World's Biggest Spider Discovered In The UK
A venomous Huntsman spider was found in the UK after travelling 5,000 miles by shipping container.
The Huntsman, which is considered the largest spider in the world, was reportedly shipped from China accidentally and ended up in Hull.
Huntsman spiders are venomous and can grow up to 12 inches in leg span – pure nightmare fuel.
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Fortunately, the spider's bite isn't lethal, but it can cause palpitations, vomiting and headaches.
After being discovered, the spider was safely captured by the RSPCA.
Speaking of the incident, an RSPCA spokesperson said that the spider 'fancied a holiday so he hopped on a shipping container in China and ended up in Hull' adding that 'he gave staff quite a fright'.
The spider is now said to be having 'some R&R at a specialist rescue centre', as per the Mirror.
However, this isn't the first time the huntsman spider has made its way to the UK. Two years ago, another huntsman was found in a warehouse in Southwold, Suffolk.
Again, the RSPCA were on hand to capture the spider, which was on the smaller side this time – if that makes anyone feel better.
Jason Finch, an RSPCA inspector said of the arachnid, 'This spider was on the smaller side and was only around 6cm (2.5in) from leg to leg.'
'He'd obviously been in the container for some time, without access to food and water, but he was still active and seemed to be OK,' Finch added.
According to Finch, this kind of discovery 'happens quite often' and that spiders, along with insects and reptiles, can be 'picked up by mistake' and wind up being 'shut inside containers'.
Finch urged anyone who makes a discovery like this to start by 'treating any unidentified animal with caution until identified accurately and not to try to handle an accidentally imported animal that has been discovered'.
To be fair, if we found a giant spider, we aren't going to volunteer to catch it.
Huntsman spiders get their name from hunting and killing their prey, rather than building webs to ensnare them.
The spiders are very fast and several species roll on their legs in a kind of cartwheel motion to travel.
The arachnids can be found in Australia, Africa, Asia and parts of America.
As the spiders are not native to the UK, it is an offence to release them under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
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Shola Lee