'Killer' spider forces family to flee home after emerging from bag of bananas

A family fled their home in terror after opening a bag of bananas and finding what appeared to be a deadly spider. The Ryan family discovered the arachnid while unpacking their groceries after a shopping trip. Mother-of-three Mandy was able to grab a picture of the spider from a safe distance before it scurried away in the kitchen. When experts initially suggested it could be a Brazilian wandering spider – a species which can kill with one bite or trigger spasms – the family was forced out of their Crosby home and into alternative accommodation.



Mum, dad and their three young children moved to a hotel and are now in rented accommodation. While other experts now believe the spider could be harmless, the family remain too scared to return home, seven days later. The family left their College Road North house last Thursday and brave dad Darryl went back on Tuesday night to find it.

He said: “We were there for two hours and we didn’t find it. We looked everywhere and in the cupboards. I’m going up the wall with this. It’s madness what’s going on.” Mr Ryan wore protective clothing during his search and used a car wing mirror attached to a fishing rod to try to search every nook and cranny for the spider. He was with Ben Hayden, who runs local pet shop Lounge Room Lizards and Aquatics.



Mr Hayden said: “The only way to say for certain that we have got it is to catch it dead or alive.” A Merseyside Police spokesman said: “Our wildlife officer was liaising with the head of the ethnology department at Liverpool Museum to try and identify the species.” But a spokesperson for Liverpool museum’s ethnology department said it wasn’t possible to be sure of the species of the spider just from the photograph. The spider is still at large.