Thousands of spiders cover Tasmania trees in webs

Thousands of small black spiders pitched a silk tent over treetops in Tasmania to escape flooding this week.

The state is experiencing its worst floods in 40 years and ground spiders are shooting silk to get to higher ground, The Guardian reports.

Robert Raven, Queensland Museum’s head of arachnological division, told ABC this web technique is called ballooning and it’s nothing to worry about.

Warm updrafts of wind move the spiders’ silk, helping them crawl up trees and avoid getting wet. The area has become a sort of spider jungle gym.

Local Westbury resident Ken Puccetti, who noticed webs over nearly a half a mile of trees,  told The Guardian he was covered in silk and spiders while taking photographs of the phenomenon.

Until land dries out, these itsy bitsy spiders will continue climbing.

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