THIS ‘MISSING TARANTULA’ prank is just rude. Really. Why would anyone ever do this to anybody else? It’s just not fair.

On Thursday, Redditor laserpilot posted a sign for a missing tarantula that was spotted in the Park Slope neighbourhood of Brooklyn, which quickly went viral as panic grew.

It concerned a pregnant pet tarantula called Penelope, who managed to escape from her owner’s spider-loving clutches.

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The notice read:

I know she looks crazy scary, but she’s mostly harmless. She’s mostly active at night and likes to hide in dark corners. She shouldn’t bite, but sometimes jumps when frightened.

Cue every arachnophobic Brooklynite’s worst nightmare. The story exploded overnight and people readied themselves for an invasion of little baby red rump tarantulas.

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The New York Times actually decided to call the number on the flyer yesterday and discovered that the sign was put up by a local as a prank.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the NYT:

I never expected it to blow up. Then I was at the train station, looking at my Twitter feed and saw this tweet from ABC about a tarantula. I thought, ‘Oh man.’

Oh man, indeed.

We know it’s a prank, but…is it on me? It feels like it’s on me.

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