Most people prefer spiders and other creepy crawlers to reside outside of their homes – preferably, as far away as possible. But Jake Gray is not most people. Not only did he allow a spider to live in his home for a year – but it was a huntsman spider, one of the biggest spiders in the world.
Gray, from Cairns, North Queensland, Australia, shared a photo of his “roommate” on Facebook. The post quickly gained attention, as it wasn’t an average spider – but a massive, dinner-plate-sized spider. She was casually hanging out on the wall, looking comfortable as ever. In the post, he shared that he’d “Been watching her grow over last year.”
People in the comments were stunned at his choice of a roommate.
“Bruh thats the spiders house now,” someone commented.
“i can’t believe. How big is she? like a little dog?” another commented.
“Na, I’m not ok with that…” someone else wrote.
Others joked about making the spider pay rent.
“I hope they’re contributing to the mortgage/rent/upkeep,” one person wrote.
“So who pays the rent to who?” someone else said.
While people are surprised by the large spider that Gray is living with, he doesn’t seem to mind at all. Turns out, he’s a bit of a spider enthusiast. Gray is part of a Facebook group dedicated to helping people identify Australian spiders. He regularly helps people identify their mystery spiders and definitely has more arachnoid knowledge than the average Joe.
There are more than 155 different species of Huntsman spiders that can be found in Australia. Despite their terrifying size, they’re generally recognized as being shy and docile. However, they do have poisonous venom and will bite if they feel threatened. Thankfully, their venom is hardly toxic to humans and is more annoying than dangerous. Hunstman spiders can typically be found under leaves, inside rock crevices, or beneath loose tree bark. While they generally reside outdoors, they sometimes make their way into human spaces, as one man discovered the hard way.
Recently, Olly Hurst was in for quite the surprise when he put on his noise-canceling headphones and felt a strange tickle in his ear. Upon investigating, he discovered a massive huntsman spider hiding inside of his headphones! Naturally, he shared a video of the incident on Instagram and gave viewers everywhere second-hand trauma. Check it out for yourself:
Despite being non-aggressive, we definitely don’t want to be that close and personal to a huntsman spider. But it’s awesome that the world has all different kinds of people – people who avoid spiders at all costs, and people like Jake Gray.
Would you let a giant spider live in your house for a year?
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