... or maybe longer if you get bit.
Posted on 09/09/2014 4:49:19 PM PDT by beaversmom
Brazilian wandering spider venom causes loss of muscle control and breathing problems, paralysis and asphyxiation. Photograph: Apex Photo Agency/Rex
The Brazilian wandering spider – perhaps the world's most aggressive and venomous spider – is a rare visitor to these shores, but has recently been turning up in shipments of bananas, most recently in Colchester.
Such is their fearsome reputation that a woman who found its eggs in bananas she bought from Tesco on Monday had to incinerate her vacuum cleaner after using it to clean them up.
Abby Woodgate, 30, was told by pest control experts that she would have to burn anything that had come into contact with the spider eggs, as the arachnids are highly venomous. At deadly concentrations, their venom causes loss of muscle control and breathing problems, resulting in paralysis and eventual asphyxiation.
The Brazilian wandering spider has a tendency to hide in banana bunches or plantations and is occasionally found as a stowaway within shipments of bananas, hence its other name – banana spider.
Although its venom is highly toxic, it is being studied for use in erectile dysfunction treatments. The spider's bite can cause an erection that sometimes lasts for up to four hours.
Woodgate first thought the bananas had mould on them after noticing a white lump when they were delivered to her home. When she poked it with a toothpick, a cocoon opened, revealing dozens of tropical eggs.
She immediately threw the fruit in the bin, but a few eggs dropped on her kitchen floor, which she vacuumed. She called Tesco's Highwoods store, which had delivered the shopping to her home and it said it would collect them. She then received a call to say pest control experts would call round instead.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Over here...
” I was born in 54 and couldn’t sleep without a radio playing”
Ha! I was born in ‘46. My Mom would put me in the playpen, and I’d shake the bars and scream until she put a stack of piano Boogie Woogie 78s on the record player. She had to keep turning the stack over all day, or I’d scream bloody murder! And they wonder why I became a musician?
... or maybe longer if you get bit.
We oughta talk some time. My wife and I just got back from a road trip down to Yosemite, about 2500 miles with nothing but “50s 0n 5” and “60s on 6” playing on Sirius. I don’t believe they played more than half a dozen songs I didn’t know the lyrics to. Plus a lot of stuff about who wrote the song, names of group members, little bits of trivia. I don’t know no trigger-nometry or what a gerund is or what I had for lunch yesterday but I know oldies but goodies. Not bragging. I’m no idiot savant, just an idiot.
We may be twins, born in different times and different places.
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