We’re not all afraid of bugs— but a big, nasty-looking spider is enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies.
This week, one Australian couple had their evening interrupted by an enormous (and terrifying) eight-legged invader.
On the evening of the home invasion, Lauren Ansell and her boyfriend were enjoying a peaceful night at home with their cat Aurora.
Lauren’s boyfriend was in the midst of cooking dinner when he glanced at the window, shocked to see the giant arachnid aggressor giving him the eye.
Lauren told the Sunshine Coast Daily the spider was as a large as a grown man’s hand. Other media sources, like The Sun, have been describing it as the size of a dinner plate.
The spider in question is a huntsman spider. Although they are not terribly dangerous to humans, they can become aggressive when aggravated.
So, when Lauren and her boyfriend tried to remove him from the glass, this enormous huntsman was not a happy camper.
Lauren tells the Sunshine Coast Daily, “[The spider] was preventing us from using our barbecue […] We made it unhappy as we tried to move it so we could cook.”
The couple tried a few different tactics to rid themselves of the arachnid, including enlisting the help of their cat Aurora. Unfortunately, the kitty was petrified of the giant creature, and the spider remained unmoved.
Finally, the long encounter came to a conclusion when Ansell’s boyfriend resorted to crushing the spider with their glass door. Lauren describes the event to Sunshine Coast Daily, saying:
“My boyfriend tried to squish it in the door, but the spider was smart. The door only claimed two of its legs and it dropped and ran into the garden.”
Although the spider is no longer watching Lauren and her boyfriend through their window, the couple believes he’s likely still hanging around.
The two have since nicknamed the huntsman Aragog after the Harry Potter character, joking that he “has run into the forbidden forest.”
Although huntsman spiders are fairly common in Australia and the UK, they are only seen in Southern American states such as Florida and Arizona, where the weather stays above freezing all year round.
As mentioned, the huntsman spider is not very aggressive, but their venom is known to cause symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, and heart palpitations, reports The Sun UK.
Check out a short clip of the terrifying encounter below.
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