Just a few days after Thanksgiving, an adorable 4-inch tarantula decided to pay a visit to the patients staying at a Camden, London hospital.

It was just an ordinary Thursday when the Royal Free Hospital catering staff discovered the stowaway spider hiding in a bunch of bananas while they were unloading a delivery! This precious animal – believed to be a Costa Rican tiger rump tarantula – had traveled over 5,400 miles from its home in Costa Rica just to add some excitement to these patients’ day!

 

The hospital staff was stunned by the spider, but were respectful and did not harm the tarantula. Instead, they contained the spider and called an RSPCA inspector immediately so that the tarantula would be safely collected.

Regional exotics officer, inspector Anthony Pulfer said:

“I think they got a bit of a shock when they saw this big spider among the bananas. I’m sure staff at the hospital are used to seeing their fair share of drama but not usually of the eight-legged variety.”

The spider was taken to RSPCA’s Harmsworth Animal Hospital for a check-up before going to the charity’s specialist exotics facility. Pulfer said:

“It looks as though this spider has travelled more than 5,400 miles from its home of Costa Rica to London in a box of bananas. It appears to be in good health, despite a long journey but it’s also lucky not to have been accidentally chopped and cooked with the other fruit.”

The tarantula was taken in by RSPCA at the charity’s specialist exotics unit. If no one comes forward to claim the spider, the charity will put it up for adoption to an experienced spider owner that will care for it properly.

 

Editor’s Note #1: The original title of the source for this article was “Terrifying 4-inch tarantula found in bunch of bananas at Camden hospital” – and we changed it to something better, because we maintain that tarantulas and spiders are NOT inherently terrifying or dangerous and work hard to fix the culture of fear surrounding these innocent creatures.

Editor’s Note #2: Shoutout to the staff at Royal Free Hospital for being so calm and collected, and for not hurting an innocent creature. 

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