Spider and snake relocate

2004-02-13 22:33

Charles Smith

Bloemfontein - The spider that had the country talking after it caught and devoured a snake, found a new home on Friday.

Tania Robertson, a Bloemfontein secretary, was very relieved to get rid of her unwanted office mate.

Leon Lotz of the department of arachnology at the National Museum in the city is now the proud owner of the poisonous button spider and what's left of the Aurora house snake.

Robertson on Thursday appealed for someone to offer a new home to the spider that had been nesting in the airconditioning unit in her office.

Lotz said the spider and snake would in future be used for educational purposes in the museum. The snake had been preserved in alcohol, while the spider was living in a covered jar on his desk.

The spider and the remains of the snake will form part of an exhibition in the museum for years to come.

He said these spiders lived about two years. When she dies, she would be added to other preserved spiders in the museum's collection.

He said the spider would in future have to be satisfied with much less exotic food, like moths and bugs. That is, unless she escaped to the herpetological department where the snakes are kept, he added tongue in cheek.

Meanwhile, Robertson was very relieved to see the spider go.

"No, I am not going to cry for her," she said. "Now I can switch on the airconditioning again."

She said only two people responded to her appeal. Lotz was the first. The second respondent was apparently very disappointed to hear the spider had already found a home by the time he called. He wanted to add it to his own private spider collection.

- Volksblad