EIGHT-LEGGED GIANT
World’s biggest spider that can grow a FOOT wide and whose bite causes heart palpitations found in UK
THE world's biggest spider, which can grow up to a foot wide, has been found in the UK.
In nightmarish news for arachnophobes, the whopping huntsman specimen was discovered in Hull after hitching a lift on a shipping container.
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The spider - whose venomous bite can cause heart palpitations - travelled 5,000 miles from China before being spotted by understandably terrified dock workers.
After making the sighting, staff legged it and called in the RSPCA.
Brave officials safely captured the giant arachnid after its month-long journey around the world.
While the spider is unusually huge, it's not deadly to humans.
However, its bite can cause a range of serious health issues, including palpitations, vomiting and headaches.
A spokesman from the animal welfare charity said today that their courageous officer Inspector Boyd was deployed to rescue the hitchhiker.
NO-FLY ZONE
"The spider fancied a holiday so he hopped on a shipping container in China and ended up in Hull," he joked.
"He gave staff quite a fright.
"He's now having some R&R at a specialist rescue centre."
Horrifyingly, it's not the first time the species has made its way to the UK.
Two years ago, warehouse workers in Southwold, Suffolk found a huntsman in a shipment.
They held their nerve and grabbed a container for the spider before calling for the RSPCA.
At the time, Inspector Jason Finch said: “Huntsman spiders can grow up to 12ins in leg span so are a large variety.
“This spider was on the smaller side and was only around 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.”
In more bad news, Insp Finch said finding exotic spiders, insects or reptiles in shipping containers "happens quite often".
"These creatures are often picked up by mistake and end up being shut inside containers or boxes," he said.
“Huntsman spiders are venomous but are not dangerous to people although they can give a nasty bite so we would always advise caution around them."
Instead of building webs, huntsman spiders earn their names by tracking down and killing their prey.
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They come from parts of Australia, Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean Basin and the Americas.
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Several huntsman species use cartwheel-like motions to travel around.
Because they are not UK natives, releasing these spiders into the wild, or allowing them to escape, would be an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
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