Australian woman finds huntsman spider with hundreds of offspring crawling inside oven

Australian woman finds huntsman spider with hundreds of offspring crawling inside oven
Photo credit: Facebook/Imogen Moore.

An Australian woman has shared a horrifying photo of hundreds of Huntsman spiders crawling on her oven.

The photo, shared to Facebook, shows hundreds of baby spiders with their fully grown mother. The post has amassed hundreds of shocked comments since being posted Tuesday.

"Mmmm flame thrower anyone[?]," one terrified Facebook user commented.

Another suggested the woman instead burn her house down.

"Turn on the gas, walk away for a few hours, light a match..... This house is done."

Huntsman spiders breed during the warmer months. Every year around that time, Australians experience hoards of the native spiders descending on their towns to breed and lay eggs.

Macquarie University arachnologist Lizzy Lowe told Weatherzone huntsman spiders are quite harmless and the best thing to do is just leave them alone.

"When the babies hatch out, they disperse very quickly over one or two days. They are highly cannibalistic and don't want to be eaten by their nestmates," Dr Lowe said.

"Also, they need to have their own food so it's within their own interests to disperse," she told Weatherzone.

Dr Lowe said the iconic Australian spider actually have poor eyesight and are usually just confused

"They will never intentionally run towards you because they're small and not highly venomous. They can bite you, but they won't do any harm."