It was enough to have arachnologists around the globe in a state of high tension when a giant pink Spider was seen on the mountain pastures in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland.
However, it was not some previously undiscovered species, but a Spider 2 remote-controlled mower that was being used by a local contractor to maintain the grassed slopes on local farms in the Swiss alps.
His partner’s favourite colour is pink and, where possible, all his farm contracting equipment is painted pink, the plastic coverings for his silage bales are pink, the bells around the cows’ necks are pink and he wears pink shorts during the summer months.
Lubor Hladik, international sales manager at Dvorak, the manufacturers of Spider machines explained: “We took an enquiry from our Swiss distributor for a Spider 2, but unusually they wanted it painted bright pink; we later discovered that it was the customer’s partner who is obsessed with the colour and it needed to match other equipment on the farm.
"As the customer is always right, we found the correct colour pigment and fulfilled their request. We’ve produced Spiders in black livery previously, for the Daytona Speedway track in the USA, but never in pink. That was a first.”
