Earlier this month, eastern Australia endured days of torrential rains that flooded large parts of New South Wales, causing an estimated $530 million in damage to homes, bridges, and farms. Covering the flood near the town of Wagga Wagga, Reuters photographer Daniel Munoz came across a large area draped in spider silk. Thousands of spiders were fleeing the rising waters, many of them trailing behind massive amounts of dragline silk. The webs tangled over weeds, trees, fences, and fields, creating a surreal and eerie landscape crawling with arachnids. Residents reportedly complained of being unable to walk in certain areas without swarms of little spiders crawling up their legs, seeking higher ground.
Spiders Flee Australian Flood
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Read moreA barbed-wire fence is covered in spiderwebs, formed as spiders escape from flood waters, in Wagga Wagga, Australia, on March 7, 2012. The Murrumbidgee river slowly receded after reaching 10.56 m (34 feet) on March 6. #
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Read moreFlooding in the New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, on March 5, 2012. #
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Read moreWild plants are covered with spiderwebs near flooding in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. Thousands of spiders have cast eerie webs over vast areas of flood-hit Australia after being forced to seek shelter by the rising waters. #
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Read moreLocal residents look at a road submerged in floodwaters near Wagga Wagga, on March 6, 2012. Floods across eastern Australia forced more than 13,000 people to evacuate their homes after record-high summer rains drenched three states over the past week, swelling rivers and forcing dams to overflow. #
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Read moreA house is surrounded by spiderwebs next to floodwaters in Wagga Wagga, on March 6, 2012. #
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Read moreSpiders climb over webbing on a bush in Wagga Wagga, on March 6, 2012. #
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Read moreA woman walks her dogs through spiderwebs, formed as spiders escape from floodwaters, in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreA spider sits on a fence covered with spiderwebs near flooding in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreWild plants are covered in spiderwebs in Wagga Wagga, Australia, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreA barbed-wire fence is covered in spiderwebs, as spiders escape from rising floodwaters in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreA snake swims through floodwaters near the town of Forbes, about 300 km (186 miles) west of Sydney March 8, 2012. #
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Read moreWild plants, covered in spiderwebs in flooded Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreA field covered in spiderwebs in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreSpiders crawl through spider silk tangled over wild plants in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreA field covered in spiderwebs next to flood waters in Wagga Wagga, on March 6, 2012. #
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Read moreA dog walks through spiderwebs in Wagga Wagga, on March 6, 2012. #
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Read moreSpiders flee floodwaters in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreSpiders crawl through huge tangles of dragline silk in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreSpiders escape floodwaters, in Wagga Wagga, on March 7, 2012. #
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Read moreA spider walks on top of a web-covered strand of barbed-wire fence, trailing even more silk behind it, as it flees from rising water in Wagga Wagga, Australia, on March 7, 2012. #
Reuters/Daniel Munoz
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