NORTH ANDOVER, MA (WCVB/CNN) - Four venomous spiders and six scorpions are in safe hands after being found in the public restroom of a Petco store.
The dangerous animals were abandoned in the restroom in assorted plastic containers.
"You're jeopardizing the public," Joan Gallagher, of Rainforest Reptile Shows, said. "You're endangering the life of this animal."
The scorpions have to be handled with care, but it was the spiders that posed the greatest risk.
Six-eyed sand spiders are part of the same genus as the African brown recluse. They rarely bite humans, but if they do, there is no antivenin.
"This is not normal," Michael Ralbovsky, of Rainforest Reptile Shows, said. "We do not see this every day."
Ralbovsky said a bite from the spider could "probably" be fatal.
"The spider is going to cause some real problems," Ralbovsky said. "The cyto-toxic venoms actually just pop the cells. Explode them."
Gallagher said a bite would cause extensive dead tissue due to the potency of the toxin.
The spiders are found in southern African deserts.
It is not illegal to possess the spiders or scorpions in Massachusetts, so there was no reason for the owner to abandon them secretly. Officials advise turning dangerous animals such as these over to expert handlers.
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