A few months ago, a man living in Buderim, Queensland, Australia, came across a giant golden orb spider who made itself near his garage. In November 2016, Patrik Berg posted a photo of the humongous spider on his Facebook Page and took a second photo of the bug in May. However, a few people had a hard time believing it was real, claiming it looked like a giant plastic spider. Even Patrick was taken back by the size of the creature, telling Daily Mail Australia:
“I’ve seen some big ones before but not like that. She was an absolute monster.”
He named his new backyard “monster,” Martha. He estimates she’s about 6 inches long and twice as wide as an average man’s hand.
“We were just going to have a barbecue […] and I saw it as we pulled up in the driveway and just went, ‘holy dooley!'” explained Patrik. “They’re quite common, especially in Buderim, there [are] some big insects and lots of natural forests and rainforests.”
Patrik Berg
But, when asked if they did something about their new guest, Patrick said:
“We just left it and took some pictures. They don’t live very long and one day she was gone.”
However, she wasn’t gone for long; the spider returned in May, prompting Patrick to post another pick of Martha along with the caption, “She’s back.”
Patrik Berg
In February, a friend of Patrick shared the old picture to the Reddit thread r/australia, and it generated quite a bit of buzz.
“I have a pic somewhere in the archive with my dad holding his hat directly behind one and it was no joke the same size as it,” wrote one user.
“The thought of that just makes my skin crawl,” added another.
“I know this species doesn’t typically grow that large, but I’ve seen some yellow bum ones that easily had the leg span of a dinner plate,” wrote a third.
Here’s a fascinating video on giant golden orb spiders you may enjoy.