A monster tarantula which was making a whistling sound as it desperately clung to a tree branch to avoid raging floods has been rescued by a brave woman.
The tarantula, understood to be a whistling spider, was spotted just centimetres from the water as residents in north Queensland prepared for a cyclone.
Andrea Gofton shared a video showing her relocating the arachnid, captioning the squeamish footage: ‘My excitement for the day… saving a spider.’
A monster tarantula which was making a whistling sound as it desperately clung to a tree branch to avoid raging floods has been rescued by a brave woman
But social media users were quick to express their terror at the size of the spider, with a majority of commenters joking the woman should have let it drown.
‘Should have let that drown, don’t need that kind of negativity in this world,’ wrote one woman.
‘Why would anyone rescue it,’ agreed another.
‘Look at the size of it, looks like it could eat your whole family,’ added a third person.
The spider doesn’t move an inch during the entire video but was saved from being swept away.
‘It was then placed on an avocado tree near a pharmacy.
Alan Henderson, a spider expert from Minibeast Wildlife told Daily Mail Australia the Australian Tarantula had likely been flushed out of its burrow due to the deluge.
This breed of spider is a protected species in Queensland and Mr Henderson said it was pleasing to see people take the time to rescue it.
‘My excitement for the day…saved a spider,’ Queenslander Andrea Gofton helped to save an Australian Tarantula left helpless in flood waters
‘It’s great that someone has taken the time to rescue her,’ he said.
‘But many people will kill them just due to misguided fear and myths about how dangerous spiders really are.’
Due to that misguided notion it was ‘fantastic’ to see this act of kindness he said.
Being flushed form its burrow would not be enough to kill the spider however it would leave it exposed.
‘Out of it’s burrow it would be vulnerable to predators,’ he said.
It was then placed on an avocado tree near a pharmacy after being rescued from the flood water
‘Of course, in the water it would drown, although the hairs on its body do protect it from drowning for a little while.’
Mr Henderson said the spider looked to be of mature size.
‘This spider could be over ten years old,’ he said.
‘They can live 10 to 15 years and it looks to be quite a well developed specimen.’
Spider expert Alan Henderson from Minibeast Wildlife told the Daily Mail the Australian Tarantula had likely been flushed out of its burrow due to the deluge