Fighting back against the insect threat.
Man bitten by deadly spider manages to snap picture of spider with cell phone camera. Apparently he didn’t think it was serious at first, but once the situation turned bad the hospital was able to use the cell phone photo to id the insect perp. Maybe humanity stands a slim chance against this insect threat after all.
April 28th, 2005 at 5:52 pm
Hmmm… Tough to tell for sure based on a newspaper article,
but I can’t say that I’m very impressed by the quality of medical
care he received…
Guy:
Gee doc, a spider I’ve never seen before, the size of my hand,
bit me and now my hand has swelled to “the size of a balloon”.
I’m in terrible pain, I feel sick, dizzy and have the shakes.
Medical provider:
I don’t see anything wrong. Go home and keep an eye on it.
Also, despite the fact that the spider was identified, the article
does not seem to indicate that the proper anti-venom was
administered.
Maybe nose leaches have their uses.
April 28th, 2005 at 9:10 pm
Until the insects get mobile phones. Then all our sugar cube, all our dishcloth, and all our banana are belong to them.
April 29th, 2005 at 3:06 am
I agree on the doctors, but to be fair deadly spiders are few and far between in England. I have seen many a big spider, but none that could really hurt you. Unless it hit you upside the head with it’s cell phone.
April 29th, 2005 at 9:27 pm
Nasty looking bugger:
April 29th, 2005 at 9:27 pm
Hmm html didn’t work and can’t seem to edit my comments.
http://arachnophiliac.co.uk/burrow/gallery/other/images/Phoneutria-nigriventer.jpg
May 3rd, 2005 at 6:29 pm
Don’t look now:
AFP news story headline:
“Deadly spider walks free near British hospital after biting chef”
…
“A spokesman for the hospital in Somerset, southwest England, said Friday that the Brazilian Wandering Spider was freed in the hospital garden by a staff member who did not realize he was facing an exotic killer.”
The rest of the story is a hoot but the URL to get to it sucks.
Search in Yahoo news.
May 4th, 2005 at 7:40 am
So much for the whole no deadly spiders in the UK thing….
May 4th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Here’s an easier link.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050430/323/fhumv.html
My favorite part is that said spider is alive and well after being frozen, boiled, and then microwaved. (Wish I were that hardy.) The hospital is claiming that the nasty little thing will die due to the balmy British spring climate. Yeah, right.