Posted on 07/20/2007 5:03:26 AM PDT by Daffynition
ANDOVER, Minn.
Judy Reardon found something unexpected in the four-pound box of grapes she brought home from Costco in Coon Rapids last week. Something dangerous. As she washed off the grapes and put them in plastic bags last week, she saw something move a spider. With the help of her husband, she captured it alive in a jar.
"I wanted to destroy her but my husband has been keeping her cause I don't know why," Reardon said.
The Reardons thought the spider was a black widow but they weren't sure. They let WCCO-TV take it to the University of Minnesota's insect museum.
"There's red markings on the underside of the abdomen," professor Phil Clausen said as he confirmed it was indeed a black widow.
Reardon said she contacted the supplier of the grapes in California, and was told this happens about once a year with its grapes. But Clausen said there's a chance the spider got into the carton in Minnesota because the climate is getting warmer and black widows are turning up here more often.
"This is a very, very abnormal situation," Craig Wilson, assistant vice president for food safety for Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco Wholesale Corp., told the station. "You could use more dangerous pesticides but that causes bigger problems."
Reardon returned the grapes. She said she has no interest in suing Costco she just wants everyone to be careful when they bring grapes home, wash them well and check them over.
The spider's new home will be at the university's insect museum.
The black widow got its name because the females eat the males right after they mate. A black widow bite can cause people severe pain, cramping and illness, but deaths are relatively rare.
They don’t die easy.You can put them in a mason jar, with the lid sealed, and they will live six weeks. A spider could have got a ride anywhere. If she said “aminose” when you spotted her, mark the spider as an illegal alien along with Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
LOL ... at least she is not suing Costco. Most people would be inclined that way.
I think they overreacted just a little.
The critters are ver common around here. I can shine a light under my house and see a dozen of them. I smashed one just last weekend in a covered water meter outside my yard.
I think if I had a choice, I’d prefer a BW to a brown recluse.
Me too.
Those recluse have flesh rotting venom. I have made it a normal habit to shake a shirt or tap my shoes together before I put them on. We have recluse in these parts too. They hide in you clothes closet and under your sheets.
I guess it could be worse. I could be in Australia with the funnel webs.
Oh man! I remember those days of living in a place where you had to check your shoes before putting them on and checking you sheets ... ///shuttering
...always wash your veggies & fruit bump.
Why?
By JAMIE PYATT
TESCO yesterday admitted using deadly Black Widow spiders to kill off insects in its bunches of grapes.
The shock revelation comes after three women found Black Widows — two of them ALIVE — in fruit they bought at different Tesco stores.
The spiders, which have red markings on their backs, were introduced to Tesco vineyards in California as an alternative to pesticide, following customer demand for “natural” food.
But the grapes are supposed to be hand-checked before being exported.
Tesco spokesman Greg Sage said last night: “We use natural predators on grapes because they prevent insects from puncturing the grapes. The spiders are very effective.
“All I can do is apologise for any distress this may have caused. We’ve spoken to our suppliers to ensure that the checking process is as good as it can be.
“The fact that the spiders are alive is evidence that we’re not using pesticides — because if we were they’d be dead.”
A Foods Standard Agency spokesman said: “The local authority has powers to take action.”
London-based spider expert Paul Hillyard said: “Black Widows can cause considerable damage with a bite which is potentially lethal.”
 EDWARD Cooper, 10, and sister Sophie, five, whose mum Linda, 39, found a Black Widow in Tesco grapes at Fleetsbridge, Dorset.
 STEPH Thorneycroft, 43, of Wimborne, Dorset, who found a Black Widow in grapes from Tesco at Ferndown. She said: "I screamed."
 LINDY and Jaime Bolzern stare at the dead Black Widow that mum Noelle of Southport found in grapes she bought for them at local Tesco. |
I would say so! My wife and I were comparing nasty insects where we grew up -- Arizona vs. Thailand. Arizona won.
Uh, right.
This was the witness - we wouldn’t want the journalists to misquote her :-).
I agree, though - the “news” is just a mess. Homophone Howlers all over the place.
I saw “marshal law” used recently, instead of “martial law” ...some things spell check leaves wanting for a sixth grade education. I nearly fell off my chair laughing.
Yeah, sometimes you just want to wretch at what gets past them.
Thailand?
I was bitten on the foot by a hornet two nights ago. The pain was excruciating, and my foot is now swollen and still rather painful. I can't imagine what a bite from a black widow spider would be like.
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