Gigantic Spider Gobbles Bird in Front of Camera

i would of ran away no way would i stay n tek pictures of it killin a bird no way. hate spiders n always will. just the fawt of them meks my skin crawl yuk. the bird looked colourful ne way haha :-)

oh my god. That spider is dreadfully huge. I would have had a heart attack if it was in the backyard. I'd probably call in a pest exterminator and beg them to move the spider somewhere else.

wow, these are breathtaking every time is see them. don't fisherman somewhere(the phillipines?) use these spiders' webs as nets?
i wouldn't mind having these about the yard/house/porch, good bug watching entertainment, maybe catch some squirrels

uh.....holy shit.

Now I have nightmares of going about my own business and getting suddenly ensnared, trapped, encumbered, bound, by a sticky tangle of stuff that keeps getting worse. Thrashing, fighting with my bindings, to the point of exhaustion. Losing hope, beginning to accept my predicament. Only then does the terrible creature who set this trap make his appearance. A horrible creature, a giant spider! I am going to be food. Living food! I am going to be eaten! He binds be even more securely, crawling around me, laying more silk, so tight; I am now completely immobile, entirely at his mercy. He is close now, I am breathing his breath. Oh no! The jaws! Into my flesh slide his fangs, and I feel numb... dizzy... the sucking... he drinks my lifeblood! I...

Kill it. Kill it with fire.

HOLY SHIT BALLS BATMAN!

It doesn't really gobble it at all. Mislead! oh the shame! the shame!

Everything in Australia is trying to kill you.

I'm surprised this only made it to digg now. It happened a while back. Gotta love Australia!

Oh yeah. Definitely would use a flaming gorram chainsaw to take out that little bugger were it my yard. It would be on a six foot pole, also, just so I wouldn't have to go near it. Creepy jerk spider that can bite my whole face...

Oh my God . imagine , that spider was in your house when your baby was alone

These photos are fake. I live in Australia, and your average Golden Orb Weaver (body) is about one inch long (maximum). These same photos were referred to previously and also found to be faked.

this is unbelievable!!!

These spiders are also in SE USA. In south Florida, near Florida Keys they are abundant. They are called "banana spiders" and I am pretty sure these are it.

I read they are developing some type of armor with this web, as researchers developed some sort of unbreakable fabric with the webbing of these. I read it somewhere, google ftw

nuke from orbit with fire.

also, ofn ban u friggin noob.

-moto

holie-eff!!! i would kill myself to get one of those off of me.

Um, fuck that. I'd have a flame-thrower out in 3 seconds and I'd burn down my entire backyard.

I don't think spiders "eat" as in taking a bite and chewing. Don't spiders usually inject their prey with venom laced saliva and let its proteolytic properties work its magic and pretty much liquefy its meal and suck it up, leaving only the empty shell? That's probably the fate of this poor bird caught in the spidey's web. I just cannot picture this spider taking a bite of bird flesh through the feather and all and eating it bit by bit.

Anyways, that spider is pretty cool looking. I wouldn't want it in my backyard but still fascinating in gruesome way.

That's insane! When I was in Jamaica I saw some pretty huge spiders that looked something like this. I think they were called Banana Spiders. Some were like the size of my hand! The girlfriend was not too fond of them so I didn't let her know that she was walking under their webs when we were on a jungle tour.

The camera work causes the spider to look larger than it actually is. Check out the size of the bird relative to a human hand: http://preview.tinyurl.com/mxbdya

Australia is officially off my list of travel spots.

FUCK twitter ha

Jeez, that is one huge spider! Are these the only pics then?
I don't think the wife would ever want to go to Australia after seeing that thing!

doesn't look real at all.

stupid finch!

I wish I could get one to throw on my ex wife

Hmmm... this could be phoney. I have loads of these spiders in my backyard, I've lived with them for years and while I've seen ones this big (hand-sized), I've never seen one deal with prey larger than a moth. Notice the aviary-style mesh in the background of one picture? I reckon someone cruelly thought it might make a cool scary picture if they put a bird (not a wild breed, I might add) into this arachnid's web.
Or that's clearly the most badass spider ever.

wtf? why are we not killing these big ass spiders? i duno bout u guys, but i dnt want these bitches running around.

This is real all right. It is a golden orb weaver, and the tropical / subtropical varieties can get huge.

We had some in the back lane behind our house (Queensland, Australia), and it was always a lot of fun coming home the worse for wear and getting one stuck on your face, web and all.

Must say though the spider usually came off worse than I did.

My brother was terrified of 'em and used to wear a motorcycle helmet to walk up the lane - there was a memorable night when he was trying to sneak in the bottom window still wearing it ...

Not sure if this is a fake or not. We have these giant orb spiders in Japan too - pretty common. The span of their webs is incredible. Usually a bit smaller than hand size, but they can get really big. I've seen plenty approaching the size of the one in the photo. Luckily they usually make their webs straddling trees quite high up about 15 foot or so, but sometimes lower -- then remembering to duck on the bike is a must! They are poisonous, but it's unusual to come in direct contact with them (unlucky too!) I my early days here I did come across one crawling out from under a rock - gave me the willies - it mus have just finished laying eggs (they lay eggs terra firma) - it was the last time I went off piste and wnadering amongst the rocks!

@funkygibbin <------ Do your Research before you get bitten

also check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3353693/Giant-spider-eating-a-bird-caught-on-camera.html

I would have killed the spider right off and saved the beautiful bird.