Mum Captures ‘David And Goliath’ Battle Between Deadly Spiders In Her Mailbox

A mother has snapped a photo of an epic David and Goliath battle between a deadly redback spider and a huge huntsman that happened in her mailbox.

Amie Dreyer, 43, from Mullumbimbi in New South Wales, was collecting her mail from her huge mailbox when she came across the unusual encounter.

Despite both Australian arachnids being widely feared, animal lover Amie said she was ‘delighted’ by the creepy-crawlies because she hasn’t seen the species in her neighborhood for over two decades.

“I was really delighted. I love things like this,” she said. “There’s heaps of wildlife on the move lately.”

Instead of getting scared, Amie said she was even amazed by what she saw. “The first thing I thought was ‘Oh my god, that’s so beautiful’,” she said.

She decided to put on hold her attempt to put her message on the mailbox and just hurriedly took a photo of the epic battle. “After I took the first photo, the redback retreated into its lair and I realised I would be putting myself in danger if I got too close. I thought about putting a message on my letterbox for the postman but then I probably wouldn’t get my mail,” Amie said.

The fight happened when the huntsman got too close to the redback’s web, trapping itself before the smaller arachnid leapt out of its nest and poisoned it. The redback’s venom was so strong that the huntsman was slowly liquified inside until the unlikely conqueror could drink its flesh.

Huntsman spiders are Australia’s largest spiders and can grow up to 20cm in leg span, but their bite is non-venomous, while redback spiders, despite being small, can be deadly to humans with their poisonous bite.

However, redbacks are only aggressive if their web is disturbed and sometimes give a warning bite without any venom as a threat.

With the warmer weather, cold-blooded animals like spiders are starting to get out in the open to look for shelter or a mate, but in this case, for survival.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk