A TULLOW family were sharing their home with a deadly Black Widow spider and about 100 other exotic spiders and scorpions but hadn’t a clue that they were in danger until their son moved out of their home.

The horde of tropical animals, including 30 tarantulas and six other spiders that are among the most lethal in the world, were kept in plastic boxes in the son’s bedroom in a Tullow housing estate. The extent and danger of the collection was revealed only after the mother contacted Kevin Cunningham from the National Exotic Animal Sanctuary and sent him a photo of one of the creepy-crawlies.

“A younger member of the family told the mother that there was a Black Widow in the collection. They sent me a photograph and I identified it,” Kevin told The Nationalist. “I told them to lock the bedroom door until we got there.”

Kevin, who’s experienced in rescuing exotic animals, said “it was a day that I’ll never forget” when he walked into the room and discovered “some of the most serious species in the world” in plastic containers.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. You don’t know what you’re dealing with. I didn’t know what was in them,” he continued.

“I wouldn’t choose to handle those spiders – their bites are life-threatening,” Kevin pointed out, adding that experts from the Natural History Museum were called in.

One funnel-web, two African brown and two other spiders related to the Black Widow family – all of which area known to be the most dangerous of all spiders – were removed by the experts and destroyed.

It’s also believed that among the gruesome menagerie was a Black Widow that was never located.

“That’s not to say that it ran away – it’s more likely that it died. All of the serious ones were removed,” Kevin said.

The haul also included 30 tarantulas, some scorpions and a giant centipede, while the desiccated bodies of dozens of spiders were also uncovered.

The collector had so many insects in the stash that he didn’t have enough room to keep them in contained, temperature-controlled tanks and instead stored them in the plastic containers in which they had been transported to Ireland.

Kevin also said that he’d never been aware of anyone importing the deadly species of spiders into Ireland and suggested that legislation should be introduced to outlaw the practice.

“The family had no idea at all what he was collecting,” Kevin said, adding that the collector “must have known what he was doing. You have to go to specific sites looking for them. You couldn’t just buy these accidently”.

He also said that he didn’t want to disclose where the family home was for fear of upsetting the neighbours.