Swarms of spiders and snakes are scrambling to try and escape the flood waters in southeastern Australia.
As Matt Lovenfosse pulled up to his home in the morning, he was greeted by a carpet of brown – millions of spiders covering the ground.
“It’s amazing. It’s crazy,” he told a local news reporter. “The spiders all crawled up on to the house, on to fences and whatever they can get on to.”
Snakes are also seeking higher ground. Lovenfosse added, “The trees are full of snakes. If you take the boat out over the paddock, they swim towards it trying to get on something dry, same with the spiders.”
Melanie Williams was shocked by a swarm of spiders climbing the exterior walls of her home. Williams said, “I occasionally see spiders around the place but never anything like that, it was just insane.” She went on and told reporters that a neighbor of hers had twice as many spiders inside his garage.
Most of these spiders are harmless to humans. However, there are a number of funnel-web spiders that are also invading the area. Funnel-web spiders are exceptionally venomous, and potentially one of the most dangerous spiders on the planet.
Close to 40 inches of rain has fallen in some areas. This excessive rain caused a major dam to overflow, adding even more water to swollen rivers. Flash floods are now occurring and some areas have been declared as disaster zones. About 18,000 people have had to be evacuated.
