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TikTok User Casually Allows 'Redback Spider' To Crawl Up His Arm

TikTok User Casually Allows 'Redback Spider' To Crawl Up His Arm

He gave us collective anxiety with the creepy crawly vid.

Jessica Lynch

Jessica Lynch

You'd have to be next-level clueless to casually let a redback spider crawl all over your hand, you know, given they're one of the world's most venomous spiders.

But one bloke was dumb enough to let what looked like a redback hitch a ride on his arm.

The TikTok user has given users of the video-sharing platform collective anxiety after he shared a clip of what seem to be the famous Australian spider waltzing all over his hand.

Even more worryingly, he captioned the video: "Do you guys know what this spider call?" *insert facepalm here*

Look, I don't know if this he's taking the p*** or not (one could only hope so), but first of all, who in their right mind goes and picks up a random spider and lets it chill out on their bare hand?! In Australia, no less.

Secondly, when said spider has a blatant bright red mark on its butt wouldn't you be like 'maybe I... shouldn't pick up this random spider of which I have no idea what it is'?!

After the video was posted to Reddit's Australia subreddit, several users shared their concern for the seemingly clueless TikTok user.

One user wrote: "Amputate with extreme prejudice."

Another joked: "Death wish? What death wish?"

julie burgher (Flickr)

The redback spider, also known as the Australian black widow, is a highly venomous spider that resides in Australia, south-eat Asia and New Zealand, although it's only the female that is considered dangerous.

Numbers of redback spider bites are uncertain, but around 2,000 are reported each year and roughly 250 people have to get anti-venom. No deaths have been recorded since redback anti-venom became available in the 1950s.

The title of the most 'dangerous' spider in the world belongs to the funnel-web spider - although only male Sydney funnel-webs will result in human death.

The Australian Museum notes there have only been 13 deaths related to the funnel-web spider, with zero recorded deaths since the development of the anti-venom in the early 1980s.

Meanwhile, in other creepy-crawly news, hordes of huntsman spiders have begun to emerge throughout Australia as the arachnid's population booms at the end of summer.

The hairy spider has a tendency to take up residence in our bathrooms, bedrooms and.. well, pretty much anywhere else that's guaranteed to give you a major fright if you're an arachnophobe.

But Macquarie University arachnologist Dr Lizzy Lowe has assured everyone there's no reason to be afraid of our eight-legged friends.

"Huntsmen don't have very good eyesight. They see light and dark and movement and that's about all," Dr Lowe told Weatherzone.

"They will never intentionally run towards you because they're small and not highly venomous. They can bite you, but they won't do any harm.

"Huntsmen are super fast but they get confused, so if a huntsman is running towards you, it's confused.

"They're not aggressive spiders at all and they generally stay high up because that's where they're finding the food they want to eat."

According to the doc, if you happen to spot a clump of baby huntsman spiders in your home, it's probably best to let them be.

Featured Image Credit: TikTok

Topics: Animals, Australia, tiktok