An Australian family has made the news for their unlikely house companion. Annette Gray and her family have been sharing their home with a crawly, 8-legged friend.
Spiders may leave cobwebs around and seem annoying, but they’re basically free pest-control.
Annette Gray and her son Jake are among the people who know that spiders are more afraid of people than we are of them, so there’s no harm in having one of these itsy bitsy friends inside their hou- OH MY GOD
Okay, so turns out, there’s nothing itsy bitsy about this spider.
This is Charlotte. She’s a huntsman spider, and is quite a few leagues away in size from your typical, coin-sized house spiders. We have no hard confirmation on this, but I’m throwing out a good guess that she’s named after Charlotte’s Web.
"Owner" Jake Gray says that Charlotte moves from room to room and never bothers anyone in the home.https://trib.al/HVEcszm
Posted by KTSM 9 News onMonday, November 30, 2020
“Check out this big girl. Been watching her grow over last year.” – Jake Gray wrote in the post
Australia is known for many things. It’s got great prairies, the Sydney Opera House, and it also gave us Chris Hemsworth and Margot Robbie.
But if there’s one thing that really puts Australia on the map, it’s the wildlife.
Some of the largest reptiles, insects and birds call Australia home. Cassowaries and Emus are about as common as an occasional deer walking across the road in the US and Europe. Just replace the docile, herbivorous demeanor with that of a 6-foot tall bird.
Charlotte the spider has been living with Annette and Jake for over a year now.
I’ve got to give credit where credit is due, keeping your cool with a giant spider in your house for that long is no small feat. In fact, Jake assures everyone that Charlotte is pretty friendly, and spends most of her days walking from room to room and eating bugs.
All in all, it’s just like having a polite tenant in your home. Just one with 8 legs that likes to climb the walls.
Not to dissimilar from what tenants normally do, right?
“We’ve watched Charlotte grow over the last year or so. She never bothered us. She moves about the house, pops up room to room, eats all the bugs.”
Turns out, despite that gangly, eight-leggedness and the fact her family of spiders are called “Huntsmans”, Charlotte doesn’t really mean any harm.
In fact, “Huntsman Spider” doesn’t really narrow things down that much.
“Huntsman Spiders” are a whole family, the Sparassidae. While the more impressive specimens are the ones making the news, such as Charlotte, not every member of the Hunstman family is as imposing.
Charlotte’s impressive stature is characteristic of Holconia immanis, a.k.a the Giant Banded Huntsman Spider. So even in a family of impressive specimens, Charlotte’s species stands out for an obvious reason. Going by exact measurements, Jake estimates she’s about 15cm in leg span now.
Given all the info we have on Charlotte, she’d better be paying her share of the rent.
Though looking imposing, the Giant Banded Huntsman prefers to feed on insects, other smaller spiders, and anything else in that size category.
That said, I wouldn’t blame you if your heart jumped out of your chest at the sight of one in your room.
Just don’t take it out on them, they can’t help the way they look! Spiders are friends, truly.
Those pesky insects spreading diseases and buzzing in your ears? They’re here to take care of those for you. Charlotte is a great example. 1 whole year living with the Gray family, and she’s been nothing but friendly.
I would say “she wouldn’t hurt a fly”, but that’s literally her job.
The spider in the picture is named Charlotte and it is a Banded Huntsman Spider, according to Jake Gray. Gray says that Charlotte moves from room to room and never bothers anyone in the home.
Posted by Eyewitness News onTuesday, December 1, 2020
Jake Gray’s unlikely house tenant has been making the news. Alas, all the “Burn the house” comments keep coming. Poor Charlotte and her kind are really misunderstood.
Let’s give Charotte some better PR, why don’t we? Give that share button a click, and find some of your wildlife loving friends to tag and send it to as well!
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