Two venomous black widow spiders which were found in a car imported from the United States have been given a new home in Bristol.
Two venomous black widow spiders which were found in a car imported from the United States have been given a new home in Bristol, thanks to Bristol Zoo.
The pair had been nesting inside the 1964 Ford Falcon, which was imported in January, but were only discovered when restoration work started last week.
The mechanics tasked to begin the restoration work on the car found the first spider under the fuel tank and the second, behind the dashboard. The men had to search pictures on the internet to confirm that the spiders they had found were indeed the venomous Black Widow.
The spiders are given their name partly because of the female's habit of killing her mate after reproduction. The mechanics were determined that the spiders were not just to be killed and finally found the help they needed at Bristol Zoo.
Mark Bushell, from the zoo, stated that black widow spiders were not as deadly as people thought. 'Having said that, they could still do some quite serious harm and their bite would certainly cause health problems,' he added.
Black widow spiders live for about two years and are native to the USA. Their venom causes cramps and fever although their bites are rarely fatal because of the small amounts of venom that they release.
The female of the species are more deadly than the male' ' as only they have the venom in the bodies!
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