Spider Rain Australia- millions of baby spiders were falling from the sky in Southern Tablelands last week. Residents were alarmed on the rare phenomenon after seeing their houses covered with black spiderlings and claimed that it was "spider's invasion."
According to NBC News, Spider Rain Australia is what experts called as "Angel Hair" or "Spider Rain" caused by the silk left by baby spiders.
Spider Rain Australia caused many speculations and confusion among Goulburn residents. Ian Watson, a resident in Goulburn claimed that it looked like it's a "spider invasion" that his home was all covered with the creepy spiders, according to SMH.
"The whole place was covered in these little black spiderlings and when I looked up at the sun it was like this tunnel of webs going up for a couple of hundred meters into the sky," Watson wrote in Goulburn forum in Facebook.
Watson claimed that the Spider Rain Australia looked amazing, but annoying especially he couldn't go out without the spiderwebs attaching to his beard. As he posted his experience in the community Facebook page of Goulburn, he added, "someone call a scientist!"
South Australian retiree Keith Basterfield has been observing the phenomenon such as the Spider Rain Australia since 2201.
"What happens is that during a particular time of the year, particularly in May and August, young spiders in the Outback somewhere throw these threads of spiderwebs up in the air and use them as a parachute to detach themselves from the ground and move in large colonies through the sky," Basterfield stated.
Another expert, Naturalist Martyn Robinson from the Australian Museum has a different view why the Spider Rain Australia happened. Robinson told the Sydney Morning Herald that the spider occurrence can be explained by "ballooning" where the baby spiders used the vegetation and releases silk to aloft.
Robinson claimed that with the happening like Spider Rain Australia, the baby spiders can travel for kilometers. He stated that an entire field can be covered with "angel hair" or "gossamer" that snags easily.
Todd Blackledge, a biology professor at the University of Akron in Ohio said that the Spider Rain Australia is not so uncommon. It's just that people don't notice that this is happening as millions of spiders don't do this all at the same time.
Blackledge added, this is actually what took place in New South Wales when creepy spiderlings balloon during May (autumn) and early spring (August). He noted, sudden wind pattern or weather changes can cuase the spiders to migrate.
Here are some of the rare photos of Spider Rain Australia that you must see!
