Spiderwebs blanket countryside after Australian floods

In an arachnophobe\'s worst nightmare, swarms of spiders spin webs in a bush in flood-ravaged Wagga Wagga, Australia, Tuesday. After a week of record rain, floodwaters across eastern Australia have forced the ground-dwelling spiders—and at least 13,000 people—to flee their homes, according to Reuters. The rampant webs blanketing vast stretches of Wagga Wagga are likely \"a dispersal mechanism that allows [spiders] to move out of places where they\'d surely be drowned,\" said Robert Matthews, a professor emeritus of entomology at the University of Georgia. Producing large quantities of silk creates a sort of \"vast trampoline\" that supports the spiders as they\'re fleeing the water, he noted. Matthews added he he has never seen such a \"striking phenomenon.\" \"Gee, it\'s impressive.\"