Find local news in Kent

Home   Medway   News   Article

Enormous spider with fangs spotted in Rainham garden

20:00, 03 May 2020

updated: 20:08, 03 May 2020

A horrified gardener has sent in a photo of an enormous fanged spider spotted in Medway.

Today sees the end of National Gardening Week, and while lots of us have been enjoying the perks of being able to spend a little extra time tending to our plots during lockdown, this green-fingered reader was less keen on coming face-to-face with this particular aspect of nature.

An enormous spider with fangs was spotted in a Rainham garden
An enormous spider with fangs was spotted in a Rainham garden

She sent in a picture of what she discovered in her garden in Rainham.

She said: "Just stumbled across this charming creature in my garden and it looks pretty huge to me and appears to have fangs.

"Not sure if it’s an interesting variety. Maybe someone could identify it?

"More concerning is that I have no idea where it scarpered off to."

We asked KentOnline readers for help identifying the arachnid. Suggestions included "a creature straight from the depths of hell," "a big one" and Aragog - the enormous spider from the Harry Potter series.

One more likely suggestion was a Tegenaria - more commonly known as house spider - due do its tan-coloured abdomen that often has a characteristic ‘herring bone’ pattern.

The adult male can reach a legspan of five inches - so this creature would certainly be on the larger side of that.

Their sheet-like webs are usually built in garages, sheds, loft spaces and cavity walls and they have a particular fondness for bathrooms.

Last month we reported on how green-fanged venomous spiders had been caught crawling around homes and gardens in Kent.

If you can help identify the spider, email multimedianews@thekmgroup.co.uk

Escaped animals, unusual finds and news from the RSPCA can all be found here.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More