More commonly known as the Black Widow Spider. Today was supposed to be a normal day at work, nothing out of the ordinary. It’s a Thursday, meaning that theres no Produce Trucks coming in, there’s no freight, there’s nothing to do but make my Produce Department look perfect. But today was one of those days that I will take awhile to get over, because today was a very scary day.
This morning, me and my buddy at work were contemplating on how big and juicy our Green Grapes looked. We even were so bold, to buy a big bag of them. We ate these grapes on our break, and loved them. They were delicious, juicy, and round. So after our breaks, we went about our day, not expecting anything un-ordinary to happen. Around 12:00pm, our store gets a phone call from a customer who also purchased these delicious grapes. Her panicked voice on the phone indicated something was wrong, but I was expecting something like “You’re store service is terrible!” or “Can I speak to a Manager? I have a complaint.” But to my surprise this customer said “So, I just bought some Grapes from your store… and there happens to be a BLACK WIDOW in them.” At first, me and my buddy thought that this girl was playing a practical joke on us, and we didn’t believe it. She continued to reassure us that there was a living black widow spider crawling around in the Grapes. For those of you who aren’t very knowledgeable about spiders (I wasn’t until today) a Black Widow Spider is a very small but poisonous spider. It has a venom in it that is affects your nervous system and causes intense pain. These spiders aren’t deadly to a healthy adult, but to an elder or a child, this spider can kill. So, my buddy decides to go to this Customers house, and pick it up. (In a container, of course) To our disbelief, this little black widow existed. It had spun a web inside the black grapes and was just chillin’ there. We poked holes in a plastic deli container and watched it, examined it, googled it, and tried to identify which kind it was. We confirmed it truly was a Black Widow Spider, and that the venom is 15 times poisonous as a Prairie Rattlesnake. (Actual fact, google it) We attempted to catch it some flies, because we really wanted to see it devour something whole. But we ended up just giving up and go back and work.
That’s a link to a News Report of the same thing happening in Alberta. The Green Grapes came from California, just like the Grapes mentioned in the News Report. I warn all of you Grocery Shoppers out there, becareful as to where your Produce comes from!! (Avoid Grapes from California)
Here’s a picture of the bad boy (Sorry for the Bad Quality, I used a zoom feature on an Application on my iPhone, not the best idea)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.
Yuck. I hate spiders. I haven’t encountered a wild black window around here yet, but I know they exist. Although, I think I’d rather get bit by a black widow over a hobo or recluse spider >.>;; (which also live in BC)