San Mateo Halloween Decoration Confused For Pet Tarantula

SAN MATEO, CA — Last month, a Peninsula Humane Society employee thought she was going to have to rescue a live tarantula from the top of a roof in San Mateo.

What she saw instead was an old Halloween decoration, and she “burst out laughing,” said Buffy Tarbox, the communications manager for Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, in an interview with KRON.

The animal shelter posted a photo of the fake spider on social media earlier this week, adding that it received a call from a concerned resident that the tarantula was stranded on top of a roof.

Tarbox told KRON that this was the first time that a potential rescue turned out to be a Halloween decoration — but in the past, people have called in thinking they have seen an animal on the side of the road that turned out to be a wig, or an alligator that turned out to be plastic.

Still, as Halloween approaches and more decorations start going up, Tarbox said the potential of a false alarm should not deter people from calling for help if they believe that an animal is in danger. She said people should wait and see if the animal or object is moving.

“We always want to hear from the public,” Tarbox said to KRON. “If they do see what they believe is an animal in a situation that requires our assistance, please call our dispatch line. Even if it’s a hair weave or a fake spider, we still will go out and do those calls. You never know if it’s an animal and it does actually need our help.”

The Peninsula Humane Society can be reached at (650) 340-7022.

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