By Laura Geggel, Senior
Writer | March 12, 2018 05:08pm ET
A giant, hairy tarantula that was
clinging for dear life to a branch with all eight of its legs is now in a much
safer — and somewhat drier — spot, thanks to two spider lovers who rescued it
from a flooded street in Queensland, Australia.
Andrea Gofton posted a
video of the daring rescue on Facebook Monday (March 12),
Queensland time, saying, "My excitement for the day...saved a
spider." [Goliath
Birdeater: Images of a Colossal Spider]
Many people wouldn't protect a
tarantula (most people don't even want to be in the same ZIP code as a
poisonous arachnid), but that's not what's weird about this video, said Lorenzo
Prendini, curator of arachnida and myriapoda at the American Museum of
Natural History in New York City.
The weird thing is the
tarantula's behavior, Prendini said.
This tarantula, thought to be a
whistling spider, typically lives in a silk-lined burrow under the ground,
Prendini said. But it has rained so much in north Queensland recently — more
than 15 inches (40 centimeters) in four days, according
to the Aussie news station nine.com.au— that the floodwater likely
washed the tarantula out of its burrow, Prendini said. From there, the
tarantula apparently scrambled up the tree limb to escape the rising waters.
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