarantula, which she bought for $35. This particular spider is popular as a spider pet because of its colors.

READ: Terrifying Large Tarantula Devours a Foot-long Snake 

Tarantulas, the world's largest spiders, give people the creeps because of their hairy bodies and legs. However, for Ming, tarantulas are loving creatures that need affection just like any other animals.

According to National Geographic, tarantulas usually prey on insects as well as frogs, toads and mice. While they are venomous, they are not necessarily deadly to humans, citing that their venom is actually weaker than a typical bee sting. Meanwhile, tarantulas' hairy legs, which they are known for, are used to defend themselves from potential predators.

"If the attacker makes physical contact with the spiders, the hairs can be rubbed off on . . . [or,] flicked toward potential attackers. These hairs are quite irritating if they land on the eyes or mucus membranes," Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal, an arachnologist at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, told Live Science.

Burke Museum cited that for spider owners, the only hazard tarantulas could pose is irritation due to their hairs. These hairs can cause skin rashes or inflammation of eyes and nasal passage, which is why one should always wash his or her hands after handling the spider.

There are more than 850 species of these nocturnal arachnids which are often found in tropical, subtropical and desert regions.

READ: 200 Creepy Montserrat Tarantulas Born in Captivity for the First Time in UK