Giant Spider Rescue Video Horrifies Social Media

Twitter users were horrified by a viral video showing a giant spider clinging to a brand during historic floods in Queensland, Australia. The man who spotted the spider rescued it.

According to 9News, the video was first shared by Andrea Gofton, outside a SPAR Supermarket in Halifax, a town northeast of Ingham, on Sunday. A man detached the branch with the spider still clinging on for dear life, and took it away from the water.

The spider is believed to be a Whistling Spider, which is named for the sound it makes. They are not found outside of Australia.

According to the Queensland Museum, their bite is fatal to dogs and cats, but it can cause a serious illness to a human. News.com.au reports that they often have a leg span of 16 centimeters (6.2 inches) and a body length of 6 centimeters (2.3 inches). Its diet usually consists of lizards, frogs, insects and other spiders, and rarely eats birds. Male tarantulas usually die after mating at around five years old, but females have a lifespan up to 30 years.

North Queensland has been seeing historic rains for the past four days, with over 700 millimeters (27.5 inches) of rain falling in the region. In Ingham, over 200 homes were flooded, nd residents in Innisfail needed to evacuate, reports Yahoo7. The Courier Mail reports that rain finally began to stop on Saturday, but the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast more rain in the coming days.

The huge spider rescue shocked Twitter users, and some wondered why the man took the time to save the tarantula before himself.

Photo credit: Twitter/The Courier Mail