Mammoth spider eating a bird in Australian backyard

by Tina Kells | October 23, 2008 at 01:26 pm

22746 views | 13 Recommendations | 12 comments

The golden orb weaver is not the largest spider in the world, but it is one of the creepiest. The Internet has been abuzz over this mammoth spider, a native species in Australia, after a photo showing a spider eating a bird began circulating via email.

The image was captured by a resident of Cairns, Australia, who saw the gruesome display of nature in his own backyard. In the image, a chestnut breasted mannikin is being devoured by the giant golden orb weaver. A mammoth spider eating an average sized bird is a creepy visual to imagine, how awful it must have been to see for real!

See images of the giant spider eating a bird as the bird tries to fly away for its life.

THIS amazing image of a mammoth spider devouring a bird was taken in the backyard of a property near Cairns.

The image, which is being cirulated via email worldwide, is real, according to wildlife experts, The Cairns Post reported.

The photo, believed to have been taken earlier this week, shows the spider clenching its legs around a lifeless bird trapped in a web at a property near Atherton, west of Cairns.

Joel Shakespeare, the head spider keeper at NSW's Australian Reptile Park, has told ninemsn the spider was a golden orb weaver.

"Normally they prey on large insects, it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he said.

Mr Shakepeare said he had seen golden orb weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.

Mr Shakespeare told ninemsn the bird, a chestnut-breasted mannikin which appears frozen in an angel-like pose in the pictures, is likely to have flown into the web and got caught.

"It wouldn't eat the whole bird," he said.

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LCHxian

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:22 on October 23rd, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Interesting! hope to see more from you.

Barbara McPherson

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 17:13 on October 23rd, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff. I know all creatures have a place, but spiders are just plain creepy. When they hit with their fangs the venom liquifies the flesh and they suck up the gruesome soup.

Eustaquio Santimano

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 19:16 on October 23rd, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff.

tjgrz11

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 20:33 on October 23rd, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff.

december 25th

at 20:40 on October 23rd, 2008

This is probably a "hunter spider" which, if you look it up like I had to, likes to live in houses and buildings--not outside. This one stayed in our master bedroom for a few days. It just kind of hung out and now it is somewhere else. I used to be really afraid of spiders, but now I don't mind them. I've never heard of anyone being bitten by a hunter spider (unless they are cornered or teased they are not aggressive--they can run *really* fast and they jump!) Anyway, I wish people wouldn't just kill every spider they see. This big ones help to keep the cockroach population under control--so I guess what I am saying is: I understand why someone would kill poisonous spiders, but not all spiders are harmful--we need predators to keep the insect balance under control.

december 25th has contributed a photo to this story.

Sarah Irling

at 00:48 on October 24th, 2008

The Haunted Forest on Heron Shire, Second Life. Full of scary critters and things that go bump in the night. The spiders are so cunning, and hungry!

Sarah Irling has contributed a photo to this story.

haapaflickr

at 05:13 on October 24th, 2008

I can't believe I got this close to this spider. It's but was probably almost an inch around. I used the double lens trick to get this which meant I had to get about half an inch away from it. I kinda wish I wouldn't have rushed it though to get the dof better, but I was crapping my pants thinking this thing was going to jump in my face. If that happened I would have probably shot my camera across the forest and ran away screaming like a little bitch haha.

haapaflickr has contributed a photo to this story.

Ki RIN Photography

at 12:20 on October 24th, 2008

The giant spider in Notting Hill Carnival. This was for sure the best outfit of the day!

Ki RIN Photography has contributed a photo to this story.

roguepyrate

at 10:53 on October 25th, 2008

Photo taken by Rich Schmelter on July 24, 2008.
(Canon 40d / 17-85mm USM lens)

I happened to look to the right as I was leaving my house that morning and was startled by this huge garden spider that was sitting at about eye level on the door jam. The body of this beastie was about 1.75 inches long. Nowhere near the size of the golden orb weaver that ate the bird, but seeing a spider like this about a foot and a half from your face is creepy enough!

roguepyrate has contributed a photo to this story.

Mark-of-Cain

at 22:27 on October 25th, 2008

A small jumping spider.. more chance of a bird eating it than it eat a bird!

Mark-of-Cain has contributed a photo to this story.

Kreative Capture

at 12:15 on October 27th, 2008

Exploding cattails seeds exposed this giant spider web. A work of art by this spider would have gone unseen, had the seeds not revealed it to us.

Kreative Capture has contributed a photo to this story.

kminvfni (not verified)

at 11:42 on October 31st, 2008

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