Although our homes are built specifically to keep nature in the great outdoors — where it belongs — nature is occasionally going to find a way in. Let’s face it, it’s good to be out of the wind and the cold, where it’s all warm and cozy and dry. It’s little wonder mice and the like want to come in during the winter months.
However, most of us will try to evict those critters when we discover they’ve been living with us rent-free. But not everybody will do that, apparently.
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I have to admit, I don’t think a huntsman spider would be welcome in my house.
They’re not particularly nasty — there are many, many varieties of arachnids that are more deadly to humans. Although their bites will sting, for sure, and maybe cause some mild nausea, they won’t kill you. Which is a bit surprising, because huntsman spiders get their name because they don’t build webs to catch prey — they hunt.
So, while they won’t kill you, or even put you out of action for long, huntsman spiders are notorious for putting the heebie jeebies into people because they’re big, and they’re quick. In fact, in terms of leg-span, they’re the largest spiders in the world.
These things have been known to take down possums.
Typically, they’ll just eat insects but this one decided to interrupt a couple’s getaway by getting its snack on with a full-on possum right in their hotel room. Yikes.
In Australia, they’ve been known to invade cars as well as homes — the Australian Museum notes that huntsman spiders are often “found hiding behind sun visors or running across the dashboard.”
One Tiktok user even got out of her car in traffic after discovering one of these critters in her ride.
But a huntsman spider was a welcome guest in Jake Gray’s house.
The Australian posted this pic of an absolute giant on the Australian spider identification Facebook page , writing “Check out this big girl. Been watching her grow over last year. Cairns north Queensland. The mighty huntsman.”
Talk about a cool customer! He’s been living with this monster, watching it grow, for over a year!
And it seems that actor Henry Cavill agrees that “monster” is a good term to describe the spider.
When Instagram user and artist @bosslogic reposted Gray’s pic on his page, Cavill chimed in to say “Toss me a coin,” suggesting that Geralt of Rivia, his character from The Witcher , might be up to the task of removing the spider, for a price.
Cavill could turn that into a side hustle Down Under.
Seriously, there have been tons of reports from people absolutely freaked out by these giants, not nearly as chill about their discoveries as Gray was.
So, it’s good to know that while they’re certainly big, they’re all legs and not deadly at all, just in case Henry Cavill has other things to do.
