Parasitic Lycosa!

[Natco]

I was at a friend’s house the other day, and somehow the animals I keep came up in discusion. His friend who we will refer to as MM was over and told me how much he hated spiders. He proceeded to tell me a story that went something like this; He was camping when he was young, and was bitten by a wolf spider in his sleep. The wound festered itched and eventually broke open, and out came baby wolf spiders! His doctor even told him that is what they were. Pretty funny huh? I should have told him he was lucky to be alive….

 

[Bayushi]

next time you see they person and have acess to a computer show them this link and ask if they were one of the girls mentioned in any of the "stories"


http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/spiderbt.htm

 

[BLS Blondi]

Good story...

I like the story...but I liked it better the first time I read ityears ago in a children's book called "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" by Alvin Schwartz.

 

[Jmadson13]

I like the story...but I liked it better the first time I read ityears ago in a children's book called "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" by Alvin Schwartz.

Some of my very favorite illustrations are in this book.

 

[Natco]

I like the story...but I liked it better the first time I read ityears ago in a children's book called "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" by Alvin Schwartz.

Yeah, maybe I should get that book for MM! If i did I bet he would try telling me that is a true storie too.... Its still amazing to me how goofy people can be when it comes to such incredible animals.

 

[ParabuthusKing]

Spiders in Skin

Well, I don't know if it counts, but I have had a friend tell me a very similar story about something that happened to him as a kid, and I would be surprised if he were making it up as he has a deathly fear of arachnids now, anyone with some facts to back such occurences up/discredit them would be appreciated as this seems weird behavior to me, but definitely not impossible^@%&???

 

[Fierce Deity]

I know someone that knows someone who had tarantulas living in her cactus. I'm serious they actually told me this story. The cactus would move whenever she watered it, and on futher expection, tarantulas had burrow in the dirt and moved when they got wet. I find this hard to beleive. I don't know of any communual burrowing tarantula. It's really does suck for us when people have to spread false rumors about tarantulas, and then by-laws are made against them. Ignorance. The law here is no poisonous or potentially deadly animals. I had fun calling the city and arguing that they are not poisonous and potentially deadly, so the law doesn't apply. I went even further stating that they are not considered animals, as they are not in the kindom animalia, but kingdom arthropoda. I didn't win though, and have to keep my collection in secret.

 

[Bayushi]

Well, I don't know if it counts, but I have had a friend tell me a very similar story about something that happened to him as a kid, and I would be surprised if he were making it up as he has a deathly fear of arachnids now, anyone with some facts to back such occurences up/discredit them would be appreciated as this seems weird behavior to me, but definitely not impossible^@%&???

I refer you to the link in my first post....

 

[RVS]

I know someone that knows someone who had tarantulas living in her cactus. I'm serious they actually told me this story. The cactus would move whenever she watered it, and on futher expection, tarantulas had burrow in the dirt and moved when they got wet. I find this hard to beleive. I don't know of any communual burrowing tarantula. It's really does suck for us when people have to spread false rumors about tarantulas, and then by-laws are made against them. Ignorance. The law here is no poisonous or potentially deadly animals. I had fun calling the city and arguing that they are not poisonous and potentially deadly, so the law doesn't apply. I went even further stating that they are not considered animals, as they are not in the kindom animalia, but kingdom arthropoda. I didn't win though, and have to keep my collection in secret.

Tarantulas are members of the phylum arthropoda, which is part of the kingdom animalia.

 

[bluebell]

I had a lady tell me that she bought a large house plant, I'm not sure what kind but she said it was tree-like, so maybe a yucca? Anyway, she took it home and later that day she could hear scratching and eventually tracked it to this plant. She called the store she got it at to ask them if this was normal. They said no and to wrap the stem/trunk in tape and bring it back to the store right away. Apparently, they had a few brought back because there was some type of spiders living under the bark. She took it back.

 

[Scorpiove]

I like the story...but I liked it better the first time I read ityears ago in a children's book called "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" by Alvin Schwartz.

Ahh good memories. Thanks I forgot all about that book!

 

[Natco]

Well, I don't know if it counts, but I have had a friend tell me a very similar story about something that happened to him as a kid, and I would be surprised if he were making it up as he has a deathly fear of arachnids now, anyone with some facts to back such occurences up/discredit them would be appreciated as this seems weird behavior to me, but definitely not impossible^@%&???

Well I must say that I believed MM thought he was telling the truth as well. I have done a lot of research on indigenous spiders around here, and have found absolutely nothing that would back up these claims. The key points to MM’s story are thus; he did not see the bite, it happened in his sleep, and he was a little kid. I don’t know many 7 year olds who could ID a baby Lycosa spider. I am pretty sure something like what he described actually happened, but I am equally sure that a spider was not the culprit. There are tens of thousands of parasitic insects in Michigan, yet to my knowledge, absolutely no directly parasitic spiders. Any one who knows any differently please let us know.

It sounds to me like the poor guy got into some poison ivy, and later picked up a few ticks, or some such.

 

[Elizabeth]

Chiggers? That would fit with getting them while camping and being itchy and being "under the skin", but why would anyone not know better? Chiggers are not spiders!

http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/L-1223.html


After looking at the link, I will guess that they got "arachnid" confused with "spider" and then went from there, if it was chiggers that got MM to begin with...