A mum was left horrified after she discovered a huge huntsman spider guarding 200 babies lurking inside her son's toy truck.
Brooke Thorpe shared a viral photo of the creepy sight showing the enormous hairy spider sitting on its bulging egg sack.
She said her two-year-old nephew had brought her the truck as her son played on Tuesday.
Huntsman spiders are renowned for their enormous size, with males able to achieve a leg span of up to 12 inches.
While many adults would have been terrified by the giant spider, her son remained calm and is "pretty happy with his cool find".
Brooke, from Tasmania, Australia, told the Daily Mail: "We have her in a safe spot and once she's finished, my son can have his toy back."
Arachnologist Dr Robert Raven, from the Queensland Museum, estimates that there were between 100 and 200 baby spiders, aged between two and three weeks.
He said: "The mother spider is holding onto the egg to feel if there is any activity inside.
"The egg is still white, so she just laid them and the hundreds of babies are still developing."
Dr Raven said the female huntsman had made a nest for her newborns made of silk - and that she would stay with her eggs for up to three weeks.
He said: "Spiders tend to lay in protected zones like behind sofas when there is a lot of windy weather.
"But the inside of the plastic truck has a pocket of limited airflow to protect the mum and her egg."
He called on people who make similar discoveries to leave the spiders alone and not disturb them.
