Into the spider-verse: UK's biggest rat-sized spider is back

With great power, comes great responsibility... the return of this giant spider could help increase the diverse wetland wildlife in the UK

They can walk on water, grow as large as rats and lurk around lakes... but one of the UK's rarest spiders was on its last legs until recently.

According to the RSPB, the fen raft spider is the UK's biggest species of the eight-legged creature, and was almost at the point of extinction.

Now, after a conservation project lasting over ten years, the RSPB have helped the fen raft spider make a comeback in nature reserves along the River Yare, Norfolk.

Their size might be a little scary, but there's nothing to worry about - fen raft spiders are completely harmless to humans!

Fen raft spiders used to live in lots of wetland habitats - which means places that they called home, including marshes, swamps and bogs - in the Yare Valley hundreds of years ago.

Their numbers decreased as wet landscapes disappeared around the area.

Speaking for the RSPB, the Yare Valley reserves manager Tim Strudwick said that these areas are still threatened, "from things such as drought, sea level rise, tidal surges – anything like that could literally wipe [the spiders] out”.

So in 2010, the British Arachnological Society, Natural England, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the University of East Anglia all teamed up to try and bring the fen raft spider back.

Fen raft spiders love to hang out by the water

They first trialled breeding fen rafts in captivity, before releasing them back into the wild in 2012, monitoring which spaces they preferred living in.

Over the last decade their numbers have risen, and the RSPB now estimate that the number of female fen raft spiders who are breeding has reached around 10,000!

It can be quite hard to spot this rare spider, but according to the RSPB the best time is when the young spiders hatch, as they can be visible when the adult spiders create their own nursery around the water on a sunny day.

Reserves manager Tim is actually a bit scared of spiders himself, so if he's happy with fen rafts coming back, then there's nothing to fear!