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Australian Woman Rescues Tarantula Clinging For Life In Flood

Australian Woman Rescues Tarantula Clinging For Life In Flood

Andrea Gofton saved the whistling spider as it hung on for dear life to a tree branch during a flash flood in north Queensland, Australia.

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden

No matter what life-threatening situation they're in, spiders will never be the top of anyone's sympathy list - particularly if they're as huge as the ones you get in Australia.

However, one Australian woman has proven to be more understanding after she went out of her way to save the life of a tarantula as it clung onto a tree branch to escape a flash flood.

Andrea Gofton filmed her daring rescue of the spider, believed to be an Eastern tarantula, in north Queensland, which is currently enduring some pretty heavy rain ahead of a tropical cyclone.

Despite the size and risk of the spider - which can cause severe vomiting in humans - Andrea didn't seem too scared of it, captioning the vid: "My excitement for the day...saving a spider."

Guess tropical cyclones are commonplace for her.

According to Gofton, the spider was later placed on an avocado tree near a pharmacy where it could safely ride out the storm.

Nine

The eastern tarantula, a protected species in Queensland, was likely flushed out of its burrow due to the flood, an expert later revealed.

Spider expert Alan Henderson told Daily Mail Australia that he was pleased to see people making the effort to save the spider.

"It's great that someone has taken the time to rescue her," Henderson told the paper.

"But many people will kill them just due to misguided fear and myths about how dangerous spiders really are."

Henderson added that while being flushed from its burrow wouldn't have been enough to kill the spider, being out in the open would have left it vulnerable to predators.

Judging by the size of the spider, he said that it 'could be over ten years old', and it would have drowned eventually had Andrea not stepped in.

Nine

"Of course, in the water it would drown, although the hairs on its body do protect it from drowning for a little while," he said.

While Henderson was chuffed that Andrea saved the spider, people on social media were less forgiving, with some even suggesting she should have let it fend for itself.

"Should have let that drown, don't need that kind of negativity in this world," one woman wrote.

"Why would anyone rescue it," another agreed.

"Look at the size of it, looks like it could eat your whole family,' a third person added.

Good thing the spider isn't on social media and is probably still bothered with riding out the storm. Keep on crawling on, kidder.

Featured Image Credit: Nine

Topics: Spider, World News, News, flooding, Spiders, Animals, Australia