If we were to open our letterbox and find a giant spider and hundreds of her babies inside, we would likely faint with the fear.
This wasn’t the case for Australian woman Natasha Joyce, however, who – along with her nephews and young neighbours – was intrigued and excited by the discovery in her own front-garden!
Natasha, from North Bendigo, revealed that she found the mama Huntsman spider in her letterbox back in October, with her egg sac sturdily attached to one corner.
Dubbing the spider ‘Hortense, Protector of the Post’, Natasha and her two young nephews decided to welcome the creepy-crawly and her babies to the neighbourhood.
After seeking advice from Museums Victoria, the trio created a ‘nursery’ using a cardboard box and soft materials, and cautiously awaited the hatching of the eggs.
They had to be careful, though; Natasha was warned by experts that Hortense would be ‘extremely protective’ of her young and would ‘bite much more easily’.
Just a few days ago, Natasha and her nephews opened the letterbox to discover that the baby spiders had finally broken out of their egg sac.
“We were delighted to find today that they were all safely arrived, ready to be eaten by each other and other predators. Congratulations, Hortense the Huntsman Protector of the Post!” wrote Natasha, in a video upload to YouTube.
Given how only around three of the babies will actually reach maturity, we reckon Natasha doesn’t need to worry about a home-invasion – although we’re not exactly sure that she would mind.
Great – now we can’t stop scratching!
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