Images taken by a hostel owner in the Huashan district of central Taiwan showing a 60-centimeter long snake trapped in the web of a giant golden orb-web spider have been been circulating online, equally fascinating and disgusting web users.
The spiders are commonly sighted in the area and are normally spotted with dragonflies, hornets, fireflies, moths and generally any insect that’s not a 60-centimeter long snake to getting caught in the web.
China Times cited Shen Cheng-yin, who took the photos, as saying that the snake had tried to twist free from the web but the spider kept injecting it with venom. After around 10 hours, the web broke under the snake’s weight, but by then it was nearly dead.
Chen Ching-chun, director of the Yunlin Workshop of the Taiwan Academy of Ecology, said that the snake was trapped in the web by its neck, which explains why such a heavy snake could be controlled by the spider. Chen also said that the golden orb-web spider’s web is famous for being flexible, and can carry several kilograms if the weight is spread.
The crawler is dubbed the “human-faced spider” in Taiwan for features that bear a resemblance to a human’s eyes, nose and mouth. The body size of a female spider can reach five centimeters.
