Spiders 'raining from the sky' in creepy natural phenomenon in Australia

 
Raining cats and spiders: An example of the juvenile Crab spider
YouTube/Pristurus
Sebastian Mann20 May 2015

Millions of spiders have reportedly been raining from the sky in parts of south east Australia.

Local residents described the nightmarish phenomenon, known as Angel Hair, on a community forum quoted by regional paper the Goulburn Post.

Ian Watson is said to have posted after spotting the bizarre scenes around lunchtime last Monday.

“Anyone else experiencing this “Angel Hair” or maybe aka millions of spiders falling from the sky right now," he asked.

"I’m 10 minutes out of town and you can clearly see hundreds of little spiders floating along with their webs and my home is covered in them. Someone call a scientist!

Webbed landscaped: Albury in New South Wales in 1974 following a bout of 'angel hair' (Picture: Kevin Dixon/supplied by Keith Basterfield)
Kevin Dixon

“If you look toward the sun there are millions of them and really high up here, like over 100m or more up, there is also a cotton like substance coming down that is kinda like spider web but not exactly…”

The odd incident is apparently not a complete fantasy. So-called Angel Hair exists because of the way the Crab spider has evolved.

Juvenile arachnids, in a bid to spread themselves out so they can form webs away from others, climb to high points such as trees and fence posts before releasing silk that allows them to be carried on a updraft.

In rare circumstances, the baby spiders can become clumped together forming the large balloons reported spotted in Australia.

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