Hi maggot at toad hall
Many thanks for your help.
I have not managed to get a pic of it yet but I have been trawling the web to see if I can see anything that looks like it. I am going to try and describe it a bit more. You appear to right, no uk spider looks like it comes anywhere near to the size and not one of them seems to have chunky anough legs in relation to its body. The nearest pic I could see was this picture at the top of this link:
Tarantula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It may have been marginally smaller than this but it definately had the same long fang things that look like mini legs coming out of its head and its legs were chunky like this. It held its legs in the same way and position although it appeared that the second pair of legs were slightly more forward and nearer the first pair.
However, the body seemed thinner and not so bulbous and it seemed more aero-dynamic (less hairy) but it certainly didn't seem shiny, smooth, sleek or shell type so it may have been that I wasn't close enough to see hair. From what i've seen of taratulas, they are quite slow but this one seemed quite agile and faster. It was nearer this colour but a bit lighter:
GMTV - Invasion of the spiders!
As soon as we went into the yard, it would freeze in a defensive manner (or in a ready to pounce manner
) and just watch us, only slightly changing its angle to keep following us as we walked up and down. I even used a mirror to reflect the sun onto it so I coulld get a clearer look as it was in a slightly shaded area but it didn't even flinch. It would only start walking around again when we went back inside. Also I have only seem him walking on the wood that is near the top of the one storey building, he never seems to venture on the rendered wall below but I suppose that might be because it is bright white and he could be spotted a mile away. Also like I said, I have only seem him in dry periods when it is really warm although he seems to stick to more shaded areas.
I have no idea whether this is going to help but I thought it was worth a try.
Thanks again and kind regards,
Sarah.
