Sydney- Saucer-sized spiders are frightening the locals by turning up in parks in the far-north Australian town of Bowen, news reports said Thursday.

"They normally never venture out too far, but obviously, these ones have been flushed out for some reason," Bowen pest controller Audy Geiszer told the Townsville Bulletin. "It's more than enough to scare a few people. It's not plague proportions or anything."

Queensland Museum arachnid expert Robert Raven identified the spiders as eastern tarantulas and confirmed they are Australia's biggest.

"They'll go for big insects," Raven said. "They probably feed on toads - they have no problem with cane toads and frogs, anything big and slow-moving that comes their way."

The eastern tarantula is venomous but not deadly. It can kill a dog, but humans get away with feeling ill for about six hours. (dpa)