Millions of flesh-eating KILLER SPIDERS are LOOSE in the UK!!!

Everyone beware, there are DEADLY FLESH-EATING spiders on the loose in the UK!

Just kidding, bit of tabloid-esque lampoonery there. I ain't been on ATS for a while and it's all looking spankingly lovely, but I can't find the search facility...is it incredibly difficult to find or so blindingly obvious I can't see it? Needless to say, I've failed to verify whether or not this current hot-topic has been discussed here on ATS, if so -I apologise in advance for the creation of this thread.

I remember the old days when I was taken in by this type of nonsense. Spending time on sites like ATS gives you a different perspective, I read some quite amusing articles on various tabloid websites totally scaremongering and sensationalising something that has been present on this land for over a century, apparently. Here's a more honest and informative page on the subject of the false widow spider.

One incident happens to a football player and before you know it, there are MILLIONS of these things RAMPAGING around the UK! They're using expressions like "flesh-eating arachnids"...the daily star published an article headlined False widow spider ATE my leg.

No...it BIT your leg, it did not consume it! Sure, it looks horrific, a bad infection that wasn't treated properly to begin with because the source of the infection was then unknown...this could potentially happen if you get jabbed by a thorn on a bush - I disticntly remember a tabloid...during the MRSA scaremongering - claiming a jogger had contracted MRSA from a stinging nettle...maybe it was the daily star. I'm not saying that didn't or can't happen, but bizarre incidents like that have most likely occurred throughout history...the only difference is we didn't always have the likes of the star and the sun SCREAMING it at us from their front pages, and the fearmongerers on tv warning us all of the dangers we face - Killer flesh-hungry arachnid DEVOURS mans leg!

People are really worried about this, but these spiders have been here for years. Why are they always scaring people with something? If i were a kid and this was going down, being a UK native - I'd be worried sick about this, I mean - we're just not used to this sort of thing, killer spiders. I can't articulate the fear and terror I'd feel at the warnings of killer spiders...it'd be the kilelr clowns stuff from the 90's but with spiders instead of clowns...terrifying.

I notice most of the articles I read claim this is all a result of global warming, which brings us to the possible conspiratorial nature of this whole fiasco.

If the spiders needed global warming in order for them to survive and thrive, why did they survive for so long? Apparently these beasties are RUNNING AMOK...there are MILLIONS of them on the loose and they're stone-cold KILLERS! Why'd they survive a century in a climate they apparently unable to thrive in? Exactly how many of these things came over here with those alleged bananas from the Canaries all those years ago? Surely not that many, wasn't it supposedly a bit colder back then? They've done alright for themselves.

More of a rant but I'm genuinely interested in this story, because I see it for what it is. Wonder what the real agenda is, is it about climate change or a decoy to divert attention from something that's probably more important?

Is it really about the spiders? I dunno, but it's an interesting story to me nonetheless, I suggest people google some of the stories and read them, they're almost comical. It's like they're mocking themselves.

Another daily star effort is this one: Killer false widow spiders attacked my little girl. I'm not saying it's funny, a little girl being bitten by a spider, I'm sure both the child and mother were worried and it was a rather frightening ordeal for a child. It's the wording of the article that's absurd. Killer spiders.

They claim the girl was "Attacked by false widow spiders" when really the girl was bitten by one spider ...one killer spider bit the girl and she survived after being treated by her MOTHER! Her mother took her to the hospital and the doctor...told her to give the child piriton, which is some kind of allergy treatment you can buy over the counter. In the end, the mother took the child home and squeezed out the poison from the bite and the child was absolutely fine.

The article ends by pointing out that no person has ever been killed by a spider in the UK...after bombarding you with TERRIFYING WORDS AND PHRASES! Spiders will KILL you!

Any thoughts on this?

Oh my god! what do I do?? I do I kill them?? I don't want to step them! can I just burn them?? but wait! I'll just be burning my house down!! on crap...wait a sec...I live in texas!! the hell am I doing in this thread??

Arnie123
Oh my god! what do I do?? I do I kill them?? I don't want to step them! can I just burn them?? but wait! I'll just be burning my house down!! on crap...wait a sec...I live in texas!! the hell am I doing in this thread??

Hey Spider can cross the sea..

It's almost Halloween - decorate with them!



People just seem to like to be scared. Doom porn sells!

I forgot to add this gem of a quote from the SPIDER ATE MY LEG article I linked, it's genius:

"At first the spiders retreated, but in scenes reminiscent of the horror flick ARACHNOPHOBIA the creatures started running back towards him.

One of the spiders then LEAPT at him as he was packing to go home and - as he tried to swipe it off - plunged its FANGS into his leg."

The proper response to this almost feels like it should be a "lolwut?" scenario. Just the beginning of that headline could really stir some people up! Just, why the sensationalism? There are spiders... Spiders are around all of the time. There's no need for them... Plunging their fangs into people's legs. That was just a bit of imagery that I did not need.

While I'd usually mock something like this I got bitten by one a few weeks ago (not sure what type of spider it actually was but I did almost catch it) and the result was a Migraine that lasted a full week as well as general stiffness in my joints the bite was pretty nasty and bruised during that time as well, I was just about on the verge of seeing a doctor which I haven't done for about 15 years.

First time something like this has happened to me and it has made me really dislike all spiders to the point I'm going to be killing on sight in future.

reply to post by Arnie123


Wonderful. You've picked up the real essence of ATS

Yep, my news feed is filling up with alleged sightings after that news article.

Bloody idiots!

Lol

Example from just one hour ago!



Gotta love the bollocks that the newspapers print.

:-DDD my 1st thought on seeing this was:I have yet to hear of spiders that are herbivores-ALL spiders are flesh-eating.And there are millions upon millions of spiders in every country,in some of the less industrialised countries propably billions+fafillions-and very few of these are in captivity,usually tarantulas,so yeah we live on a planet of billions of flesh-eating spiders,most of them loose-i love how the title makes it sounds like all the UK spiders got together+decided-"now we attack!" :-D

Well the subject got my little son onto YT to look at tarantulas,I was again amazed at the beauty of those cobalt-blue tarantulas-awesome+gorgeous creatures-i am not a lover of spiders but I would love to have one of those as a pet-what a beaut! And from watching vids put up by tarantula owners,it almost seems like some enjoy the human contact-i don't think spiders can become attached to their owners in thw way a cat or dog can,but they seem to enjoy sitting on their owners hands,interacting,which is nice.We get spiders the size of sideplates here,I sometimes say dinnerplates but that's an exaggeration,the biggest I have seen here was the size of a sideplate-i prefer those,as they are usually not poisonous at all,though I guess a bite may hurt a bit.Its the little ones like brown recluses,black widows that causes me concern.The ones you don't see coming.

Teknikal
While I'd usually mock something like this I got bitten by one a few weeks ago (not sure what type of spider it actually was but I did almost catch it) and the result was a Migraine that lasted a full week as well as general stiffness in my joints the bite was pretty nasty and bruised during that time as well, I was just about on the verge of seeing a doctor which I haven't done for about 15 years.

First time something like this has happened to me and it has made me really dislike all spiders to the point I'm going to be killing on sight in future.

I got bit wjile gardening once(im in the African Bush,so we have fafillions around here) I did'nt see a spider,n fact I ascribed the sore spot on my ankle to having grazed my skin,a sharp twig or something-but by the next morning a blac circle had formed around the sore spot-we still occasionally attended church those years+the church ladies said it was definitely a spider bite.I remember feeling sickly for a few days after,like a very mild flu,bit of a headache,just low-grade sickly+i slept a lot.I would'nt know what type of spider bit me,most around here are perfectly harmless,except that imo nothing needs that many legs.

samerulesapply


Any thoughts on this?

edit on 17-10-2013 by samerulesapply because: Some minor repairs.

Yes. Don't read the Daily Star. It will rot your brain.

reply to post by samerulesapply


I'm no spider expert. In fact, I had a nice little arachnophobia thing going on for the majority of my life. Then one day, as if a little switch was turned on in my head, my fear literally went away over night. And since that day, I've handled a few spiders ranging from venomous to non-venomous. Granted, I don't have the guts to pick up some spiders like a real black widow, but I have handled some taranchula. (This thing was built like a tank, I kid you not. It actually got tired and started to wobble from having to take several steps due to it's size!)

One thing I've learned, is that the majority of spiders aren't truly aggressive. They don't "lunge" at you, nor do they seek you out like the Terminator. (That's a picture I had in my mind quite a few times during my arachnophobia.)

And as long as they don't feel threatened, or agitated, they'll probably leave you alone. Even if you handle them. I did a quick search on Google for the "killer false black widow" spider and came to find out that the U.K. has had them for over a hundred and fifty years! So why now all of the sudden have they decided to attack? Well, they haven't!

Things that scare sell. A little over-hype equals big bucks. Gotta sell those papers somehow. Now, I know the majority here already know all of this, but I just wanted to say something. I like hearing the clickity-clack of my keyboard in the mornings.

We actually do have a small brown spider that will cause flesh eating effects from its poison......
They live on the west coast......dont know if they are elsewhere......maybe some got shipped to the UK?

Now for what you won't hear from anyone else. You want to know why a bite
from this family of spider eats away flesh ? The same reason their ass sacks
grow larger and larger.

The don't ever take a crap. And that's what makes their venom. That's right
when you are bitten by a False or Black Widow or Brown recluse. They
actually crap thru their fangs inside you.Their venom is a bio toxin. When
I discover I've been bitten I lance it with a steril razor or scalpel and submerge
in warm salt water immediatly. The salt water draws out the toxin and it's pretty gross.

I absolutely hate the bitches.

Had an interesting find today. Lurking amongst the books at the foot of my bed.



I got bitten in the night about 2 months ago. I was asleep, I woke up in agony, then fell back to sleep again. I woke up later in the morning with a fist sized hard patch on my elbow and the big vein near my elbow felt hard. Later that evening I could see the veins in my arm traced out in a slight red rash, with quite a red elbow. Not really painful at all, just mildly uncomfortable.

I thought at the time it was a nasty mossie bite, but it was pure agony when it bit me, not mossie like at all. SO I assume this fella was the culprit.

I've got a video of the little fella too. I'll post it up once I've got it up on youtube.

Auricom
I know the majority here already know all of this, but I just wanted to say something. I like hearing the clickity-clack of my keyboard in the mornings.

Ha .. Nearly made me crack a smile .. Almost gave you star for that ... almost ..

Anyway .. to get back on track .. may as well say somethin about spiders ...

I wonder if spiders were designed by god ....

Strange how most people are instictively fearful of spiders on sight .. as though that fear is hardwired into us .. wonder why .. yet no one is particuarly fearful of evil kangaroos .. or evil tortoises .. strange that ...
truly makes one wonder ...

Here's the vid. Sorry about the s**t camera work

reply to post by pot8er


Creepy! I'd still be scared witless if one bit me to be honest, never even been stung by a bee or wasp my entire life...the though of being bitten by a spider scares me more.

We had them years ago right here in Scotland, I lived near Edinburgh and my friends and I used to hang around what we called the jungle, because to us that's what it was at that age.

It was a place where mischievous kids like us did naughty things we weren't supposed to at such a tender age, those spiders were there. I remember going home one night and took my shirt off, the shirt had a collar, I threw the shirt on my bed and saw one of those spiders crawling out from under the collar. I caught it in a jar, my friends and I had seen them before and they terrified us, a huge bum, shiny, looked wet and thought to our knowledge at that time we thought there were no poisonous spiders in the UK...these looked posinous, I suppose because of the colour, they just didn't look like your average UK spider.

It had the odd markings on its bum, quite distinctive, I never knew what it was or that it could bite you but it definitely creeped me out. I'm glad I never knew what it was, I'd have never gone back to the jungle knowing there were KILLER spiders there that would DEVOUR my limb from limb.

We found other, similar spiders...they looked the same, same sort of size and build, only different colours, bright yellows and oranges, reds...scary as hell. And shiny...so shiny. Nobody ever got bitten, though...the lure of the jungle was too enticing for us to let a few beasties keep us away from there, had I known these things could bite and result in potential injury I'd have gotten into far less mischief in the jungle.