Stowaway spider travelled from Taiwan to St Leonards-on-Sea

A five-inch huntsman spider was discovered this week by shocked warehouse staff in Sussex, as they unpacked a shipment of boxes from Taiwan.

The arachnid was found by Joe Woodburn, warehouse manager at the Seventies BMX parts company on Moorhurst Road in St Leonards-on-Sea.

Mr Woodburn says that as he unloaded boxes from a shipping container, his colleague spotted the spider. "It was as big as the palm of my hand," he says. "We managed to get it into a big plastic container where we kept it while we called the RSPCA.

"I thought it was plastic at first as it wasn’t moving, but the minute it was in the sunlight it started to warm up and was running around and jumping up the side of the box.

"We get containers like this all the time and we have always joked that one day we’d open one up to find some kind of ferocious animal in there, but I never expected to find a spider as big as this."

RSPCA inspector Zoe Ballard, who collected the spider said she was originally called out to collect a tarantula. However, she said: "As I saw it, I knew it wasn’t a tarantula. I’ve been called out to collect a scorpion in the past, after someone accidentally brought it back from their holiday, but I’ve never come across a spider like this before.

“I managed to secure the spider in the container and took it to the RSPCA’s wildlife centre nearby, but I must admit I was worried all the way that it would get out and escape in my van."

The huntsman was taken to a new home yesterday at Drusillas Park, near Alfriston, by RSPCA inspector Tony Woodley. He commented: "Huntsman spiders can give you a nasty bite, but they aren’t likely to cause too much harm unless you suffer an allergic reaction.

"However, because they are so big and they run around so quickly, they are probably an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare."

Although the spider had been locked in a shipping container for six weeks as it travelled from Taiwan to St Leonards-on-Sea, Mr Woodley says he is not surprised the arachnid survived.

"Spiders can survive a long time without food and water," he explained. "The cold is going to be the main problem for them, but it probably survived the journey because the weather has been fairly mild."

Drusilla Park's spider expert, Angela Hale, is said to have welcomed her new arrival and her first job is to determine whether the spider is male or female. She is already looking for name suggestions for her exotic new resident.

She said: "They are not dangerous or aggressive, but can move extremely fast if disturbed. I am sure it would have given the guys in the warehouse a bit of a fright when they found it."