Pet owner is left horrified after finding his goldfish being dragged out of his pond by a giant SPIDER in South Africa
- Jérémy Schalkwijk, 33, was showing off his goldfish to a new girlfriend
- The giant nursery web spider dived in and dragged Cleo the fish up a wall
- Tour guide Jérémy captured the bizarre moment on camera
A pet owner showing off his goldfish to a new girlfriend was left stunned when a spider dived in and dragged it out of his pond.
Jérémy Schalkwijk, 33, watched in amazement as the giant nursery web spider sunk its teeth into Cleo the fish and hauled it away.
Despite being half the size of the fish, the hungry spider incredibly managed to drag its prey up the vertical concrete wall at the edge of the pond.
Tour guide Jérémy said although he was horrified he couldn’t resist capturing the bizarre moment on camera.
Despite being half the size of the fish, the hungry spider incredibly managed to drag its prey up the vertical concrete wall at the edge of the pond.
The spider dragged the fish out of this pond in Barberton, South Africa
Jérémy was showing off his fish to his new girlfriend Athina Yalias on their second date in Barberton, South Africa
He said: ‘It was a crazy, crazy sight. You don’t see that every day.’
Jérémy was showing off his fish to his new girlfriend Athina Yalias on their second date in Barberton, South Africa, around 225 miles east of Johannesburg.
He added: ‘I couldn’t believe that a spider would be able to carry something twice its weight like that.
‘I’ve never seen something like that before. I knew that spiders could fish, but never such a large size.
The spider hauled its prey up the wall using a combination of its fangs and front legs.
‘You see it sometimes with small fish like fingerlings, but never with a goldfish. This was twice the weight of the spider.’
Jérémy said he watched the arachnid lowering itself into the pool while clinging onto the edge and then hauling its prey up the wall using a combination of its fangs and front legs.
He rushed to get Athina to show her what was happening but when they returned the spider and its prey were ‘nowhere to be found’.
Jérémy said: ‘I spotted this on the second date I had with Athina.
‘She couldn’t believe it. She is not a real bush woman so she doesn’t have much experience with animals, but she was so impressed.
‘When we came back out both animals were nowhere to be found.
‘We have a pond with goldfish and I just wanted to show her the fish, then I saw this.
‘I could see the spider catching the fish and it had taken it out of the water.
‘The spider can fish if there’s grass or a branch above the water, but this was a vertical concrete pond.
‘I tried to take the picture of the spider above the water so you can see it’s vertical. It would be difficult.’
Jérémy was showing off his fish to his new girlfriend Athina Yalias on their second date in Barberton, South Africa
Tour guide Jérémy Schalkwijk saw his goldfish being dragged out of a pond by a spider
Jérémy was showing off his fish to his new girlfriend Athina Yalias on their second date in Barberton, South Africa