Officials in Texas are forced to rethink the plans for a new highway

Oct 3, 2012 11:47 GMT  ·  By

Not very long ago, a woman discovered that spiders could sometimes be quite a pain in the ear.

However, odds are that nobody ever assumed that these arachnids could give environmentalists a run for their money and halt construction projects worth millions of dollars in just a matter of days.

As weird as it may sound, this is precisely what happened only recently in Texas.

Thus, workers pushing forward with the construction of a new state highway came across a very rare spider species, whose representatives had last been spotted about 30 years ago, and had no choice but to halt all activities.

For the time being, they are busy waiting for further instructions from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which in turn is busy debating this matter with the Federal Highway Administration.

In case anyone was wondering, the spider responsible for all this commotion is a Braken Bat Cave meshweaver.

Apparently, the arachnids belonging to this species are eyeless, yet somehow manage to weave rather impressive and unique web patterns.

Given the fact that this spider species was listed by authorities as an endangered one back in 2000, and also taking into consideration its aforementioned peculiarities, it need not come as a surprise that US high officials are willing to do their best in not disturbing its natural habitat now that the spider is back on the American biodiversity map. Sources inform us that, following advice received from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Highway Administration, the Texas Department of Transportation agreed to turn loose the contractor chosen to complete this project, Ballenger Construction.

As one spokesperson for the Texas Department of Transportation explained, “We've been asked to avoid further excavation if we can.”

It is to be expected that efforts will now have to be made to rethink the initial design on this project, as both conservationists and US officials agree that the Braken Bat Cave meshweaver must be protected at all costs.