A plague of spiderwebs

I am not an arachnophobe, but when a friend sent me a link to this photo and I clicked on it, the only possible reaction was "AAAAIIEEEEE!"

It turns out that the spiders probably feel the same way. This isn't normal behavior for the wolf spider (thank goodness). They're trying to escape flooding in Wagga Wagga, Australia. As a spider expert told an Australian newspaper:

In an attempt to escape rising waters, the spiders climb blades of grass and let out hundreds of metres of silk in the hope a gust of wind will catch the web and transport them to safety, he said.

''What you are seeing is the result of all their failed attempts to get away.''

To give an idea of the extent of these webs, here's a photo with a terrier for scale:

You can check out more photos, if you can stand it, at The Telegraph. There's one of an entire field covered in webs. Don't say I didn't warn you.

-Wombat (No Relation)