Can anyone identify this guy? arachnophobia warning

I went for a walk in some local gardens on the public holiday Wednesday and there were literally hundreds of these spiders hanging from the trees. It was a very windy day so this is the sharpest of a bad bunch. You can't tell from this photo but their abdomens are quite large and rounded. The light wasn't playing well so I couldn't get a photo but it looked like a scene from a horror film with all the spiders and webs blowing in the wind.

I don't see it in my Southeastern United States Audubon field guide, Jeff

I wouldn't expect it to be there. It is probably an Australian native

Skyman, after further investigation I have identified the little guy, his name is Fred Smith and is married to Annabell and they have several hundred kids that are mostly boys. Hope this helps, Jeff :D:D

Spider, Australia. Who cares what kind it is? RUN!!!!!

They have 'em down there whose venom kills in fractions of a second, and their young devour the bodies.

(Or was that something I saw in a Harry Potter movie? Regardless, they have scary spiders down under!)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wfooshee

they have scary spiders down under!)

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Yes we do, but mostly they aren't aggressive, and so are easily avoided.

Apparently this arachnid goes by the name of Nephila edulis or golden silk orb-weaver. Despite their alarming appearance they are harmless to humans, although the trees were so full of them I seriously thought it was the set of a horror film.