A CREEPY blanket of cobwebs covering shrubs, grass and road signs in Australia has been dubbed a ‘spider apocalypse’ amid heavy rains and flooding in Victoria.
With more rain forecast this week, it is believed that the creepy critters may continue to weave the spooky veil across the countryside in an attempt to escape the flood waters.
The raised webs show the spider’s attempts to escape the floodwaters and take refuge on higher ground in Gippsland, Victoria.
The southeastern state was ravaged by heavy rains and high winds, forcing thousands to evacuate.
Parts of the region were closed last week after rain left residents without power and an additional 15 to 25mm is expected to fall.
Local reports suggest the phenomenon is known as hot air ballooning, where cooler weather conditions prompted spiders to cover expanses of land in cloud-like cobwebs in an attempt to shelter from the conditions. wet.
Despite the eerie images of the spooky blankets, one resident, whose city is covered in them, is delighted to welcome the spooky critters.
Darren McCubbin from Longford, Victoria told the Australian Breakfast Show today: “It’s absolutely fantastic meeting you from the capital city of the spider city.
“Millions of spiders have these spider webs and have surrounded the city. They are everywhere, on road signs, in trees, on bushes. “
” They are magnificent. “
Mr McCubbin said people were flocking to the city to capture the natural phenomenon.
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“There are people stopping by the side of the road,” he said.
“It’s happening here in Longford, because we’re the spider capital of Australia.
“The city has spent thousands of dollars on a marketing campaign called ‘Middle of Everywhere’, but it takes a million spiders out of the swamp and suddenly people are flocking to your city.
“You could sell T-shirts by the side of the road. “
University of Sydney Professor Dieter Hochuli determined the insects to be web spiders and said the behavior was not unusual after the floods.
“They build a web that is a little different from the ones we’re more familiar with, like orbs webs, these are flat and spiders often live between two layers of web,” he told 7 News. .
“When we get this kind of really heavy rains and flooding, these animals that cryptically spend their lives on the ground can’t live there anymore and do exactly what we’re trying to do – they move to the heights. “
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In March this year, the critters swarmed New South Wales towns, not only in the countryside, but also swarming with fence posts, lampposts and the sides of houses as they also fled the floods.
Arachnids even climb on people’s legs in an attempt to escape record-breaking downpours, witnesses have told the Guardian.
Shenae and Steve Varley said the spiders were covering “the entire length of the railing” at Penrith Dam in western Sydney on Sunday.
“There were also skinks, ants, pretty much all the bugs, crickets – all just trying to get away from the floodwaters,” Shenae said.
Horrific ‘Australian spider swarms’ images show eight-legged creatures escaping floods
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