Man opens car door to find ‘at least 100’ huge spiders hatching
It’s a sight to send any arachnophobe running for the hills – so look away now if you’re squeamish.
Craig Baulderstone, 59, recently was shocked to find ‘at least 100’ spiders nestled in his car’s door.
The terrifying incident took place, fortunately, thousands of miles away in Adelaide, South Australia.
Craig took photos of the army of arachnids and their nest and it was soon determined that they were huntsman spiders.
His pictures showed an egg sac bursting with spiders in the door of his Mercedes.
Craig said: ‘The car is actually a rally car that had been sitting since end of season last year and I opened the door to do some work on it.
‘They were near the door lock mechanism and outside of the rubber dust seal, which would largely prevent them getting inside.
‘Although it is not uncommon for adults to find their way in somehow.
‘I guess there must have been at least 100 all up.’
Predictably, Craig’s photos inspired arachnophobia for some.
‘You should probably go shopping for a new car,’ wrote one person, ‘they own your car now.’
‘That’s a lot of huntsmen to suddenly fall out when you lower the sun visor one day,’ said another.
But others thought the nest was a wonder to behold – including Craig.
‘Excitement would be best description,’ the retired ecologist said.
‘I very carefully closed the door again and went and got the wife and kids to see.
‘I took photos and carefully closed the door again, and found another job to do so I could leave them in peace to disperse. I checked back in two days and they were all gone.
‘I feel privileged to have caught them in that snapshot in time, but also knowing that this is happening all around me, under bits of bark etc.’
The 59-year-old added that cars and houses were not a great habitat for spiders, and that they’d often find their own way out.
He said: ‘I fear spiders – and snakes for that matter – a lot less than I fear people.
‘They never set out to hurt you and their behaviour is much more predictable.
‘Their aim is to eat and breed. There is beauty in everything, even spiders, which also make great bird food if you love birds more. Squashing them is a waste!’
He may have a word or two to exchange with Jared Splatt, from Melbourne, Australia.
He was cleaning out the boot of his car when he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of a giant huntsman spider and a massive egg sac of baby arachnids.
Faced with the prospect of facing a spider invasion in his car, the 39-year-old lived up to his surname and decided to splat the lot of them.
‘It quickly turned it into an annihilation mission,’ Mr Splatt said.
‘I grabbed the can of mortein and went to town – scorched earth like Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder.
‘I flicked it off the car, covered it in white chemical death and then promptly stomped on the egg sac; some green goop shot out.
‘My view was I’d saved the neighbourhood from 200 plus one hunstmans.’
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