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Australia Is Warning Residents About A Spider Plague. Not Outside, But In Your Home

January 20, 2017

It's the stuff of nightmares and Australia has the weather to blame.

Queensland Museum's arachnologist Dr. Robert Raven is warning Australians about a sudden surge of giant spiders in the house.

Huntsman spider in Australia

Rain and warm days are encouraging spiders, to come out of their hideaways to feed on emerging insects. However, to escape the heat and rain, the spiders are seeking comfort inside homes.

The spiders crawling around are mostly huntsman, but Dr. Raven predicts redbacks and funnel-webs will soon emerge more often.

"They can't survive outside so they go inside because they have sensitive leg hairs. So when the rain comes, houses can be full of spiders," he said.

It's not just the rain that's causing these creepy crawlies to come out, but also the heatwave.

A huge amount of spiders live in the ceilings, according the Dr. Raven.

In winter they like to hide out near the light fittings to keep warm but in summer, the ceiling gets a little too hot so they crawl into the house through gaps to cool down.

Dr. Raven has asked that nobody put their hand down any pipes because that's where many of the poisonous spiders like to hide out.

And the next time you get out of the shower, it'll be worth checking the towel on the rack for spiders.

"You pick up your towel and the next thing you know you have a huntsman on your face," he said.

(h/t) news.com.au