Giant tarantula on the run in Torquay

A Torquay landlady is on the hunt for a giant tarantula on the run in her garden. The creature described ‘as brown and hairy and about the size of a man’s hand’ was spotted among leaves in the garden of a flat she rents in Ellacombe.

Landlady Sonia McGrath said: “I thought it was a mouse at first but then I saw these big hairy legs. “I dropped everything and went straight home.”



Sonia returned with her husband armed with a broom handle and a large fishing net but the creature managed to scramble behind a fence panel and hasn’t been seen since. It is thought to have been left behind by a previous tenant. Sonia consulted with Paignton Zoo and pet shops in Torquay.

“They told me that it is harmless but won’t survive if it gets too cold so I desperately want to find it. I can’t see myself picking it up but want to make sure it is safe.” She said that the spiders eat cockroaches and crickets. “But I’ll have to catch it first before I can feed it.”