Rescued black widow spider settles in for new life at Telford Exotic Zoo - with pictures
It might be more nightmare than fairytale for some, but this tiny black widow spider found in Shropshire has had her happily ever after.
Scott Adams of Telford's Exotic Zoo said that had the potentially deadly spider been found in a supermarket rather than an industrial unit in Hortonwood, exterminators would have killed her.
Instead she's settling in well at her new home in the zoo's venom section.
She was discovered on Wednesday and is already proving popular.
"It's a happy ending story," Scott said.
"She could have been exterminated. A lot of people might think that's for the best, but being a zoo of animal lovers we're happy to have her here."
The black widow is already on show at the zoo, but it takes a keen eye to spot her.
"People have got to have a good look to be able to see her," Scott said.
"We've had to put some special things in place to have her. It's not as simple as chuck her in an enclosure and throw up an information board.
"She's classed as a category one animal. She has to be in a locked enclosure inside a locked enclosure. We have special equipment and protocols. There's a lot more more things you have to do compared to most other places."
Getting called out to unusual animals is something that happens more often than most people might think, Scott said.
"It's not a daily occurrence, but it's not that unusual," he said.
"You get spiders coming across, or lizards in plant pots, things like that. It happens more often than people think.
"Something like a spider is so small that they can get into any nook or cranny. The majority of the time they come over and they're small and brown – just like British spiders. It's only when it's something recognisable that people start making calls."`
