Black Widow found in Grapes in Canada...?!?!?!

[Jonny2184]

Check this out...

My friend sent me this email about how they found a black widow in there grapes.
We live in Saint John, New Brunswick Canada.
I can't imagine a black widow living up north that long! And it was still alive! AHH!
Here some pictures and what the lady had to say about it!

"QUOTE"

READ BEFORE YOU VIEW PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Guys this is a msg from my Aunt Pat, please forward this on - you will see it in the papers soon enough but warn everyone! This happened in at one of our local Sobeys just a few days ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hello everyone I know,

This is just to let you know that a friend of mine bought grapes at
Sobeys Old Hampton Highway this past weekend and then she noticed
Sunday morning when she got them out of the fridge that something else was in the bag.
Upon a closer look she saw that it was a spider, a black widow spider. I
took pictures of it alive tonight then sprayed it with raid. Look up
how special it would be to get bitten by one, 25 times more poisonous
than a rattlesnake, really!!! So beware and check your produce over
very carefully.
NB argricultural has been notified as well as the newsroom at the
paper, hopefully they will let the general public be aware of this and
inform them as to what to do should they have this happen to them.

"QUOTE"

I think she exaggerated a lil about the amount of poison. "I think its only 15 times more poisonous then the prairie rattle snake". But in any case that it freaky to find on in NB Canada!!!!

Here's some pictures!!!

[Nate]

scary.......

[Cubby23]

well... meat is better anyway

[xdeus]

"QUOTE"
I think she exaggerated a lil about the amount of poison. "I think its only 15 times more poisonous then the prairie rattle snake".

That's probably about right. The potency might be that much, but the quantity is far less making it less dangerous. We get those all the time where I live. They like dark, humid places like spinkler valve boxes and under rocks, etc. The chances of getting bitten are pretty slim, but they do pack a whallop!

[mj_romo]

That has actually happened a number of times.

Grapes are one of the few fruits that it's really inefficient to use pesticides on, so farmers "seed" their crops with black widows since black widows are the natural predator of what typically attacks grapes.

I've been bitten twice. The reaction with the first bite was not pleasant, but I can't imagine it could possibly have been worse than a rattlesnake bite. I think the type of toxin is totally different and causes a very different reaction. With the second bite, my dr wouldn't even give me the anti-venom because it was only 4 months after the first time, and it definitely wasn't as bad as the first time.

[Jonny2184]

Heres another picture of the widow dead.


http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...0/IMG_4823.JPG


I guess there is a link to a Canadian Gov website explaning a few things about the spiders and grapes and what to do if you find one!

Pretty cool...Poor Sobeys I think is gonna get into a little trouble.

People in Canada freak when they see these, and I would too, because we have no idea what to do, and how the spider reacts!
I'd FREAK if I got bitten! Maybe even cry a little! lol

[frankykeno]

My oldest brother has spent his entire working career with a major grocery chain in Ontario, Canada. I won't even let him tell me his grocery store horror stories (though the one about the guy with a frozen T-bone down his pants was rather hilarious come to think of it LOL). I do know that years ago before they gassed a lot of the fruit to ripen it and other issues with safe pesticides that when he unpacked incoming fruit orders all the guys wore gauntlet style gloves because of that sort of problem with hitchhiking beasties. He didn't think anything of it, just part of the job.