A British family is "deeply traumatized" after a lethal Brazilian wandering spider (and her sack of babies) stowed away to their home in a bunch of bananas from the grocery store, according to The Guardian.
After the groceries from Waitrose were delivered to the South London house, the family's father, Tim (he did not provide a last name) was unpacking the items when he saw the spider, according to The Guardian. He dropped the bananas and unintentionally trapped the spider's leg. (The wandering spider can have a leg span of 6 inches, according to SpidersWorld.com).The spider tore its own leg off and hid. Tim, his wife Lisa and their 7- and 8-year-old sons ran out of the house.
"Although people might think these things are funny, I keep thinking that the spider could have killed me or my son if he had gone to get a banana," Tim told The Daily Mail.
Tim did some online investigating and found out that the spider - whose genus Phoneutria translates to "murderess" - is the most venomous, according to Guinness World Records.
The family called the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), but the organization said it couldn't handle a spider that dangerous, according to The Daily Mail. The police also passed, citing the mere two-hour kill time of the spider's potent venom.
Waitrose sent a pest expert, Steve Trippett, who called the spider "hardcore," according to The Daily Mail. Trippett killed the eggs by putting them in a freezer then took his mighty 3-foot stick and corralled the aggressive arachnid into a plastic box, which was then packed in another box... and another box.
The freaked-out family spent the night with friends after their frightening ordeal.
Waitrose provided the family with shopping vouchers and "a family day out in compensation," according to The Daily Mail. "The safety of our customers is our absolute priority," a spokesperson for Waitrose said, according to The Daily Mail. "We did everything we could to look after our customer during what was a distressing incident and we've apologised personally. Although this is highly unusual, we're taking it very seriously and will be working with our supplier to minimise the risk of this happening again."
