14 DAY TRIAL // Consi Taylor was eating a banana she’d bought from the Sainsbury’s supermarket the other day, when what she assumed was a piece of mold on one of the fruit started “leaking” out baby spiders. It is believed they were Brazilian wandering spiders that hitched a ride from their home country on a banana shipment.
Taylor tells The Sun that she absolutely freaked out when she noticed that the “mold” was actually a swatch containing dozens of little spiders that started hatching right there on the table in front of her and then spreading through her kitchen.
Scared for the worst, she took her husband and her two children and moved into a hotel, but not before they took photos of the spiders – one of which you can also see attached to this article.
“I was so scared. I had a closer look and was horrified to see they were spiders. They were hatching out on the table, scurrying around on my carpet,” she tells the British publication.
Taylor sent photos of the critters to her local pest control company, and they replied confirming her darkest fears: they were probably Brazilian wandering spiders, a species designated in 2010 as the world’s most venomous spider by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Even if that was the case, she had no reason to be afraid for her life, specialists say for ABC News because, as it turns out, these baby spiders have low chances of survival as it is, let alone in a completely foreign and highly unsuitable for their needs environment.
The same experts claim that fumigation wasn’t even necessary because the spiderlings could not have survived. Assuming that they had survived long enough to want to bite a human, they still wouldn’t have been able to because they don’t have jaws big enough to do so.
After initially sending Taylor a small gift card by means of an apology for the mishap, Sainsbury’s hired their own expert to look into the situation. They claim the spiders weren’t of the Brazilian wandering species but “likely a foliage spider or Cheiracanthium.”
“All forms of wandering spider are unlikely to survive in this country [the UK], either inside or outside, due to their need for warmth and humidity,” a spokesperson for the supermarket says.
Still, “we’re very sorry and have apologized to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. We do have rigorous controls on imported products at all stages – from harvesting to transportation — which is why this is so rare.” Taylor will be receiving further compensation for the scare she and her family were put through.