Arachnophobe finds bird-eating tarantulas dumped in car park
It’s no secret holidaymakers arriving in Australia are often handed a rude awakening when encountering a spider for the first time on our shores.
So spare a thought for a rural village in the UK after two bird-eating tarantulas are feared to be on the loose when their babies were found by an arachnophobe dumped in a car park.
The RSPCA said three young Brazilian bird-eating spiders were contained in 10 pots found in Somercotes, Derbyshire.
But two of the larger pots were run over by a vehicle and it is thought a pair of adult spiders may have been unwittingly released.
In a statement, the RSPCA said the tarantulas, which can grow to have a leg span of up to 25cm, are not likely to survive for long in the UK climate if they have been set free.
“The woman caller who contacted us was understandably shaken when she realised the pots contained spiders as she is terrified of them,” RSPCA inspector Kristy Ludlam, who attended the scene, said.
“It appears someone ran over two of the pots and the driver told the woman who called us he thought he saw two larger spiders.”
Ludlam said there were no bodies of spiders found, with the RSPCA suspecting they have escaped.
“We collected all the pots and took them to a specialist, who found three baby arachnids in them which he believes are bird-eating spiders.”
Ludlam said she suspected the spiders were unwanted pets which they may have been breeding.
“The RSPCA would always ask people who are struggling to cope to let us know,” she said.
It is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act to release or allow to escape any non-native species into the wild.
While residents of Somercotes are being warned to remain vigilant in case the dangerous spiders show up, keeping an eye out for arachnids during day-to-day life also pays off.
