As if you needed further proof that Australia is a phantasmagoric hellscape of arachnid horror, here's a charming photograph of a golden orb spider consuming a half-meter brown tree snake. This battle — which occurred over the course of an hour yesterday — was shot by photographer Ant Hadleigh in a backyard in Freshwater, Australia. Hey, you never know when you're going to find an outtake from a Hieronymus Bosch painting in your backyard.
Said the human spectator of this ghastly scene:
A few times the snake managed to get up and attack the spider, and the spider would run back up the web [...] You could see the spider just chewing into it and the part which the spider was eating had gone all black and the insides were bubbling [...]
It's official — there is now something worse than the necrophiliac ant gang bang. Good hustle, natural selection.
UPDATE: Here's a video of this reptilian feast. The spider— according to Hadleigh — is "about the size of your hand."
[The Cairns Post and Nine MSN via Geekologie]