A Brit living in Australia almost crashed his car when he clocked a massive spider crawling along the windscreen as he whizzed down the highway.
Scottish expat Lindsay Vine, who is originally from Kirkcaldy in Fife, was driving a pickup truck from Sydney to Sanctuary Point when the creepy-crawly suddenly appeared.
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Vine, 40, was finally able to stop at the next petrol station, where he recorded a video of the huge insect, saying: "I've told him, if he f***ing moves one more time, I'll crash and kill us both."
Vine had been an hour-and-a-half into his journey when the 'b***y huge spider' appeared.
He said: "I was driving along the highway listening to some Cyndi Lauper and singing my heart out when all of a sudden, a shadowless entity appeared on the windscreen. It was a bloody huge spider!
"He just walked all blasé across the entire window."
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Vine reckons the spider - a huntsman - was about the size of his outstretched hand, continuing: "I was petrified mate.
"I froze. My heart stopped and I locked arms. Some ancestral instinct kicked in to preserve all life on board.
"I knew there were spiders in Australia and I knew from watching Octonauts on TV that wildlife - mostly - only attacks if it feels threatened or scared.
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"I also had to mentally prepare myself for the event of being jumped on.
"I just kept thinking of the 'face hugger' scene in the Alien movies and tried to formulate an instant action plan should that happen to me."
Vine managed to drive on for 20 minutes, talking to the spider to keep the two of them calm.
However, his eight-legged friend suddenly disappeared.
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He recalled: "I didn't know if it had jumped on the passenger seat or dashboard, or even me!
"I s*** myself - not literally, but figuratively.
"That's when I panicked a little and threatened to crash the car and kill us both if it didn't make itself known.
"That's also when little flies, mosquitoes or even air from the vents tickles your legs and you immediately think it's the spider.
"It was total torture for 20 minutes in the pitch dark.
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"I kept scanning the inside cabin - I'm genuinely amazed I didn't crash that night - until I saw the spider hiding behind the passenger visor."
Vine - who moved to Australia to be with his Aussie wife - explained how he arrived at the petrol station and carefully opened the passenger door, hoping the spider would scuttle out.
But when it didn't, he ran into diner to seek help from a 'beautiful bearded man', who Vine dubbed his 'hairy hero'.
Thankfully, the stranger was able to remove the huntsman, a species known for their sheer size - and include among their number the largest spider in the world by leg span, the giant huntsman.
They have a venomous bite that's used to incapacitate prey, which can cause headaches, vomiting and heart palpitations in humans, but they're not generally seen as harmful to people.
Vine added: "I think I was very brave actually... my family disagree."
Featured Image Credit: Pen News
Topics: Spider, News, Animals, Australia