On October 22nd, an unusual exotic creature was found wandering the streets of Hitachi City in Ibaraki Prefecture.
At around 8:30am, a woman living in the area was taking a walk in Takasuzu-cho, when she came across a large spider that she had never seen before. The spider was about 8cm in length and was peering out of a drainage pipe in a wall running along the roadside.

The woman reported her discovery to the local police box, who then proceeded to capture and investigate the spider. Upon inspection, the police concluded that the spider was a type of tarantula – given the time of year, perhaps the creepy crawly was attempting an early trick-or-treat stroll.

Despite the stories and folktales of giant scary spiders in Japan, Tarantulas are not a native species here. The police have concluded that the spider must be an escaped pet bought from a pet store and are now looking for the owner.

The tarantula is covered with thick hair and has yellow and black stripes on its legs. From the description it can be assumed that it is a Mexican Red-knee Tarantula. It is being kept in a bug cage at Hitachi Police Station and is waiting to be reunited with its owner.