News.Com in Australia has a story and pictures of a pestilence of spiders that happens every few years when the weather is just right.
It's the strange phenomenon everyone's talking about. The unearthly sight of hundreds of gossamer white threads floating through the air and settling on fields and houses.
...
The astonishing spectacle usually occurs in May or August in Australia, when sunshine follows rainfall. It is rare because it requires an unusual weather pattern for this time of year, which is when spiders are hatching. The spiderlings are light enough to float on threads, sometimes for hundreds of kilometres at up to 20,000 feet. They have even been spotted by aircraft.
Its a migration tactic used by juvenile spiders. Spin a bit of web, and then be blown great distances, landing en masse.
The site has photos of fields covered by webs, as well the webs covered with adult spiders. An arachnophobe's worst nightmare.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:01AM
The air literally hints strongly at spiders?
Nice. I might grow to appreciate Australia.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:27AM
The hint was strong enough to inspire [poetryfoundation.org] the father of free verse.
(by the number of them, seems like lotsa souls have come to appreciate Australia :) )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday May 21 2015, @02:45AM
For an enhanced experience, you may want to try Brazil [youtube.com].
(the brazillian spiders are in the Anelosimus eximius [wikipedia.org] and only present danger for the brazillian butterflies not related to body hair; relevancy: in Australia it'd be too expensive for you to take care of the later)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:08AM
You see, everything and everyone there is out to get you, and that's why the limeys sent their criminals down there.
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Thursday May 21 2015, @02:06PM
Well, it's not so bad.
After all, it could be raining drop-bears instead of little spiders!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:10AM
I'll just reuse this then. [australiangeographic.com.au]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by kramulous on Thursday May 21 2015, @07:06AM
Huh ... look at that. The Eastern brown is only one point above the red-belly black snake.
We pretty much disregard the red-belly here as being non venomous (7/10 on the danger list, ahead of the great white shark). As a result, when I'm programming at my home office and I hear hissing behind me, my cat has caught another one and brought it in to show me. I'd roll my eyes, pick it up, take it outside and release it back into the bush behind my house. Give the cat a pat on the head for being a good boy.
Might take precautions next time. Gloves or something.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday May 21 2015, @05:49PM
Careful. Might not be venomous enough to kill you but it surely is enough to kill your cat...
(Score: 4, Funny) by looorg on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:24AM
This is why if I ever visit Australia I'll be bringing a flamethrower. I'm sure the customs people will be understanding as to my dilemma.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:45AM
Very likely, they are harmless: there's little to no biological pressure for venomous spiders to migrate long distances
Besides, there are beautiful [google.com] spiders [xs4all.nl] here as well, I wouldn't like to have you destroy them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 3, Funny) by EvilSS on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:54AM
Harmless? So unlike practically every thing else in Australia. That must make for a nice change of pace.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday May 21 2015, @02:34AM
Harmless? So unlike practically every thing else in Australia. That must make for a nice change of pace.
Overall, they're about as harmless as some of the sheep [1].
Most spiders are "high hazard" but "low risk". They can be a bit venomous, but they're unlikely to actually bite you because you can always hear them walking around (noisy buggers, they keep you awake at night sometimes).
[1] "Dangerous Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Jellyfish, Insects, Spiders, Crustaceans, Grasses, Trees, Mosses and Lichens of Terror Incognita" Volume 29c, Part Three
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Thursday May 21 2015, @02:39AM
Everything except a funnel web seems to know that even if it bites you, you can still kill it.
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Thursday May 21 2015, @02:46AM
and box jellyfish, salties and maybe brown snakes.
hmmm
(Score: 1) by kramulous on Thursday May 21 2015, @07:20AM
In all fairness, you'd be hard pressed to even see those things.
You should see the size of the fucker on the wall behind me as I type this. Diameter tip-to-tip ... 15cm. She's been hanging around for a couple of weeks now. Would love to know what she's feeding on.
(Score: 3, Informative) by art guerrilla on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:48AM
...as a technically correct sentence; but i think you meant 'en masse', mayhaps...
just a drive-by pedant...
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday May 21 2015, @03:54AM
"en masse" is French, this is Australia! Spiders in mass quantities! Just wait till it starts raining frogs. "Apres le Deluge, Dundee."
(Score: 1) by DeathElk on Thursday May 21 2015, @04:13AM
welcome our new arachno-overlords.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2015, @02:07PM
Arachnado.