The owner of an exotic pet store has taken to national television to try and stop the hate campaign against false widow spiders.
Mark Amey of Bovingdon’s Ameyzoo appeared on ITV’s This Morning to defend the much-maligned arachnid, which received negative press after it caused injury to a number of bite victims.
But Mark, who keeps different breeds of spiders at home and for sale in his High Street shop, said: “The false widow, or steatoda nobilis, was introduced to the UK about 150 years ago, but recently there has been a lot of scare-mongering.
“In this country, spider bites account for zero deaths, whereas deaths from bee stings number around a dozen each year – it’s like anything, some people have bad reactions.
“I have plenty of false widows set up in my home and they are doing an excellent job of pest control – if you find one, don’t kill it, give it a name.”