Spider in fruit, bit underwhelmed with advice from supermarket

Not unheard of obvs (finding a live spider in your grapes), I was just a bit taken aback that the best the supermarket in question had to say on the matter of what to do with said spider was 'carefully dispose of it'. They hadn't seen it, only had my word that there was one in fact, and that it was the sort I said it might be. Just the statutory sorry and here's a voucher, which is what they assume you're after. :rolleyes:

Ok I didn't expect them to repatriate it but at least ask for a pic and maybe refer it to their dedicated spider dept.

From what I've read seems that put in freezer for a humaneish death is the consensus, anybody ever had any better advice? I mean, 'carefully dispose of'.. what's that, blunt instrument from a safe distance? :shocked2: Poor thing didn't ask to come here. :(

(Not Home & Garden exactly, but not really Kitchen & Cooking either...)

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Originally Posted by sammyc

Not unheard of obvs (finding a live spider in your grapes), I was just a bit taken aback that the best the supermarket in question had to say on the matter of what to do with said spider was 'carefully dispose of it'. They hadn't seen it, only had my word that there was one in fact, and that it was the sort I said it might be. Just the statutory sorry and here's a voucher, which is what they assume you're after. :rolleyes:

Ok I didn't expect them to repatriate it but at least ask for a pic and maybe refer it to their dedicated spider dept.

From what I've read seems that put in freezer for a humaneish death is the consensus, anybody ever had any better advice? I mean, 'carefully dispose of'.. what's that, blunt instrument from a safe distance? :shocked2: Poor thing didn't ask to come here. :(

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For a moment, I thought this was going to be a real incident of the old joke .... what's worse than finding a live spider in your fruit? Finding half a live spider in your fruit.

No, I haven't ever had that happen (finding a live spider, I mean, not the half one), I'm glad to say and short of the freezer thing, haven't got any great ideas. Ring a vet, maybe.

I don't think just releasing it would be great. Also, unless you know for sure what type of spider it is, be careful. Some, from exotic climes, can be pretty dangerous.

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Originally Posted by Saracen999

I don't think just releasing it would be great. Also, unless you know for sure what type of spider it is, be careful. Some, from exotic climes, can be pretty dangerous.

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Yeah, I didn't think of releasing it, and as expected that was the online advice. Fairly sure I've i.d's it as well as poss, if so it's a can-be-nasty category, but not one of the worst (will add a link tomorrow). It's in the fridge and has either slowed right down or already passed to the other side, not sure which. Hadn't thought of a vet actually - might send them a pic, maybe not be quite their field but they may know a spanish spider man*, who knows. Just didn't really expect to be more or less told to polish it off, no questions asked.

After a false widow spider in sink incident recently, and a sparrow hopping along the landing yesterday which gave me a hell of a fright, I'm a bit jumpy atm! Might leave bananas off the list next time to be on the safe side.. :crazy:.

*As opposed to Spanish Spider-Man, which would be something else altogether.

Sounds like you're having a bit of a time of it, Sammy.

On the 'dangerous' aspect, while I primarily meant to you, I also had to other indigenous spiders in mind. While it ... ummm .... generally takes two spiders, we have a bit of an object lesson in red and grey squirrels, to name but one. Or, Japanese knotweed. And so on.

Yeah, maybe that's being a bit meodramatic, and I'd bet my left gonad this is far from the first time some foreign bug has hitched a ride in fruit (I've had dead spiders in bananas more than once or twice over the years) and made it alive, but we can do without something that preys on the native spider population.

Personally, I'm not a spider fan. BUT .... I do admire the job they do. I'd just prefer that the occasional one I find crawling on me, usually when I've been in the loft, would crawl somewhere else. And guys, my car mirrors are not a spider sanctuary. Give it a rest, will ya? Persistent little beggars. :D

A pic would be useful if you still have it.

Being non native its unwise to release it, and a quick kill would be the best way, UNLESS it is a collectable one, there are quite a few folk who do collect "foreign" spiders from this type of event !

Great group in FB : https://www.facebook.com/groups/Brit...ificationGroup

They often ID these, and if there are collectors, they would be found there too.

Ta both, link to pic here: https://imgur.com/a/PZTYCTB

Yellow sac spider I reckon - can give you a nip which would probably result in redness & burning &c, and mildly necrotic, but not a lethal venom. There are worse nasty-looking venomous things out there, anyway (looks at neighbours).

Yeah, I would never release anything without checking; one of the first stories that came up in search was someone who bagged the lot up & put it in the bin because they 'couldn't think what else to do' :rolleyes: really? in the age of the internet not to mention Tupperware, just contain it & do a minimal bit of research, what's the worst that can happen.

Not a spider fan either Saracen, especially indoors. It does look to me as if it has quit this life, looking at it this morning, just being in the fridge - I'll check out your link thanks g8ina if I can nerve myself to it lol, & if I feel there are any signs of life I'll look into it further. Handy anyway for future reference. :)

I was going to say i'd had a similar experience, spider in some grapes, the store just shrugged and gave me my money back, customer services seemed totally uninterested and fobbed me off.
BUT... it was the same spider so I'm very interested in an ID!

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Originally Posted by Rob_B

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BUT... it was the same spider so I'm very interested in an ID!

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What did it do, I wonder? Book a return ticket, then decided it preferred it here and came back again. That is one well-travelled spider. It gets about more than I do. :D

It's still with us, only feeble movement but whether that is the cold or it's not in good shape after everything, wouldn't know, so have pm'd a mod from the FB group for any advice.

RobB, ooh, snap. Was yours in Spanish grapes (alive, I take it)?

I don't recall exactly (it was a few years ago) but Spanish rings a bell, yeah it was very much alive.
Tesco were utterly useless. CS eventually told me that the store had simply let it go out the back of the shop...

Gawd, that's hopeless, no wonder I didn't get much help - all the same by the sound of it. Very poor tbh, same old same old - too big to address anything properly - just stick all your complaints in the same pot with the mouldy bread & shortdated stuff & deal with it minimally.

What country are the grapes from??

you sure its just not 'the government' slowly converting us to an insect based protein diet, away from meat?
slowly add various insects to various foodstuffs to build up our tolerance and shock at seeing insects in things, so when they do announce 'new exciting insect burgers'. we just go 'ooh i'll try that' because we just don't care about insects anymore..

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Originally Posted by stevie lee

you sure its just not 'the government' slowly converting us to an insect based protein diet, away from meat?
slowly add various insects to various foodstuffs to build up our tolerance and shock at seeing insects in things, so when they do announce 'new exciting insect burgers'. we just go 'ooh i'll try that' because we just don't care about insects anymore..

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It could be worse.....it could be Vegan! :p

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Originally Posted by sammyc

It's still with us, only feeble movement but whether that is the cold or it's not in good shape after everything, wouldn't know, so have pm'd a mod from the FB group for any advice.

RobB, ooh, snap. Was yours in Spanish grapes (alive, I take it)?

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not in my grapes but this was in my Aussie hire car last holiday:

https://i.ibb.co/dgLYv5n/stowaway-in-tailgate.jpg

Thankfully harmless as they go, but gave us one heck of a fright and the size was rather disconcerting

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Originally Posted by ik9000

not in my grapes but this was in my Aussie hire car last holiday:

https://i.ibb.co/dgLYv5n/stowaway-in-tailgate.jpg

Thankfully harmless as they go, but gave us one heck of a fright and the size was rather disconcerting

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You moved to Aussieland?

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

You moved to Aussieland?

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I wish! No just a holiday (pre covid)

Spiders you can keep thank you

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Originally Posted by Kovoet

Spiders you can keep thank you

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nah we left it with the car. The hire terms said everything supplied with the vehicle must be returned so that's exactly what we did.

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Originally Posted by ik9000

I wish! No just a holiday (pre covid)

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I remember holidays abroad(sigh!).

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

I remember holidays abroad(sigh!).

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There are still some good options, but the choices are a little narrower. The US is reopening, but there are some pretty big shortages of things, and the typical holiday stuff is getting expensive. Disney is up to $224/day, for example. Probably not the greatest choice.

Australia is definitely worth avoiding for the next couple of years.

Try somewhere unconventional. My favourite destination over the last couple of years has been Kazakhstan. It's.... ahem... very nice. But seriously there's a lot of stuff to see and do, especially if you like the outdoors. It's not crowded, and the people are incredibly friendly. It's also cheap!

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Originally Posted by TeePee

There are still some good options, but the choices are a little narrower. The US is reopening, but there are some pretty big shortages of things, and the typical holiday stuff is getting expensive. Disney is up to $224/day, for example. Probably not the greatest choice.

Australia is definitely worth avoiding for the next couple of years.

Try somewhere unconventional. My favourite destination over the last couple of years has been Kazakhstan. It's.... ahem... very nice. But seriously there's a lot of stuff to see and do, especially if you like the outdoors. It's not crowded, and the people are incredibly friendly. It's also cheap!

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Will see how things will pan out next year. It will be mostly for visiting people we know abroad.

if it makes you feel any better we had banana spiders come in some fruit to our home years ago (im talking 10+ years) ended up being on the news because of it and a spider infestation that didn't last to long as the spiders couldn't survive here, still was a horrible time!

Well I've been hoping to add a happy ending postscript to this because thanks to g8ina's suggestion I did find someone to take the spider in, but sadly it didn't make it :(

For anyone else's future reference DO consider contacting the FB group or similar because they were brilliant, and if I had moved quicker and got better advice it may have been different. If it was a large exotic spider it would probably have occurred to me to do so but I had no idea someone would take in such a tiny spider. Still, no excuse when the whole of the internet is there for the reading (chalk it to the long, list of 'good intentions yet unerringly messed up').

Moral: don't bother ever asking a supermarket anything, DYOR & use your brain, if you have one.

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Originally Posted by sammyc

Moral: don't bother ever asking a supermarket anything, DYOR & use your brain, if you have one.

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At least you didn't call 999 because they wouldn't help you: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-59109881

A friend of mine worked in Sainsburys where I live, and he mentioned that a Brazilian Wandering spider was found in a pack of bananas quite a few years ago.

A bite from the Brazilian Wandering spider, also known as the Banana spider or Armed spider, can cause long and painful erections in males, followed by death, within a matter of hours. A potent neurotoxin in the venom can also cause abdominal cramps, hypothermia, blurred vision and convulsions.