Posted on 08/31/2013 4:22:53 PM PDT by Morgana
FULL TITLE: How FOUR cops rushed to kill spider in wheelchair-bound teen's home after she called 911 fearing it could have killed her
Police in Portland, Oregon, received an unusual call earlier this month when a teenager phoned requesting assistance to deal with a ‘massive’ spider.
The caller, Makenna Sewell, wasn’t a prankster or someone with an extreme phobia of spiders, but instead suffers from muscular dystrophy and is wheelchair-bound.
She believed the spider was a brown recluse, a species with venom so toxic that it could have been deadly for her compromised immune system.
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Sewell was home alone on August 16 when she saw the creature, which she described as being about three inches across.
Just a few days prior, her mom Shawnda had been bitten by a spider on the back of her leg during the night, which had resulted in a nasty wound and a trip to the emergency room.
Initially Sewell tried to call her mother, her father, the friends her parents were with, her own friends and two neighbors.
When she couldn’t reach anyone, Sewell decided to call the non-emergency police hotline as a last resort.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
recluses are pretty rare up north. tend to stop finding them north of the Ohio river. not saying it isn’t possible though.
It was probably a wolf spider and it thought that she was Little Red Riding Hood.
If you get a chance listen to her interview. She is so cute and genuine that I think the cops would do it again without hesitation.
Probably a hobo spider. They get pretty big and are brown.
Yea but would a wolf spider put a person in the hospital like it did her Ma?
She is a very attractive young lady. I’m guessing the cops will be checking in regularly just to make sure she’s ok, and there haven’t been any more spiders.
A hobo spider has a poisonous bite and can cause necrosis. I see also that the giant house spider is common in Washington State. I’m not sure if it is poisonous though.
Did they shoot her dog for good measure?
That would have been a brown recluse — about an inch wide.
But the one the police swatted with a paper was larger— about 2 inches wide. So they handcuffed it, read it its rights, shot the dog and took the spider with them.
The spider is guilty. The girl is not guilty.
“recluses are pretty rare up north. tend to stop finding them north of the Ohio river. not saying it isn’t possible though.”
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A three inch recluse? That certainly would be a world record, haha. When back in Tennessee, I had to deal with them on a daily basis.
Three inches is a very big spider.,,,Maybe a wolf spider. I had one a bit larger then that just yesterday. I trapped it and relocated it to the outdoors.
Yeah well you can come and rescue me or send the cops...
Im up on a chair here with your wolf spider licking his chops ...
I don't think Rush mentioned any of that, but then again I was only half listening while I was doing something else.
Brown Recluse spiders have an “hourglass” shape on their backs.
I think I got bitten by one a few years ago. There was a real tendency to want to scratch it, as it seemed to itch more than ache. Though that’s where the real problem can start as it spreads the venom and gets easily infected.
Don’t scratch the bite.
Sorry. It’s not an “hougless”, but a “violin”. My fault.
“Yeah well you can come and rescue me or send the cops...”
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Well Nana, if I were back in Tennessee, I would come to your rescue, but now 12,000 miles away...A bit far for a house-call.
Anyway, do not be afraid of the spider. They do good works for us.
Licking HIS chops? Come now, you know it is only females that are wild and dangerous, at least in the human species ;)
Given her circumstances I don’t blame her a bit for calling the cops for a possible Brown Recluse or a Hobo spider. Can’t tell from the pic she took what it was though. Cops should have sent its little corpse off to have it identified. Either that or the family should hire an exterminator to come see if they have an infestation going on.
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