- Kitty the Holconia immanis gave birth to hundreds of tiny babies in Queensland
- She belongs to Australian Lisa Donovan, 45, who prefers spiders to normal pets
- Lisa keeps dozens of eight-legged creatures in what she calls her ‘bug room’
This video is not for the arachnophobic.
Skin-crawling footage shows a hulking mother huntsman spider covered in hundreds of her tiny babies.
Her new spawn had been born just hours earlier and almost entirely coat her body.
The furry arachnid and its brood belong to Australian Lisa Donovan, 45, who prefers spiders to cats and dogs.
Huntsman lay up to 200 eggs per sac and the creepy crawlies can live to be about two years old.
The tiny spiders are seen in the clip hanging on to their mother, forming a kind of living coat.
The creature’s name is Kitty who is a Holconia immanis huntsman.
The spider family is among dozens of other eight legged pets kept in a room of Ms Donovan’s house, aptly named the ‘bug room’.
Kitty the Holconia immanis huntsman spider gave birth to hundreds of tiny babies just hours before the chill-inducing footage was filmed
She belongs to Australian Lisa Donovan, 45, who prefers spiders to cats or dogs and keeps dozens of eight-legged pets in what she calls her ‘bug room’
Ms Donovan began her love affair with Australian critters after moving from the US nine years ago, and has since welcomed dozens of different species into her home.
Despite once suffering a bite from a huntsman that felt like ‘two needles in her hand’, Ms Donovan’s affection for the eight-legged creatures is unwavering.
Ms Donovan said: ‘I once tried to move a huntsman I thought was dead in the rainforest. It stuck its fangs in me and it hurt more than I could have imagined. It felt like two needles.
‘I’ve always liked wildlife but it wasn’t until I came to Australia I was really wowed by the size and beauty of the spiders. The bigger the better.
‘I know there is a lot of stigma but people should remember they can’t help how it was born or how it looks. They are creatures like any other.’