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That's it..............I'm moving to Mars!!!!

That's it..............I'm moving to Mars!!!!

Old Aug 25th 2004, 8:10 am
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Default That's it..............I'm moving to Mars!!!!

I knew we were tempting fete by talking about these beasts in the last couple of days, but they've come back to haunt us...... :scared:

I know we've been nasty in the past by how to get rid of them (squishing, drowning, expiration by chemicals in 'bombing' your house, firing squad) but bugger me, this is a bit over-the top to get their own back on us........


[quote]"They bite, can grow up to 4 inches - and there are 400 in this woman's house.

If Your flesh crawls at the sight of a spider, spare a thought for Emma Bradbury. Her home is running alive with hundreds of eight-legged invaders, scuttling around and making the curtains twitch as they run up and down scavenging for food.

Worse still, these are no ordinary spiders. They are the Huntsman variety, which can grow to an alarming four inches. And they bite, leaving their victims with extreme swellings and even allergic reactions.

The spiders got into Miss Bradbury's home in a bunch of bananas she bought from Asda two months ago. And the supermarket hasn't exactly endeared itself to its unfortunate customer since the incident.

She was distinctly unimpressed with the bunch of flowers and £20 voucher the store gave her 'as a gesture of goodwill'.

It was not until two weeks ago that Asda sent out a pest control team to put down traps - which she says don't work. Miss Bradbury, who fears the spiders will bite her two young children, said: 'Early on I was getting up two or three times in the night to catch them. They are very elusive and move at lightning speed.'

Speaking at her home in Werrington, Staffordshire, yesterday, the 30-year-old mature student said: 'It's horrible having them here. They have got everywhere.'

Huntsman spiders have flattened bodies, enabling them to fit into surprisingly small cracks and crevices.

They have the pace of an Olympic sprinter and never spin webs to catch food, relying instead on their gaping mouths to trap ########### and flies, which they break down using venom.

The Huntsman is nicknamed the 'banana spider' because of its habit of crawling into warm, comfortable fruit cases.

It is believed a female Huntsman was hidden among the bananas that Miss Bradbury bought, along with an egg sac overflowing with babies. :scared:

Days later she found a dead spider and the empty sac. 'One sac can produce 400 spiders, so there are lots around,' she said.

Although the Huntsman - which is most common in the U.S. and the Caribbean - cannot poison humans, Miss Bradbury is 'extremely worried' one will bite her children, Sam and Betheney, both eight.

Miss Bradbury feels the Asda store in Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, where she bought the bananas, should be providing more help.

Despite sending a dead specimen for analysis, Miss Bradbury had to wait weeks for the pest controllers to arrive.

Because of the delay, she had to find out for herself whether the spiders were poisonous by contacting experts at Stapeley Water Gardens in Cheshire. Miss Bradbury said: 'Asda has sent me a letter of apology and a £20 voucher, but that's not the point.

'They did not address the issue and just kept fobbing me off. The spider I sent in for analysis was lost in some way.

'If Stapeley Water Gardens could readily identify the spider, Asda should be able to do the same. I am disappointed with their customer service and no longer shop there.'

It was left to Mark Titterton, a senior keeper at Stapeley, to identify the insects as Heteropoda venatoria, or Huntsman spider. He said: 'Huntsman spiders need a high level of humidity and I think these will die before they reach full maturity.

'Huntsman spiders are harmless. As with wasps and bees, some people will be allergic to bites, but this is not the norm.'

An Asda spokesman said: 'Thankfully, incidents like this are extremely rare.

'However, we would like to apologise unreservedly to Miss Bradbury for the distress caused. 'Pest controllers have now been to the house and put down traps to ensure all the spiders are caught and removed.' [end quote]

That''s it, I'm off...............

D D
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Old Aug 25th 2004, 3:28 pm
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Default Re: That's it..............I'm moving to Mars!!!!

wasnt there a woman who recently scored a huntsman in some Tescos bananas recently?

Maybe as all of us poms are moving to Australia, the huntsmen are migrating to the UK
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Old Aug 25th 2004, 3:34 pm
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Default Re: That's it..............I'm moving to Mars!!!!

I've heard it's easier to get Mars immigration than Australian.
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Old Aug 25th 2004, 3:51 pm
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Default Re: That's it..............I'm moving to Mars!!!!

Originally Posted by diddy
I've heard it's easier to get Mars immigration than Australian.
Oh! yes!

and the Martians are smaller than a Huntsman
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