Several Springwatch fans were left disgusted and cringing during Thursday night’s episode of the BBC nature show as presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan explored the world of courtship and the mating of spiders.
The popular BBC Two show saw Roy Dennis – who has dedicated his life to bringing species back from the brink of extinction – join the hosts and discuss the way insects reproduce.
Fascinated, Packham got fully involved and appeared with a model of a wolf spider on his hand and acted out the mating process, explaining to viewers: “On my hand, I have a facsimile of that wolf spider and my fingers represent its pedipalps.
“I am flexing them up and down, attracting a female. This is making sure she is in the mood to mate, it can be a risky business. Let’s imagine he’s got to the point the female is going to be receptive, how does he transfer his reproductive matter?
“He produces what we call a sperm web. He spins this using his spinnerets and another organ on the underside of his body and then he climbs on top of it and deposits his sperm onto that web.
“Now that’s not going to be much use if it’s just left lying around, so what he does he then uses those highly modified pedipalps to actually suck up the sperm into the pedipalps, and they have hollow tubes inside.
Chris demonstrated how spiders mate using a dummy
BBC
“Then he needs to get it to the female. So he approaches the female very carefully… he has to got to pass it underneath her body.”
While informative, uncomfortable viewers took to their X accounts to comment that the nature of the discussion wasn’t exactly the most viewer-friendly.
One exclaimed: “Trying to be less horrified by spiders but I can’t even look at the model of the wolf spider.”
“Skins crawling!! #springwatch,” another added before a third penned: “Ewwwwww can we stop with the spider content please #anxiety #springwatch.”
“Eughhh this is gross!! Get the spiders out of this tv show #springwatch,” someone else said before another added: “Enough of the spider content please!#springwatch.”
Viewers were left grossed out by the segment
BBC
A sixth viewer admitted: “I know this is natural and stuff but I can’t but feel a little uncomfortable… I hate spiders at the best of times.” (sic)
Elsewhere in the show, fans were left divided after Strachan, Packham, Iolo Williams and Megan McCubbin were accused of dropping some cheeky innuendos when it came to learning about industrious beavers that call the Argaty Rewilding Estate home.
Strachan introduced McCubbin and said: “Would you prefer to see Chris and his flies, Iolo and his badgers, or Megan and her beavers? That’s what she is hoping to see up in Scotland.”
McCubbin was enthusiastic about the creatures and asked the camera: “Have we seen any beaver action?” but the comment seemed to leave some viewers distracted and some to hit back at the “playground humour”.
Earlier in the week, Michaela’s jumped left viewers distracted
BBC
Earlier in the week, fans of the BBC Two show were distracted by Strachan’s eye-catching bright pink jumper which sported a badger on the front and was hoping to lure in some of the animals, calling the item lucky.
Posting a snap on X of herself and Packham, which showed them both pointing towards her light pink jumper featuring a family of badgers, she penned: “Got badgers on tonight’s @bbcspringwatch and not just on my jumper!! See you at 8pm BBC2. #springwatch @ChrisGPackham.”