Warning: This article contains graphic images which some readers may find distressing.
A huntsman spider so big it ate a whole possum has left social media users quivering in fear.
Australia has never been top of my travel list, not because it doesn't look like a gorgeous, sun-filled destination, but because of my innate fear of creepy crawlies. One couple's find has certainly just cemented my reluctance to ever make the trip over. Arachnophobics, turn away now.
Justine Latton from Tasmania took to Facebook Group 'Tasmanian Insects and Spiders' - yes, I'm not making it up, there is actually such a page - to share not just one, but several images her husband Adam took of a huntsman spider so big it consumed an entire possum.
Australian Huntsman spiders typically have a body length of around two centimeters (0.7 inches) if female and 1.6cm (0.6cm) if male, with a whopping leg span of up to 15cm (5.9 inches), as per the Australian Museum.
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Justine told ABC back in 2019 she believed the possum was actually a pygmy possum, which can be 'as large as 12cm (4.7 inches) 'from 'head to tail' or 'as small as five centimeters (1.9 inches),' according to Bush Heritage Australia.
"They weigh between 10g (0.35 ounces) and 50g (1.76 ounces)," it adds.
Nevertheless, the sight is still not something I'd personally want to see, but Justine reported Adam and a friend who he was with at the time remained remarkably calm.
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If you're arachnophobic and want to know where the huntsman spider's feasting took place in a bid to avoid it or are a fan of the creatures and want an in-person peep into where some of the big 'uns are hiding, the images were taken at Mount Field Lodge.
Justine said Adam and his friend Roger were repairing a door at the ski lodge when he spotted the spider.
"He just goes, 'Roger, don't freak out but just look above your head,'" she said, "And it was about 20-30 centimeters [7.8 - 11.8 inches] above him."
However, Roger - who's since been nicknamed the 'bravest spider man in the world' - simply got an ice cream container, boxed the spider up and took it outside, the spider safely released back into the wild.
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As you'd expect, not everyone who saw the images on social media had quite as calm a reaction.
One X user said: "Sod that. Nothing needs eight legs."
"Oh no way," another added.
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A third commented: "Me: I saw a pic of a huntsman spider eating a possum & I will never sleep again.
"@veryheathmiller, an intellectual: *googles* Eh. That’s a pygmy possum it’s only like this big *holds fingers a FAT gerbil length apart*
"Me: You have never been more Australian than in this moment."
Topics: Animals, Facebook, Social Media, Viral, Australia, Nature
Poppy Bilderbeck