How it got there is a mystery but the tarantula got there — the Swampscott Cemetery.

Swampscott Animal Control Officer Diane Treadwell got a call from police around 9:30 am Monday saying they had a tarantula at the station — and would she come take care of it.

A Department of Public Works crew had found the hairy-legged bugger at the cemetery and put it in a container and dropped it off at the police station.

The animal control officer hauled away the eight-legged arachnid in a glass container with a very secure plastic wrap on the top, holes punched for air but not large enough for escape.

Its discovery in a cemetery added a bit of creepiness to the rescue, Treadwell said.

This was the first time she had rescued a tarantula and it ranks in her top 5 all-time odd animal rescues.

She has no idea how the arachnid got in the cemetery.

Maybe it was released. Maybe it escaped. A DPW worker thought maybe it arrived with some flowers that were placed on a cemetery grave.

Still, the tarantula is of good size — three to four inches — and you'd think it would not escape a florist's notice.

The animal control officer says the brown arachnid is fascinating but not a sweet thing.

"I'm not a spider fan," she said. She'll be sure the top is well covered over night.

Fan or not it's getting good care.

The officer got a terrarium, some proper tarantula bedding and a bag of crickets for the creature on Monday.

It must have been hungry. It pounced on the first cricket to drop into his terrarium. The next two met similar fates in short order.

The tarantula is up for adoption.

Those who are interested are asked to call the Marblehead Animal Shelter at (781) 631-8664.

Worldwide there are some 900 secies of tarantulas, according to Wikipedia, and most of them are harmless to humans.