It’s never been a good time to be an arachnophobe in Australia, however things have gotten a lot more hairy in recent times following a boom of fearsome funnel-web spiders.
The Sydney funnel-web spider has the gulp-worthy honour of being the world’s deadliest spider, and they are currently strolling about in greater numbers thanks to recent wet and humid conditions having created the ideal mating environment.
Staff at the Australian Reptile Park have asked the good people of Australia for any collected male funnel-web spiders to be brought to the park or to one of its drop-off points, providing leggy participants for their life-saving antivenom program. And boy, have they delivered.
The biggest funnel-web to be brought to the Australian Reptile Park is an absolute whopper, making his fellow funnel-webs look like titchy-tiny money spiders in comparison.
Found in Newcastle, New South Wales, the aptly-named Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is the biggest funnel-web the park has encountered this season. And I would honestly feel quite intimidated if I spotted this bulky boy down at the gym.
Although he may look like a bit of a tough nut, Dwayne will serve a very important purpose during his time at the park, in-between slurping down fly protein shakes of course.
As part of its anti-venom program, Dwayne’s venom will be ‘milked’ by experts at the park to make life-saving antivenom to the funnel-web’s notorious bite.
Check out Dwayne in action below:
Liz Gabriel, Director of the Australian Reptile Park, told ABC News:
Having Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as part of the venom program is so amazing because he will save a lot of lives with the venom he will produce.
He is unusually large and more spiders like him will only result in more lives being saved due to the huge amount of venom they can produce.
Australian Reptile Park keeper Jake Meney described Dwayne as being ‘certainly the biggest male funnel-web I’ve ever seen donated to the park’.
With a bite that can kill a human in 15 minutes, you are not going to want to pick a male Sydney funnel-web up in your hand. Their venom – which is six times more potent than their female counterparts – possesses a neurotoxin component that attacks the human nervous system, and can be fatal.
Although there hasn’t been a reported funnel-web related death since the 1980s, experts at the Australian Reptile Park are urging people to remain vigilant during this current beastie-boom.
If you’re brave enough to turn your spider-catcher on a funnel-web, you can check out the full list of spider drop off points here.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.