Strange Sounds – October 9, 2020
Another threat from the East is invading America! And this time it’s not a virus but a giant spider!
Kathy Ramatowski is the kind of person who doesn’t scare easily, but some things can push a person to their limits.
“The first one was on the deck in the back. I was like, ‘What is that?’”
“That” was a spider outside her Dacula home. Not just any spider, but one that is more than four inches long.
In a year that already brought us murder hornets and giant lizards, more people are now seeing the Joro spider.
University of Georgia agriculture extension agent James Murphy says the Joro spider is traditionally found in China, Japan and Korea but it’s also apparently in north Georgia.
“If you fully stretch out those legs, maybe up to around five inches in particularly large individuals,” Murphy said.
Murphy says spiders may have stowed away in crates that came through Atlanta’s airport at some point.
The good news is they are not deadly. The bad news is a four-inch spider has large fangs and if they bite, it can hurt.