Community Chat

[raven-blackbird]

I'm kinda wondering what did you all expect...........bugs and spiders live in and around plants............black widows love to live in plants, I have even found them in my own tomato bushes............the fact that one gets brought into your home is no biggie, it's life...........trap it and throw it outside or smash it...........we don't own this world, we share it with all matter of things, creepie crawlies and slithers incuded.............................................raven

[KYToby]

The idea that organic produce is not sprayed with pesticides is compltely and totally false.

Organic produce is ssprayed with pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers which have been certified organic.  These make the produce no safer - just more expensensive, more labor intensive, and more harmful to the environment.

Of course, people like to think they are doing good by buying organic, but in reality, they are only damaging the planet by using farmland and resources less efficiently.

[Tinkrbl44]

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@J Town Girl wrote:

My local news ran a story last night about a lady who purchased a large box of grapes from one of the membership stores in our area. 

As she was getting them ready to put away her young daughter saw something moving in the plastic clamshell packaging.   When they interviewed the mom she said when she looked and saw black legs moving she lost it and yelled for her husband.  He recognized it as a black widow spider.  He sprayed it with bug spray and then killed it.   They showed the dead spider on TV and you could see the red hourglass shape on it.  

She said the store apologized and they said that they would make sure that their produce people check more carefully before placing food on the shelf.  

The reporter said that many times this happens with bulk organic food because no pesticides are ever used on it.  

I try to buy organic, but from now on I'm definitely going to be checking all the produce I buy.  I also think I'll stay away from grapes for a while.  

I can handle the few small bugs that I'll occasionally find in my lettuce, but a black widow spider is a whole different ball game.

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@J Town Girl

I hope she wasn't charged extra for the spider ...  LOL!

[september]

These things happen!  I'm 99% sure that a mouse that was found in my house last week(by my cat), came to us via an Amazon delivery.

I opened the box in my laundry room , then got distracted and left it open for a while.  I think the mouse got loose at that point. 

The cat did play with it for a while and I saw the mouse.  It didn't look like any of our local rodents, that I see outside quite often.

[sidsmom]

I guess any of these 'unusual animals in common spaces' type of stories can technically be true....but they DO have an 'Urban Myth' feel to them.  

It's always a spider & produce.  

I Googled 'black widow grapes'...and there are many 'Black Widow found in Grapes' stories throughout the years.  'Bananas spider' is another common storyline. 

Like I mentioned, all these stories could technically could be true.  Just the week a gal was driving down the highway when a large rat snake fell on her feet.  Yep....unusual animal in a common space.  Hoogey!! 

[Desertdi]

We've got tarantulas the size of dinner plates around here...............but, then again, my cousin has alligators in HER back yard.   Ya just can't win these days.......(!)