A deadly black widow spider crawled into a shipping crate in the United States and ended its journey some 5,000 miles away in mid-Essex.
Staff working at Sutch and Searle in Highwood Road, Writtle, uncovered the arachnid when they unpacked the crate containing machinery which had been shipped from Oklahoma.
RSPCA inspectors arrived to take the black widow, which had a sac of eggs attached to it, to the Dangerous Wild Animal Rescue Facility (Dwarf) in Great Wakering, near Southend.
The spider has been in the care of one of Dwarf's staff members Iain Newby since Monday. He said the eight-legged creature was hungry as it had been without food for between four and five weeks.
"The first thing I did was give her some water on some tissue paper," he said. "She's doing fine at the moment."
Mr Newby said his latest visitor was the eighth black widow reported to him this year.
Published Wednesday August 4, 2004
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