Worthing family's exotic spider shock

A MUM was given a nasty shock when she found an exotic species of spider living in her garden.

A MUM was given a nasty shock when she found an exotic species of spider living in her garden.

Tara Whelan, of Barrington Close, Worthing, first spotted several wasp spiders – which are capable of biting – in her back garden in early August.

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Their poisonous-looking appearance was enough to convince the 23-year-old it would be safer to keep her two children and Staffordshire bull terrier indoors, away from the garden.

But it was an article her father read in the Evening Standard, where a man claimed he had been hospitalised from a bite by the same spider, which really alarmed Tara.

She said: “My dad was taking a wander in the garden when he came across it. He told me the spider was not normal and then read this article about it on the train.

“It’s quite scary. My little boy wants to play in the garden, but I don’t want him to because of the spiders. And I have a dog which I’m scared to put out into the garden, as well.”

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The spiders, about the size of a two-pence piece, originate from countries near the Mediterranean.

Since spotting them in early August, Tara said the number of wasp spiders in her back garden had been steadily increasing and estimated there were now more than a dozen. They are one of the few species in England capable of biting.

Jess Price, an officer from Wildcall, said the wasp spider was exotic-looking, but not dangerous.

She said: “The wasp spider has become fairly common in the south of England and the population is thought to be spreading northwards.

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“Although it looks exotic, this species of spider is not at all dangerous.”

Billy Elliott, animal rescue officer for WADARS, said the number of exotic spider sightings was rising because of the increasingly mild winters.

He said:“We’re getting an increased number of calls from people who have seen spiders in their garden, but I am sure the vast majority of these spiders are not poisonous.

“We automatically think of them as poisonous or dangerous, but most of them are not.”

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