October 05, 2011

From the Web


Not much to report of the fishing side of life, I've had a day or two drowning maggots and catching stacks of small fish, a perch of 1.10 was the best of the bunch but it was thin and weighed less than its head suggested.


The news of the day is that Nicky (my lovely wife) was bitten by a False Black Widow spider in the garden at home. Now, I've seen one or two of these around here before especially when turfing out the garage (an annual chore). I looked them up on the Intergoogle then and was aware that they have settled in parts of the UK due to the climate increase. I thought they were harmless but Nicky disagrees with that supposition.

Pulling ivy from the fence she recoiled in severe pain claiming to have been 'stung'. Nicky is allergic to wasp and bee stings but there was no sign of a sting just a tiny drop of blood. I investigated and soon found (after gingerly peeling the leaves back), a small, insignificant spider not much bigger than my index finger nail - including the legs. I recognised it for what it was and took a couple of pictures.

According to the Net the False Black Widow does have a painful bite, one chap spending three days in hospital after a meeting with one. We were the talk of the day at the doctor's surgery where antihistamine and pain killers were prescribed. There was much breathy inhalations through gritted teeth and heavy exhalations accompanied by Anglo Saxon utterings for some time after but, and much to my chagrin, Nicky is showing no signs of developing super spidey senses and has yet to make a web or walk along the ceiling. I remain watchful and will inform you of any change.

7 comments:

  1. Blimey, them little blighters can pack a punch for there size. I hope Nicky is not too badly affected...Check her wardrobe tomorrow for Red and Blue skin tight super hero apparel...That Perch looks like it's been on a diet mate.

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  2. All better this morning Gurn, she just feels like she's had a virus. Quite why such a tiny creature needs all that venom I'm not sure, but then again, it was female!

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  3. That's a lovely perch! And glad to hear Nicky is doing better -- although those super-spidey senses would have been cool...at least for a day or two. ;)

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  4. It would certainly keep the flies out of the kitchen.

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  5. Actually yes, Jay never will let me kill spiders in the house. "They kill moths" he says. And moths ruin tying supplies. Oh, the beautiful circle. ;)

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  6. Never kill a spider - they are our friends well, Nicky's not so sure but they do more good than hard.

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  7. I had loads of them in the warehouse i used to work in Dave.............. they can be nasty little buggers.

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