Warning: If you suffer from arachnophobia, do not watch this video.
You know when a spider is so giant that, if it went missing in your house, you’d move out and burn it down? Well, a TikTok is doing the rounds, showing a couple trying to deal with a massive one that’s taken residence on the coving in their home.
In the anxiety-inducing 41-second clip, posted by LADbible on the popular video-sharing platform, the lady of the house uses their more-than-willing cat in an attempt to take the nasty arachnid down. She lifts the black kitty while her husband (or boyfriend) films the whole thing, and it enthusiastically paws at the creepy crawly, which horrifying results in the eight-legged freak plunging to the ground in an attempt to escape. Cue widespread panic (in the people in the video and anyone watching).
The spider crawls back up the wall, prompting the moggy to make a beeline for it once more, and it flees across the floor, touching the woman’s foot, heightening the hysteria. Eventually, it runs out of sight, pursued by the cat. At this point, it seems as though the furry pet catches it and receives a bite from it. However, we can’t be sure, as it happened off-camera. The video has garnered a lively reaction from TikTok users.
How did TikTok react?
Several people spoke about how the video traumatized them with comments like, “When it fell my heart sank,” “This gave me so much anxiety,” “I gasped so hard my jaw cracked,” and “that’s gave me a panic attack.”
Some people described what they’d do in the same situation, with replies like, “I would be running like mad,” “Nah cus like I would call 911,” “Omg I would of died,” and “Omg! I’d be out the door never to return!”
Others mistook the people in the video’s accents for British (they’re clearly Australian) and worried spiders of that size were now in British homes. Concerned Brits wrote, “Noooo please tell me this in Australia not UK,” “nah why do you sound British. Please tell me that isn’t in the UK,” “I’m thinking that if that’s UK I’m moving it’s bad enough,” and “IS THIS IN THE UK??????”
Understandably, many users were concerned for the cat’s wellbeing, with worried people writing things like, “Okay, so nobody is talking about how she just droppede The cat?,” “Poor kitty that’s terrible,” “Now, why would you want your cat to get bit,” “Nooooo if it’s poisonous it can kill the cat,” and “Is the cat okay after spider bite?” It’s worth noting that the spider appears to be a huntsman spider. While poisonous, their venom is unlikely to cause serious harm to something as large as a cat.
Meanwhile, one weirdo wrote, “am I the only one that kinda feels bed for the spider?”
According to the Cleveland Clinic website, somewhere between 3% and 15% of the United States population has arachnophobia. Here’s hoping huntsman spiders the size of a cat’s head aren’t planning on invading the States any time soon.