After 'raining' rats, now huge spiders' gossamer web blankets bushland in Australia

Thousands of spiders and their webs have blanketed bushland in Australia's state of Victoria, after heavy rain and flooding hit the region.

The spiders moved to higher ground to escape the saturated ground, local media reported, spinning giant cobwebs in order to shelter themselves from the damp.

A low-pressure weather system brought flooding in Gippsland last week, leading to at least one fatality, and an evacuation order issued for residents in the town of Traralgon.

In picture: Infographic showing spider boom warning. Images of thousands of spiders escaping floodwaters have gone viral on social media in recent days, and Sydney residents are being warned that the world's most venomous spiders could seek refuge in homes after the torrential rains/AFP

Earlier, Australia was witnessing a crisis involving mice as rural communities in New South Wales were bombarded by rodents. It had forced Australian farmers to seek a banned poison from India in hopes of eliminating mice populations.

The crop has witnessed a downgrade in quality due to massive gossamer web blankets and mice droppings, causing buyers to cancel shipments of the grain.