After the wildfires, Australia is about to usher in a deadly poisonous spider "feast"

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During this devastating, unprecedented season of forest fires, Australians around Sydney and the Central Coast are almost begging for rain.

However, a "feast" of deadly spiders isn't exactly part of that prayer, and experts at Australia's reptile park strongly suspect that's what's about to happen.

A video on the Australian Reptile Park Facebook page reads: "We warn the public that the recent wet and hot weather has created perfect conditions for the breeding period of the funnel web spider."

It sounds scary, though, as the video title "Funnel Web Spider Season Is Coming", suggests that it's not a new experience for Sydneysiders.

Australia is home to at least 40 species of funnel web spiders. One of them is considered to be the deadliest spider in the world to humans; The incredibly poisonous funnel web spider is an indigenous animal of eastern Australia, commonly known as the Sydney funnel web spider.

Every year, when the weather gets wet, these invertebrates leave their burrows in droves, either threatened by flooding or tempted by mating.

The male spiders are six times more potent than the female spiders, and experts say the spiders need to be extra careful.

It sounds like bad news, and, for unsuspecting Australians, picking up a pile of clothes or putting on a shoe may come across it before they know it. But as long as everyone is vigilant and sober, Australian Reptile Park is actually excited about this massive spider movement and the opportunities it can bring.

Not a single person has died from funnel web spiders since the park began its anti-venom program in the 1980s — not because people aren't bitten anymore.

In fact, about 30 to 40 people are reportedly bitten by spiders each year, but the funnel web venom provided by the park — the only such stockpile in the world — was used to create an anti-venom that saved hundreds of lives.

To make this antivenom, the researchers first "milked" the male spider and then injected it into the rabbit. Using this antibody, which mammals later produced, a serum could be developed to defend against similar attacks on humans.

That's why the prospect of spider treasure is so exciting. If you're bold enough, the park also asks any brave, prepared adult to try to catch the "funnel web spider" they stumble upon.

A park official explained in a Facebook video how to easily trap these animals in a jar with a spoon or similar tool and keep a distance of at least 20 centimeters.

Once the spider was in the jar, it couldn't climb the smooth walls, so stuffed a wet cotton in it to give it water to drink and then took it to a landing zone in Sydney.

"By donating a spider to the reptile park, you're contributing to saving people's lives," the video reads.

"Of course, anyone who gets bitten in this funnel season should go straight to the hospital so they can get the antivenom that we've been lucky enough to make."