This Article is From Nov 16, 2010

For three weeks, this Australian will live with 300 spiders

Melbourne: Imagine living in a confined space for three weeks with more than 300 spiders, including fatally venomous red backs and hairy huntsman.

Nick Le Souef, an Australian businessman from Melbourne, will do exactly that to raise 50,000 dollars for a children's charity.

Passersby will be able to see him in a shop window everyday surrounded by his eight-legged friends.

Souef, a former opal miner, says he will take just one precaution in his mission, he will be spider-free at night.

"The spiders can be roaming around me during the day. They won't have the opportunity to be crawling into my swag (camp bed) at night and sort of saying a quick hello - I mean I'm fairly silly doing this but I'm not stupid," he said.

To begin with, there were about 400 spiders until a 'massacre' happened when the creatures started eating one another.

So now, a few crickets and cockroaches will be thrown into the shop window each day to keep the remaining 300 satisfied.

Souef, who holds the Australian records for three-week stints in a snake pit and a shark tank, originally  wanted to do the stunt with snakes, but licensing issues put a stop to that.

Though he does not care much for the spiders, Souef says he will put up with the creepy crawlies for charity and use this time to write his memoirs.
.