Wakki News The weird is fun
A woman’s love for spiders has led her to acquire several of them, including dangerous species that may even end her life.
Bethany Staples, 28, kept tarantulas to overcome her fear of spiders and now has 400 of them in her home. She says “they’re like Pokémon” as she continues to breed the critters.
The woman from Wiltshire began keeping tarantulas to cure her fear of spiders – but it’s stopped her friends calling round.
The 400 crawlers she has at home have scared off pals, who no longer want to visit. The 28-year-old said: “Most people won’t come in. They have taken over an entire room.”
Bethany has 150 adult and 250 babies living in her spare room, including venomous species such as Thailand blacks and rose hair tarantulas.
She now breeds the eight-legged creatures and says her hobby has not only cured her fear but also given her “downtime” from her job in private security.
“They’re like Pokémon,” she said, “I want to catch them all. It’s quite an addictive hobby and niche, because there’s so many different types.”
It was in 2020 that Bethany began to keep spiders in 2020 – and began breeding them last year.
She added: “When I moved into my own house for the first time, I wanted a low maintenance pet. I didn’t think it would be spiders though, because I used to be scared of them. I didn’t like them, I wouldn’t pick one up.
“A week before I got my first tarantula, there was a spider in my bathroom and I had to get a friend to take it out.”
Bethany’s fear gradually turned into fascination as she developed interest in spider collection. She revealed: “There are 100,000 different types of tarantula. Some have stronger venom than others – but no tarantula has strong enough venom to kill a human.”
