Venomous spider the size of a ‘human hand’ found in boxes at UK warehouse
Warehouse workers got a creepy surprise when a massive venomous spider ‘the size of a hand’ appeared between boxes shipped over from China.
Huntsman spiders are among the biggest in the world, and skin-crawling photos showed the stowaway spider’s crushed corpse inside of a box.
An employee at the warehouse in Oldham, Manchester, said the spider gave her a ‘heart attack’ when she first spotted it.
She said: ‘The spider is the size of my child’s hand. I found the spider in between boxes – it was dead already squashed and dried.
‘It was quite shocking to find such a creature where you wouldn’t expect it to be.
‘It gave me a heart attack – I was there with my husband and I jumped away and hid behind him.’
The unnamed worker said the creepy-crawly’s body alone was similar to the size of a car key.
She added: ‘It gives me shivers just thinking about it.’
The spider, which was found on March 12, is believed to have died during the month-long sea journey from China.
Aaron Phoenix, 36, a spider expert who owns nearly 1000 of the arachnids, confirmed the species was most likely a huntsman.
Some of the largest species can measure nearly one foot in leg span.
While not generally considered dangerous, the spiders carry enough venom to deliver a painful bite if provoked.
Aaron said: ‘A lot of people get freaked out by these but they are actually harmless, just very quick. Fully grown, they have around a four-inch diagonal leg span.
‘I’ve been sent pictures of these a few times by friends that work on the fruit market and at the airport. It’s becoming very popular to hear of them coming over in cargo containers and fruit boxes.’
In February 2022, a huntsman spider ended up in Hull after a 5,000 mile trip.
Officers from the RSPCA were called in and they eventually captured the creature.
An RSPCA spokesman said at the time: ‘He fancied a holiday so he hopped on a shipping container in China and ended up in Hull. He gave staff quite a fright. He’s now having some R&R at a specialist rescue centre.’
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