Experts warn of plague of dangerous funnel web spiders amid Australia floods
Videos of homes swarmed with small spiders have been common in the past few days, and now the Australian Reptile Park says it's about to get worse.
The worst floods in decades have been wreaking havoc in Australia in recent days, with at least two people killed and thousands more forced to leave their homes.
On top of all that, the flooding has driven Australia's legendarily numerous spiders from their burrows to higher ground, sometimes into people's homes – and, incredibly, experts are warning that it's about to get worse.
Several videos on social media in the state of New South Wales showed innumerable spiders swarming garages and homes, many clutching egg sacs. While some of those videos showed relatively small wolf spiders, the Australian Reptile Park is now warning people to brace for sightings of larger and more venomous funnel-web spiders as skies clear and temperatures rise.
“Not only are we seeing increased movement due to humidity, but we’re already seeing a plague of ground-dwelling spiders searching for higher ground, out of the floodwaters,” the park's director, Tim Faulkner, told Australian media, adding: “Unfortunately, this could mean that they’ll be finding their way into residential homes very shortly.”
Australian funnel-web spiders are among the most venomous in the world, with at least 13 recorded deaths, according to the AFP. However, there have been no deaths since an antivenene program was introduced in the 1980s.
In fact, the Australian Reptile Park produces antivenene from the funnel-web spiders themselves, and the park is asking "responsible adults" to send them any spiders they happen to catch, to aid in the production of more.