With all the talk of the Queen last night.... I can't resist posting
this. MaTa:-)
Unknown Species Of Large
Poisonous Spiders Invade
Windsor Castle
By Peter Gruner and John Gubba
http://www.thisislondon.com
6-19-1
Windsor Castle was on red alert today after a
colony of "mystery" spiders was found
living underground.
World renowned entomologist Graham Smith was
called in after British Telecom
engineers discovered swarms of the giant venomous
creatures on underground cables
at Windsor Great Park, metres from the Queen
Mother's weekend residence Royal
Lodge.
Mr Smith, a member of the Project-ARK conservation
team with a mission to save
endangered species, said the creatures can attack
and will not be repelled by
conventional means.
He believes the spiders, which have a leg-span of
up to 9cm, may be a new species
that must be preserved. "It's an extremely
exciting find because they are probably a
new species or a species that we thought had been
extinct in this country for
thousands of years," he said.
"Who knows how long these spiders have been in the
royal park because they live
under-ground. There could be literally thousands
and thousands of them. It would be
no surprise if they are living underneath Windsor
Castle itself."
Mr Smith and fellow experts still need to find out
how dangerous the spiders are to
humans but great care is being taken not to get
bitten.
"The species is certainly venomous and the jaws
are strong enough to penetrate
human skin," he said.
"It will take a few days before we can work out
how dangerous they are."
The alarm was raised when a British Telecom
engineer lifted a manhole to carry out
maintenance work.
Royal park residents have been warned that the
spiders should not be touched.
The creatures discovered so far have large fangs,
hairy legs, an aggressive nature and
a predominantly rusty red and black colouring.
"We've taken around a dozen samples so that we can
make a positive identification and
establish whether or not it is a new species. But
we don't even know if they're fully
grown," Mr Smith said.
"In the meantime, it is no good trying to fumigate
the area. All that will do is force
them out into a wider area. In any case they will
probably be a protected species."
Mr Smith said: "It may take a couple of years to
remove the spiders from the network
of underground cables."
To track down the spiders in the underground
labyrinth of tunnels, the Project-ARK
team will use sophisticated electronic mole
cameras, a device comparable to the
endoscopes used on humans by doctors.
When the spiders are found they can then be
enticed and captured, a lengthy process
that may require strategic sites to be excavated
depending on how far the spiders
spread.
The team will spend the next few days observing
their behavioural patterns.
© Associated Newspapers Ltd.
