NEWPORT — It all began when Marilyn “Terry” Jacques tenant, Jay Archer of Hoyt Street, complained that there was a spider in the garage. Not just any spider, mind you, but a giant spider — a giant pink spider — a giant pink spider with hair.

Jacques was not impressed. In fact the thought of a giant pink, hairy spider in her garage prompted her to call the Newport Town Manager last Friday morning. Word quickly spread around the town office that a giant spider had moved to town. Not all those who heard of the spider believed it existed, however.

“When I told the postman, he laughed and laughed. He laughed all around the block,” said Jacques. Archer left for work and Jacques waited for reinforcements. When Town Manager Carlo Pilgrim arrived, he brought Public Works Director Jack Wilson with him. Everyone crept to the garage door — then no one wanted to open it. When it was finally opened, there was the giant web, no less than 2 feet across, draped in a corner of the small building, over the light switch, and directly above a weight bench and lifting equipment. “Now we know how the spider bulked itself up,” quipped Wilson.

Groping around, Wilson and Pilgrim discoverd the spider was in hiding, no where to be seen. They left and Jacques returned, hesitantly, to her house. She promised to keep an eye out for the giant visitor.

Six days later, a second tenant, Scott Lennon, emerged from the garage victorious. The giant, pink, hairy spider was trapped in a Skippy peanut butter jar.

Within hours, Jacques had conned a volunteer into baby-sitting the spider for the night (“I just couldn’t stand the thought of that thing in my house all night!) and the next day it was taken to Dan Jennings in Garland.

Jennings is a retired entomologist, who is busy identifying Maine spiders for an upcoming book. He immediately identified it as an Araneus cavaticus, or common barn spider. Indeed, he said, it was a large spider, but certainly not a giant spider.

Jennings said the pink and gray spotted color was not unique, that barn spiders come in a large variety of colors and sizes. Mrs. Jacque’s spider was identified, preserved and labeled and will become a permanent part of Jennings’ collection, which eventually will go to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Jennings said, “Maine has a very rich spider population. This particular spider is not poisonous and is not known to cause any medical problems.” Viewed under Jenning’s microscope, its eight eyes, two fangs and hairy legs looked even scarier than Jacque’s originally believed. “But, there are no known aggressive spiders in North America,” he said. There are only two poisonous spiders — the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow.

Jennings said Jacque’s spider was carrying a sack full of eggs and if they had hatched, she could have hatched up to 2,000 new spiders.

“It is really too bad that people are so afraid of spiders,” said Jennings. “They do a tremendous job of keeping insects in check. They consume almost any flying insect.”

Jacques said she was just very glad that she was rid of “the Mother of All Spiders. It was disgusting.”