spiders

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Farmers' Creepy New Gig: Collecting Tarantulas

They provide the animals to pet breeders

(Newser) - After a drought this summer, some Nicaraguan farmers have struggled to make ends meet. But some have found a new way to make money: by collecting members of the local tarantula population, AFP reports. Over a two-week period, one family was able to collect 400 of the creatures. "We...

Singer Discovers Tiny Spider in Her Ear
 Singer Discovers 
 Tiny Spider in Her Ear 
in case you missed it
Nov 8, 2014 5:02 PM CST

Singer Discovers Tiny Spider in Her Ear

Katie Melua had unwittingly hosted critter for a week

(Newser) - Georgian-British singer Katie Melua went to the doctor complaining of a repetitive shuffling noise in her ear and worried there was something wrong with her hearing. Closer inspection revealed she'd been housing a tiny spider for a week—likely having come from a pair of earbuds she likes to...

Seizure Surgery Removes Man's Arachnophobia

Operation has a quite unintended consequence

(Newser) - A man's surgery for seizures had an unexpected result: When he woke up, he was no longer scared of spiders. The 44-year-old used to kill spiders with hair spray and a vacuum; now, he's fine with letting them crawl all over him, Medical Daily reports. The reasons aren'...

Spider Bite Paralyzes Young Woman's Arm

She ends up with huge hole near shoulder

(Newser) - A British woman was in the hospital for days after she was bitten by a spider while in bed. Lauren Reid's arm was temporarily paralyzed by the bite. "I was in my bedroom asleep when I felt something crawl across my left arm," she tells the Birmingham ...

Scientist Kills Spider, Gets Death Threats
 Scientist Kills Spider, 
 Gets Death Threats 
in case you missed it
Oct 26, 2014 6:29 AM CDT

Scientist Kills Spider, Gets Death Threats

The puppy-sized creature apparently was beloved on the Internet

(Newser) - The killing of a spider doesn't normally trigger death threats, but it does apparently if the spider's demise makes national headlines. Harvard researcher Piotr Naskrecki found this out the hard way after his account of finding a spider the size of a puppy in Guyana went viral earlier...

Deadly Spider Found in Family's Bananas

World's most dangerous arachnid gnawed its own leg off in escape attempt

(Newser) - The last thing you'd expect to find lurking in your bananas is a creature whose Greek scientific name means "murderess." But that's exactly what one London family found after a grocery delivery from the Waitrose supermarket chain, the Daily Mail reports. The family patriarch (known only...

Scientist Stumbles Upon Spider as Big as a Puppy

Goliath birdeater has 2-inch fangs

(Newser) - Strolling through a Guyana rainforest one night, a scientist heard some rustling and thought he'd encountered a furry mammal. Well, he was right about the furry part. The creature was actually a Goliath birdeater spider, LiveScience reports—the world's biggest type of spider, according to the Guinness Book ...

Spider Burrows Into Tourist's Chest for 3 Days

Doctors finally figure out what's causing growing red scar

(Newser) - Bali's tourist bureau will not be eager to share this story: A tropical spider burrowed into the skin of an Australian tourist and stayed there for three days before doctors finally figured out what was causing the nasty marks on his chest, reports the NT News of Australia. Dylan...

Thousands of Spiders Drive Owners From Ritzy Home

Missouri family gives up trying to fight the brown recluses

(Newser) - If you like golf and you love spiders, then Fannie Mae has got your dream home waiting in Missouri. The foreclosed home in Weldon Spring overlooks a golf course but has been vacant for two years because apparently nobody wants to live with the estimated 4,000 to 6,000...

'Dog-Spider' Terrifies in Viral Video

Polish prankster Sylwester Wardega behind YouTube hit

(Newser) - No problem with huge, scary spiders? Then check out this viral YouTube video of a friendly dog in a spider costume that apparently terrifies passersby, the Independent reports. Created by Polish prank-man Sylwester Wardega, the "dog-spider" wears a furry body with big legs that shake ominously as he trots...

Spiders Prefer City Living
 Spiders Prefer City Living 
study says
Aug 21, 2014 9:13 AM CDT

Spiders Prefer City Living

Study finds that those in urban areas tend to grow bigger, have more babies

(Newser) - Though they've got more feet to avoid, spiders in the city seem to thrive in comparison to their counterparts in the country, a new study in PloS One suggests. Researchers in Australia studied golden orb weaver spiders and found that they grew bigger and reproduced more in urban environments....

Man Tries to Kill Spider, Burns Down House

Seattle home sustains $60K in damages in latest man vs. arachnid incident

(Newser) - We tried to warn you , spider-slaying arsonists. A Seattle house went up in flames last night after a tenant tried to flush out an eight-legged foe in his laundry room by setting it on fire using a lighter and spray paint, KOMO News reports. A spokesman for the Seattle Fire...

Woman Tries to Kill Spider, Ends Up With Arson Charge

You know what isn't a great idea? Setting a fire to kill a creepy-crawly

(Newser) - Listen up, arachnophobes: You do not fight spiders with fire. Or so goes the cautionary tale of 34-year-old Kansas woman Ginny Griffith, who has been charged with aggravated arson after she apparently tried to kill a spider—by using a cigarette lighter to set fire to some towels, reports the...

Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish
 Spiders Able to 
 Catch, Devour Fish 
new study
Jun 19, 2014 6:03 AM CDT

Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish

Many species of spiders spanning 6 continents hunt, feast on fish

(Newser) - If you aren't already arachnophobic, this might be enough to turn you: Spiders don't just hunt insects; they also like to fish, and are apparently rather good at it. So say scientists who have observed at least 18 species of spiders on every continent but Antarctica hunting and...

Newly Found Spider&#39;s Wild Moves Can Kill

 Newly Found 
 Spider's Wild 
 Moves Can Kill 
in case you missed it
May 10, 2014 7:26 AM CDT

Newly Found Spider's Wild Moves Can Kill

Except the one to die in this case is the spider

(Newser) - As far as newly discovered creatures go, the story of the Cebrennus rechenbergi is more fascinating than most. First, there's the way in which researchers figured out the spider, native to the Morocco's southeastern desert, was unique from a similar species found in Tunisia and Algeria: by closely...

Mazda Recalls Cars Over Spiders—Again

They're still causing fuel tanks to crack

(Newser) - Yellow sac spider 2, Mazda 0. The automaker is recalling Mazda6 sedans for the second time in three years because its first attempt to fend off the little critters failed, reports Reuters . It seems the spiders like the smell of gasoline, and they weave webs in these particular engines that...

Deadly Spiders Hatch Out of Grocery-Store Bananas

Supermarket has to pay $4.5K for fumigation, hotel costs

(Newser) - Yes, we have no bananas today ... because they're full of deadly South American spiders. A family in London was forced to flee its home after spiders began to hatch out of the Colombian fair-trade bananas it had bought from a supermarket chain. Consi Taylor had already eaten half the...

Toyota Recall Fueled By Spiderwebs

Airbag issue may affect 885K Camrys, Venzas, Avalons

(Newser) - It's another recall for Toyota, this time over a potential airbag flaw—a problem exacerbated by rogue spiders. Spiderwebs, CNNMoney explains, can block air conditioning drainage tubes in the affected 2012 and 2013 Camrys, Venzas, and Avalons (including hybrid models). Water can end up dripping into airbag controls; warning...

What It's Like to Be Bitten By a Black Widow

It hurts, a lot; but a new drug in testing holds promise of relief

(Newser) - Most of us have probably unknowingly walked by hundreds of black widow spiders in our lifetimes, writes outdoorsman Jackson Landers, but not many of us have been bitten. Among the unlucky few is Landers himself, and he writes about the experience in the New York Times . After spotting one of...

Spiders Swarm Air-Traffic Control, Delay Flights

Arachnids briefly shut down Kansas City airport

(Newser) - Arachnophobes and people afraid of flying will be equally creeped out by this story: Air traffic controllers in charge of guiding flights into Kansas City International Airport had to flee their posts because of a spider infestation, the New York Daily News reports. Five flights were delayed for around 15...

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