"Someone
there who knew about such things said that it was obviously not a
common British spider but something that had come in from
abroad," Andrew recalls. "But they said that if I was
still alive I should be OK."
Andrew aged 57, lives in Laywell Close, Brixham, and works as a
technician at Churston Grammar School.
He took the dead spider, in a test tube, into a biology class
where teacher and students examined it in close-up through a
microscope linked to a TV-screen. But no one could identify it. Now
he hopes that either Paignton Zoo or the Natural History Museum
might be able to help.
One theory is that the spider may have been blown to Devon from
its more exotic homeland on strong winds. Prawle Point is one of the
most southerly parts of Britain and rare birds often turn up in the
vicinity after gale conditions.
Andrew spent 20 years travelling the world, first in the Royal
Navy and later working for BP and has been to many parts of India
and Africa.
"I saw many strange creatures out there, including
spiders," he says. "Strange that I have to come home to be
bitten by one."
Story courtesy of the Herald
Express
