A woman in the UK called in experts to catch a tarantula the "size of her hand" in a cupboard at her home only to discover it was a plastic toy.
An inspector of Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was called out to deal with the tarantula in Hampshire in southern England.
The woman had reported seeing a spider "the size of her hand" hiding in a downstairs cupboard, the BBC reported.
Inspector Nikki Denham was prepared with gloves and nets to trap the spider, but after shining a torch in the cupboard saw it was plastic.
The RSPCA said the woman was "obviously embarrassed".
Denham said the householder in Alresford had closed all doors to prevent the spider's escape before she arrived.
"It was dark under the stairs, but I could see legs behind a vacuum cleaner that certainly were tarantula size. However, as I shone light in I could see that it was in fact a toy plastic tarantula," she said.
Denham said the toy was shown to the woman's young son who confirmed it was his "with an angelic innocent face".
A RSPCA spokeswoman said the organisation was called on to rescue 275 genuine tarantulas in 2016.
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