I did not, however, think that spiders could mess with cars to the point they don't work right. I live in a colder climate most of the year and this simply isn't an issue here. I was wondering if anyone else on here has had any issues with spiders messing with their vehicles, chime in!
Its definitely a new one to me as well. I just talked to my cousin down in Florida and he says this is common by the everglades....thats pretty messed up.
Unfortunately this ones based on a very real thing: Mazda recalling thousands of cars due to the Yellow Sac spider, and only that spider apparently, being attracted by the smell of gasoline and spinning webs inside of their emissions control units. It was only confirmed twice, and there were no injury's thankfully, but it is an actual fact this can and has happened. My guess is this is what Scotty based his video on at least in part. Fact can indeed be stranger than fiction sometimes....here's an article, one of many I found with a simple Google search, that confirms this:
The above article also links to a couple of others from scientists/arachnologists who also weigh in on the issue.
I read that one first, actually...and it doesn't actually say it doesn't happen, just that it's unlikely to happen which I agree with wholeheartedly. The chances of a spider clogging up anything on your car are pretty astronomical...but sadly it has happened (auto makers do not issue recalls based on hearsay after all...). Insects can be more than a nuisance to vehicles (Florida Love bugs anyone...yuk...), but that doesn't mean it should be discounted entirely. I love spiders (duh) but I hope I never live in an area that stupid stuff like this can happen in. Cold winters have their place
But, it hasn't happened. There has never been even one report where someone's engine/gas tank exploded due to a spider web being inside it. It is all just speculation based upon what people say who have absolutely no knowledge of spiders. These articles are so heavily peppered with 'possible' that they're laughable. Cheiracanthium species don't make webs, although they might make a tiny sac that would never be large enough to impede a car engine from working. They just don't web like that.
Um, where are you getting that this is about exploding gas tanks? No article ever said it actually happened, not one. They simply stated it COULD happen if plugged up bad enough. I never said it happened, not once. I'm stating what I've read culminating from quite a few articles on this and yes Scotty did indeed make it seem worse than it was...but he does have a fairly large Youtube audience and yeah...(like all the Youtube videos advocating handling our precious spiders are any better...)....but even he said no harm was ever done, just that it COULD happen if not cleared out, as all of the articles stated. This isn't being done to blast spiders, just state that car makers (several of them) have issued recalls because this COULD get to the point some real damage COULD occur. That's all. I don't blindly parrot folks, I do the reading then state what I got from it. You love spiders so much you can't accept the fact this could happen, your choice and I accept that. Do let's agree to disagree on this one.
