A huntsman spider eats a pygmy possum at a lodge in Tasmania, Australia (Picture: Justine Latton/ Facebook)

If you don’t like spiders, then you may want to look away now.

The stuff of nightmares came true in one Australian lodge when a huntsman spider ate an entire possum.

The astonishing images were taken by a husband and wife as they travelled across the far southern state of Tasmania.

Justine Latton and her spouse were on a road trip to Mt Field at the weekend they came across the extraordinary scene.


She posted a photograph of the huntsman devouring the pygmy possum to the ‘Tasmanian insects and spiders’ Facebook page.

The spider may have been ‘drinking the digestible liquids’ of the possum (Picture: Justine Latton/ Facebook)

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It has since garnered a huge amount of attention, with people speculating on what may have happened.



Robyn Gates said the scene was entirely plausible and either animal could have ended up as the other’s prey.

She wrote: ‘If the pygmy was just cold it would be an easy target and the spider may just drink the digestible liquids of the possum.’

Nice.

Julie Southwell suggested the pygmy possum was already dead when it became lunch.

She wrote: ‘Just sad as the pygmy possums like so many creatures are struggling. I don’t begrudge the huntsman its meal, he or she needs to survive.’

Brendon McIntyre said: ‘That is a damn big huntsman and quite death-defying to hang off the wall like this while holding onto dinner.’

The possum may have been dead before it became lunch (Picture: Justine Latton/ Facebook)

Pygmy possums are about the same size as a mouse and weigh less than a golf ball.

Tasmania is home to two types of pygmy possums – the little pygmy and the eastern pygmy.

They are not usual prey for the huntsman spider, who normally target small birds, frogs and geckos.

But experts say while the picture documents a rare event, the terrifying scene was entirely plausible.