Deadly Spider Found in Grocery Store

Deadly Spider Found in Grocery Store

TULSA, Okla. (March 19) - One of the
most deadly spiders in the world has
been found in the produce section of a
Tulsa grocery store.
An employee of Whole Foods Market
found the Brazilian Wandering Spider
Sunday in bananas from Honduras and
managed to catch it in a container.
The spider was given to University of
Tulsa Animal Facilities director Terry
Childs who says this type of spider kills
more people than any other.
Childs says a bite will kill a person in
about 25 minutes and while there is an
antidote he doesn’t know of any in the
Tulsa area.
Spiders often are found in imported
produce, and a manager at Whole Foods
says the store regularly checks its goods
and that’s how the spider was found.

This is why I handle all produce VERY carely. (especially grapes!) *shudder*

That's a bit creepy and cool at the same time. I'm glad that an intelligent person found the spider and was able to catch is safely. Is there a link to go with the article, to give credit to the original source?

I'm going to move this to the invert forum, since this forum is usually reserved for videos and such. ;)

Bet that guy got a raise! lol :D

Seriously... I'm with Christie! That's cool and creepy all at the same time!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laooda

Bet that guy got a raise! lol :D

Seriously... I'm with Christie! That's cool and creepy all at the same time!

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After hearing how stupid some people are, it's refreshing to hear about the actions of an intelligent person! It sorta renews your faith in people in general.

When I took my daughter to karate the other day, a kid and his grandmother had brought in a black widow spider, in a critter keeper. :O :ohmygod: I might have been okay with that, but they opened the cage to poke around and try and find it!!!! :slamhead: UGH!!! I gently removed my daughter from the area, but made sure nothing got OUT of that cage. I was just waiting for someone to drop the cage or get bit because they didn't see it. GAH!!!!!

Wha...? :O Wow. LOL Let's hope they don't continue to poke around in the container! :oops:

Wow. Thanks for sharing, John.

I'll definitely be checking my bananas more carefully.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

When I took my daughter to karate the other day, a kid and his grandmother had brought in a black widow spider, in a critter keeper. :O :ohmygod: I might have been okay with that, but they opened the cage to poke around and try and find it!!!! :slamhead: UGH!!! I gently removed my daughter from the area, but made sure nothing got OUT of that cage. I was just waiting for someone to drop the cage or get bit because they didn't see it. GAH!!!!!

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What's that on your head? looks like a small black spider...

:D

My eldest brother just retired after a life long career in a major grocery chain. I remember the days he was a produce guy and told us how they wore gloves to avoid spider bites. I do remember him saying something about how it got better after they started gassing the bananas or something like that. Apparently the spiders loved to get up inside the bunches of bananas and were a real bugger to see easily.

Maybe being this was a whole foods store their produce is organic so not treated for any kind of creepy crawlers?????

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nate

What's that on your head? looks like a small black spider...

:D

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http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1.../thSPIDER1.gif

THose bananas were to die for:D:banana::banana:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/artic..._0_Whatwa99771

Go to the link to see photos and video.
________________________

'Deadly' spider may have been harmless, zoo official says

by: SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Thursday, March 19, 2009
3/19/2009 3:01:04 PM


What was originally identified as a deadly spider found at a Tulsa grocery store may have been a harmless species, a curator from the Tulsa Zoo said Thursday.

The spider was taken to the University of Tulsa on Sunday, where animal facilities manager Terry Childs identified it as a Brazilian wandering spider, one of the most lethal in the world.

After the spider gained media attention Wednesday, Barry Downer, curator of aquariums and herpetology at the Tulsa Zoo, said video and photos he had seen led him to believe it was a Huntsman spider and is harmless to humans.

"There's pretty definitive evidence it has been misidentified," he said.

Childs said Wednesday night he had destroyed the spider at the urging of a TU administrator because of safety concerns.

Downer said the spider should have been preserved for study, but he was told the body would not be made available.

"It doesn't make any sense to me why it wouldn't be saved," he said.

A TU spokesman said Thursday the university is looking into how and why the spider was destroyed.

The spider was found in a shipment of bananas at Whole Foods. Childs praised the store's employees for their handling of the situation, and said it can happen at any store.

Copyright © 2009, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved

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Originally Posted by Chris Rossi

THose bananas were to die for:D:banana::banana:

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hahaha i was waiting for someone to say it!!!

I want a deadly spider in MY produce! Nothing but fruit flies. When i was a teen we got banana's with a green bug that looked like a roach and was huge!

did anyone know that daddy long legs (have no idea what there real name is) are one the most poisonous animals? There mouths are too small to bite us though..i just wouldn't eat one :chew:

crazy, right?


Mike~

Here is a new article on the "deadly" spider.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/deadly_sp...USvK2tOokazJV4

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeG

did anyone know that daddy long legs (have no idea what there real name is) are one the most poisonous animals? There mouths are too small to bite us though..i just wouldn't eat one :chew:

crazy, right?


Mike~

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If you watched mythbusters as much as i do, then you would know that everything you just said was untrue. :rolleyes:

If you were me, you'd know it too. Got bit by a daddy long-legs as a kid, it kind of hurt and _really_ startled, but I'm still here typing this.

~Bruce, who handles daddy long-legs with much more respect these days.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeG

did anyone know that daddy long legs (have no idea what there real name is) are one the most poisonous animals? There mouths are too small to bite us though..i just wouldn't eat one :chew:

crazy, right?


Mike~

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There is an urban legend stating that daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but that their chelicerae (fangs) are either too small or too weak to puncture human skin; the same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly, also called "daddy long-legs" in some locales. Indeed, pholcid spiders do have a short fang structure (called uncate). However, brown recluse spiders also have uncate fang structure, but are able to deliver medically significant bites. Either pholcid venom is not toxic to humans or there is a musculature difference between the two arachnids, with recluses, being hunting spiders, possessing stronger muscles for fang penetration. [5]

In 2004, the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (Season 1, Episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0.25 mm (average human skin thickness varies from about 0.5mm to 4mm), the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans. Additionally, recent research by Alan Van :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: has shown that pholcid venom is actually relatively weak in its effects on insects as well.[6].

From :bow::bow: Wikipedia :bow::bow:

Yea, I was going to say the daddy long legs myth was proved wrong on myth busters. However, correct me if i'm wrong, the brazilian wandering spider is the most potent of the spiders. I remember them doing a study on it, and it being quite more potent then the sydney funnel web which I believe placed in #2. As far as brown recluses go, their bite can cause nercosis of the affected area. I've had to remove some brown recluses from my house before, not something I like doing.

As far as that spider goes, man, I don't like spiders, especially when they can see me & I can't see them, thats freaky.