Thursday, March 28, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > World of the Bizarre > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

World of the Bizarre

Black widows found in supermarket grapes

By T.K. Randall
November 24, 2013 · Comment icon 17 comments

Black widows possess a potentially deadly bite. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Konrad Summers
A shopper who had bought a bunch of grapes returned home to find more than she had bargained for.
Yvonne Whalen had bought the grapes from a Giant Food Stores in Pennsylvania and had been washing them at home when she spotted something unexpected moving inside the bunch. The unwelcome visitor turned out to be a black widow spider, an arachnid capable of delivering a very nasty bite.

"I quickly dropped the colander and screamed," she said. "My first thought was to use a hose and force it down the drain into the garbage disposal."
Yvonne later found a second black widow in the same bunch of grapes however it appeared to already be dead. An analysis of the spiders later confirmed that they were indeed black widows.

Cases of spiders and other insects hitching a ride in fruit shipments have been on the rise in recent years. Earlier in the month a shopper who bought grapes from an Aldi store in Wisconsin also came across a dead black widow that had managed to hide inside the bunch.

Source: Metro | Comments (17)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #8 Posted by _Only 10 years ago
Where is the quality control?? I find it hard to believe that there is no inspection of the fruit before its packaged. And Spiders Suck. Produce boxes and grape bags in particular often have holes (intended) in them. So the spider really could have crawled in at any point from grapes being put into its shipping container to going into the woman's house.
Comment icon #9 Posted by beelzebufo 10 years ago
I grew up in a house that had black widows living in the basement. Finding one in my grapes wouldn't be a huge deal. I'm numb to the horror.
Comment icon #10 Posted by homo.liberis 10 years ago
I don't share my home with anything with more than 6 legs. My bed with anything with more than 4 legs. And my bath with anything with more than 2 legs. Not negotiable!
Comment icon #11 Posted by TopToffee 10 years ago
Where is the quality control?? I find it hard to believe that there is no inspection of the fruit before its packaged. And Spiders Suck. Quality Control guy got bitten.Should be a new one along soon.
Comment icon #12 Posted by TheSpoonyOne 10 years ago
As an Australian, I would just like to say screw spiders. Worst creatures to have ever evolved on this earth. As an Englishman, I'd like to ask how you cope living in Australia with a fear of spiders? I mean I am absolutely petrified of them, decent sized house spiders make me freeze on the spot, but that's why I'm so thankful to have been born on my safe North West European island where they're pretty much the worst I have to worry about, I can't imagine living in Australia, the demonic spider capital of the planet as far as I'm concerned!
Comment icon #13 Posted by kapow53 10 years ago
As an Englishman, I'd like to ask how you cope living in Australia with a fear of spiders? I mean I am absolutely petrified of them, decent sized house spiders make me freeze on the spot, but that's why I'm so thankful to have been born on my safe North West European island where they're pretty much the worst I have to worry about, I can't imagine living in Australia, the demonic spider capital of the planet as far as I'm concerned! I agree, living in Florida it's hard not to accidently walk through webs. I've been bitten a few times and it can be bad. May even require a trip to the Dr. The an... [More]
Comment icon #14 Posted by pallidin 10 years ago
To be sure, spiders have their place in Nature. But, I sure don't want one crawling on my skin or on my food. Yuck.
Comment icon #15 Posted by ShortyStuff 10 years ago
They're just trying to do their part and add a little protein to the vegan diet.
Comment icon #16 Posted by Sir Wearer of Hats 10 years ago
As an Englishman, I'd like to ask how you cope living in Australia with a fear of spiders? I mean I am absolutely petrified of them, decent sized house spiders make me freeze on the spot, but that's why I'm so thankful to have been born on my safe North West European island where they're pretty much the worst I have to worry about, I can't imagine living in Australia, the demonic spider capital of the planet as far as I'm concerned! Fear is good, it's what keeps us here in Australia alive. We live, after all, in a country where even the weather is trying to brutally murder us all. We check the... [More]
Comment icon #17 Posted by TopToffee 10 years ago
I got bitten on my bottom once,whilst abroad.It stung for days and made sitting down pretty uncomfortable,i can tell you.


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Top 10 trending mysteries
Recent news and articles