Spider surprise for family escaping the city as Victoria opens up
A Melbourne family was shocked by hundreds of spiders while on a day trip to the beach following the removal of the "ring of steel".
Dylan Lane said he wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and eased restrictions by driving to Mornington today, but when he and his family arrived at the foreshore found it covered in spiderwebs.
"It was really weird, I've never seen anything like it," Mr Lane said.
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A shocking number of spiders, spiderwebs and eggs were seen spread across the Mornington foreshore on Monday as Melburnians were allowed back to the regions. Nine
"There were hundreds and hundreds of spiders, spiderwebs and eggs everywhere, through the trees and being blown towards the shore."
The Briar Hill man said the spiderwebs were at least two metres long.
Dr Robert Raven, one of Australia's leading arachnologists, told Nine.com.au the culprits are likely orb-weavers and the recent bout of wet weather after a long dry spell is the likely reason hundreds of them have emerged.
"They use the buoyancy of the silk in the web to lift them up and can even get as high as 30,000 feet into the air," Dr Raven said.
"Helicopters often run into trouble with them when they are up in the air too."
Orb weaver (File photo). Nick Moir / SMH
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Dr Raven said the hundreds of spiders Mr Lane saw are likely babies and are completely harmless to humans and as we get closer to summer, more will be coming out of hiding, particularly after a bout of wet weather.
Mr Lane told Nine.com.au the spiders had travelled as far as Main Street to the table at a cafe he was sitting at with his wife and 16-month-old son.
"Fortunately the spiders were only tiny so it wasn't exactly terrifying - not like a sea of huntsmans or anything," he said.
"But it did sort of ruin was was supposed to be a nice day at the beach."
Mr Lane said he and his family were unharmed and his young son not at all bothered by the strange scenes.
"Ballooning" or "kiting" is the process in which spiders move through the air by releasing silk threads that catch the wind making them airborne.
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