How many people does it take to remove a huntsman spider? Well, for three friends living together, it took all their best efforts to finally remove the eight-legged intruder from their bathroom.
When Alice Maidment, 20, woke up to the sound of her housemate screeching, she assumed something devastating happened—but the reality turned out to be far worse. Maidment and her two housemates, Alice and Morgan, were petrified of going inside the bathroom in their Sydney apartment because it was occupied by a huge huntsman spider.
Getting rid of the intruder was no easy task, as Maidment told Newsweek that "it took a good 40 minutes of working out a plan and doing a few practice runs" before she was ready to take it on. Maidment, who is originally from Wales, even had to listen to Eminem throughout the experience to hype herself up.
"I woke up to my friend crying, so me and Morgan genuinely thought she'd had some bad news from home, but it was because of this spider," she told Newsweek. "The video honestly doesn't show how big the spider was because it was easily the size of my hand."
Footage of the disastrous morning was posted by Maidment on TikTok (@alicee..m), much to the internet's amusement. Layered over the video, the caption reads: "3 Brits living in Sydney vs a huntsman spider." Since it was posted on December 30, the TikTok video has already been viewed over 3.6 million times and received over 464,100 likes.
When people think of the bugs and creatures they'd prefer not to see crawling around their home, a huntsman spider is definitely on that list. According to the Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, there are 94 described species of huntsman, and their legs can span a width of up to 15 centimeters.
As the name would suggest, they are very strong hunters and have a very painful bite if caught, but thankfully they aren't considered dangerous to humans.
While they tend to live under loose tree bark, in foliage, and under rocks typically, the Australian Museum notes that they can often wander into people's homes or cars—so maybe it's best to turn on the lights before entering a room.
The video of Maidment and her friends attempting to remove their new houseguest has left internet users in hysterics. Although her reaction might not suggest it, Maidment said that she's "not really scared of spiders." Not the ones back home at least, which are far smaller.
Many people responded to the viral post to suggest that huntsman spiders often travel in pairs, and although Maidment didn't believe them at first, it wasn't long before they found a second one outside their apartment. Time to stick some more Eminem on and prepare for another removal.
She told Newsweek: "The response to the video has been hilarious, so many people from home have sent it to us saying they'd seen it, and I know Alice has appreciated the validation for her slight overreaction."
With over 3,500 comments on the video so far, many people lauded the hilarious attempts to remove the spider, and others joked that they'd have acted the same. One comment reads: "The crying on the floor is so real."
Another TikTok user wrote: "It's the hype music for me."
While another person commented: "As an Aussie, this is amazing."
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Alyce Collins is a Newsweek Life and Trends reporter based in Birmingham, U.K. with a focus on trending topics that ... Read more
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