Rutland Zoo's deadly new addition needs two keepers to clean the cage
The highly venomous species accidentally ended up in the UK
Last updated 8th Aug 2022
Rutland Sanctuary Zoo has a new addition to its family of weird and wonderful animals, but this one is so venomous two keepers are needed to keep watch when entering its cage.
Bella the Black Widow Spider has been given a home at the Zoo after keepers were called to collect her from a garage in Grantham.
'We put in a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the animal, based around the fact that it's highly venomous there's always two keepers when we're entering the enclosure. One to watch the animal itself and pone to do whatever's needed in the enclosure', Rutland Zoo co-owner Jeremy Aldwinckle said.
Sceptical of weather the spider was actually a 'true' Black Widow, Mr Aldwinckle said he was shocked at what he found:
'She turned up in an old car seat that came across from America with a load of spare parts, came to a garage near Grantham. We got called out just to say yes someone's found a black widow, they looked with their eyes and not their hands which is good, which is what everyone should do.'
He added: 'We went rushing up there, got up there half-expecting it not to be a Black Widow, but fair play to the guys at the garage. They identified what turned out to be a highly-venomous species.'
'It took us about 15 minutes to coax her out of the bottom of the car seat she was in, with a pair of gloves, a strip of cardboard and a plastic tub to carry her in.'
A bite from a Black Widow Spider is only potentially deadly to young children and older people, Mr Aldwinckle said - but, their venom is likely to cause extreme discomfort to anyone on the receiving end.
'They are highly venomous but they're not a species that is aggressive naturally - they'd rather run away and hide. They prefer to be closer to the ground than high up in a tree, little nooks and crannies they'll hide themselves away in.'
'Localised pain in the bite area, but the real problem comes with muscle cramps, vomiting, sweating, high heart rate that kind of thing. So it's not pleasant but they're a cool little species and she's going to be well at home here.'