Kitchen-invading tarantula surprises California family

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A Southern California family received a late night surprise when a massive tarantula turned up climbing on one of their kitchen cabinets.

Hannah Dafferner, 19, said she went to the kitchen for a snack late Tuesday night at her family's Scripps Ranch home when she spotted something unusual.

"All I wanted was a snack," she told KSWB-TV. "It didn't move at first. I thought my sister put a Halloween decoration there or something. Then it moved its leg. I screamed bloody murder."

Dafferner's father, Scott Dafferner, posted a picture of the astonishing arachnid on Facebook.

"Now I am awake. Hannah just found him in the kitchen," he wrote.

The father captured the male tarantula in a pitcher.

"It really cooperated. I think it was afraid of all the screaming," Scott Dafferner said.

The family shared photos of the tarantula in a neighborhood Facebook group, where they learned a local 9-year-old girl would be more than happy to take the intruder off their hands.

"The private message was 'Can we have it?' Who am I to say no?" Hannah's mom Alli Dafferner said. "Happily."