World’s Deadliest Spider Found Inside Grocery Bag Delivered To London Family

A deadly spider, notorious for its potent venom and aggressive nature, was found inside a harmless looking grocery bag delivered to a British family. The members of the yet to be identified family were left “deeply traumatized” by the incident, reports The Standard. The delivery of groceries happened from online grocery store Waitrose. According to The Guardian, the deadly spider, known as the Brazilian wandering spider, was hiding inside a bunch of bananas that were delivered to the family by the online store. The report also adds that the spider was sitting on a sack of eggs that contained thousands of little spider babies!

One member of the family — only identified by his first name, Tim — said that he spotted the spider when he started unpacking the delivered grocery. Upon seeing the large spider inside the bag of bananas, he dropped whatever he had in his hands at that time on to the spider, inadvertently trapping it. The terrified spider, in a bid to escape from this new threat, actually tore off its own leg and ran off, in order to find a safe haven. Seeing the spider run around their house, Tim’s kids, ages 7 and 8, fled from their own home. They wouldn’t be back until the spider was safely removed from their home.

Tim was later able to take a picture of the spider and realized that it belonged to the dreaded Phoneutria genus of spiders. It was definitely not reassuring to read that its scientific name in Greek translates to “murderess.” If that wasn’t all, he found that the Guinness Book of World Records lists Brazilian Wandering spiders as the world’s most venomous.

With the seven-legged spider still inside his home, Tim decided to call up the local RSPCA – only to be told that they were not trained to handle such a dangerous animal. They instead asked him to contact the local police station. As you might have expected, even the police department said they would be unable to help the family. Help finally came from the very store that had inadvertently delivered the spider to the family’s home. Waitrose sent Steve Trippett, their in-house pest expert, who used his expertise to get the spider out of the house. Even the experienced Steve had to use a three-feet long stick to maintain a safe distance from the deadly spider. Initially, they were unable to find the spider inside the home. Eventually, it was found hiding underneath a fruit bowl.

When countered, the spider lived up to its name and threw an aggressive stance – standing up on its hind legs and showing its fangs. However, Steve managed to get the spider into a plastic box. It was then transported to an unknown scientific center abroad.

Meanwhile, Tim who was shaken by this incident, quipped, “Although people might think these things are funny, I keep thinking that the spider could have killed me or my son if he had gone to get a banana.”

Meanwhile, the online grocery store that sent the family the spider has issued a statement and an apology note. They have also offered them £150 worth of shopping vouchers and a family day out in compensation.

“The safety of our customers is our absolute priority. We did everything we could to look after our customer during what was a distressing incident and we’ve apologized personally. Although this is highly unusual, we’re taking it very seriously and will be working with our supplier to minimize the risk of this happening again.”

Spiders have been making headlines over the course of the past few days. It was just days ago that The Inquisitr had reported about a Harvard scientist discovering a giant spider. Even scarier was this report in which doctors found a spider inside the abdomen of a man!

Gosh! Are spiders gradually taking over the planet?

[Image Via Wikimedia Commons]