Thousands of wolf spiders have brought their spider webs to the fields of flooded Wagga Wagga.
It looks an awful lot like snow in this photo of a farmhouse in Wagga Wagga, Australia, doesn’t it?
But be careful where you step: Those fields of white are actually spider webs, and the ground is crawling with thousands of wolf spiders, who’ve moved to the fields to escape their recently flooded underground homes.
Though the thought of spiders makes some people’s skin crawl, these spiders are actually doing good. They’re feasting on the mosquitoes and other insects that have become abundant since the floods.
“The spiders don’t pose any harm at all. They are doing us a favor. They are actually helping us out,” Taronga Zoo spider keeper Brett Finlayson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The human residents of Wagga Wagga have left town until the waters recede, but it’s not likely that their spider squatters will still be around by the time they get back. If history is any indication, the wolf spiders will be returning to their underground lairs as soon as the ground dries up.
In the meantime, spiders rule the roost in Wagga Wagga.