Horde of Spiders Emerges From Walls, Leaving Homeowner Horrified

An Australian man came home from a cruise to a shocking discovery: dozens of spiders crawling beside his bed.  The "invasion of baby spiders" emerged from a power socket on the bedroom wall, Geoff Barnes said.  Here's what you need to know about this creepy situation.

Barnes is a resident of the Central Coast in New South Wales, Australia.  He returned home from a three-week cruise when he made the frightening discovery.

Barnes found dozens if not hundreds of baby spiders crawling out of a power socket on his bedroom wall.  "Spiders like a dry environment for their egg sac," said Scott Johnson, moderator of the Australian Spider Identification Facebook page, where Barnes posted a photo. "They'll look for a nice dry spot, hopefully out of the way, and they usually end up inside away from the weather."  Between 60 and 100 spiders can hatch at the one time, he added.  "To me they look like smaller versions of the common huntsman spider, which I have seen in the house from time to time," Barnes said. "Huntsmans can be very large and intimidating but are apparently mostly harmless."

"I was just relaxing in bed watching TV when I noticed some insects crawling across my bed," Barnes said. "I leaped out of bed in a rather startled state. I was shocked when I looked beside the bed and saw dozens of spiders on the wall around the power socket all moving around randomly."

 "On closer inspection, I saw that some were emerging from the plug holes in the powerpoint, so I took some photos to prove I wasn't seeing things," he said.

Barnes shared the photos on Facebook on May 11. The post generated hundreds of likes and comments.  "Invasion of baby spiders emerging from a power point right next to my bed," he posted.  "I would move out. Spiders can have it all," one user commented.  "New fear unlocked. Fantastic," another said.

"Using a brush just made them scurry around the wall and was not a solution so I quickly gave up that," Barnes said. "I eventually used a hand-held vacuum with a mesh bag over the end to suck up as many as I could, then moved them outside so they could find a new home."  He added: "I am still seeing some of these spiders in my bedroom and bathroom, so I haven't gotten rid of them all, but I am not too concerned as long as they don't appear in large numbers again!"

 "If they're out of harm's way, my recommendation would be to just leave them," Scott said. He added: "They are great pest controllers. They'll eat all the mozzies [mosquitos] and cockroaches. … Some people call them 'wall puppies.'"