Lift Toilet Seat, Check For Spider With Deadly Bite

[seashoreCM]

Not sure whether this one has made it to these forums but ...

"Three women in North Florida turned up at hospitals over a 5-day period, all with the same symptoms.

"Fever, chills, and vomiting, followed by muscular collapse, paralysis and finally, death. There were no outward signs of trauma.

"Autopsy results showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other and seemed to have nothing in common ... (but) ... they had all visited the same restaurant ...

"That is when one toxicologist, remembering an article he had read, drove out to the restaurant.

"Under the (toilet) seat, out of normal view, was a small spider. The spider was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined to be the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata), so named because of its reddened flesh color; This spider's venom is extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the right atmosphere.

"Several days later a (man) from Jacksonville showed up at a hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that he ... had taken a flight from Indonesia ...

"The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered an immediate inspection of the toilets of all flights from India and discovered (that) spider's nests on 4 different planes!

"It is now believed that these spiders can be anywhere in the country." (the U.S.)

"So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check for spiders. It can save your life! "

(Not sure of the source; a relative sent it to me, adding, "And please pass this on to everyone you care about. "

Maybe we need to start a fad, even in the ladies room, "Leave the seat in the up position when done." (As a reminder to and to make it easier to check for spiders.) Or how about seats and benches on rides and in auditoriums?

[mom2faith]

Originally Posted by seashoreCM

Not sure whether this one has made it to these forums but ...

"Three women in North Florida turned up at hospitals over a 5-day period, all with the same symptoms.

"Fever, chills, and vomiting, followed by muscular collapse, paralysis and finally, death. There were no outward signs of trauma.

"Autopsy results showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other and seemed to have nothing in common. It was discovered, however, that they had all visited the same restaurant ...

"That is when one toxicologist, remembering an article he had read, drove out to the restaurant, went into the restroom and lifted the toilet seat ..

"Under the seat, out of normal view, was a small spider. The spider was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined to be the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata), so named because of its reddened flesh color; This spider's venom is extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the right atmosphere.

"Several days later a ... from Jacksonville showed up at a hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that he had been away on business, had taken a flight from Indonesia ...

"The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered an immediate inspection of the toilets of all flights from India and discovered the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata) spider's nests on 4 different planes!

"It is now believed that these spiders can be anywhere in the country." (the U.S.)

"So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check for spiders. It can save your life! "

(Not sure of the source; a relative sent it to me, adding, "And please pass this on to everyone you care about. "

Maybe we need to start a fad, even in the ladies room, "Leave the seat in the up position when done." (As a reminder to and to make it easier to check for spiders.) Or how about seats and benches on rides and in auditoriums?

Always check snopes.com before believing these chain emails.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/telamonia.asp

[vicki_c]

I heard this was urban myth / internet rumor. (Sounds like one of many similar stories). Did you actually see this in the newspaper or something? Oh, I see - sent by a relative.

It's a fake story, I believe.

[lacrosse_lady72]

Yes, isn't this the same spider that has been involved in a lot of toilet seat e-mail hoaxes?

[karney]

[BarleyJack]

Its a shame for us guys that its a scam, thought we had an excuse for leaving the seat up finally.....oh well

[Fonzy13]

I got a chuckle out of that because....

I just spent four days in the hospital due to a... spider bite.

That's right. Bit me while I was sleeping in my house, and boy did it do some damage to my leg.

It wasn't under a toilet seat though. Somehow, that seems worse.

[SassyCat]

As soon as I got to the part about "Not sure of the source; a relative sent it to me, adding, "And please pass this on to everyone you care about" I figured it was an urban legend.

[WriteDisney]

Originally Posted by mom2faith

Always check snopes.com before believing these chain emails.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/telamonia.asp

That's nice... but now I bet I'll still check for spiders

[mom2faith]

Originally Posted by WriteDisney

That's nice... but now I bet I'll still check for spiders

Yeah, me too!!

I check snopes but then still have that thought of "I wonder...."

[RabFlmom]

My first thought----didn't happen cause it would be all over the news.

That said-----Florida does have a few poisonous spiders to stay clear of. I know 2 people who have been hospitalized and almost lost a toe because of the brown recluse spider. One walked out to get the paper barefoot one morning and ended up 2 weeks in the hospital and the other would leave his shoes on the patio. He put his shoes on without doing the Florida check for spiders and bugs and got bit. I work in a store and we have had spiders in boxes of purses etc. that are made in foreign countries, too. A couple people got bit and had some nasty painful bites.

[toledo13]

Originally Posted by mom2faith

Always check snopes.com before believing these chain emails.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/telamonia.asp

PHEW!!! I was like 'oh no....'

[rt2dz]

Originally Posted by RabFlmom

My first thought----didn't happen cause it would be all over the news.

That said-----Florida does have a few poisonous spiders to stay clear of. I know 2 people who have been hospitalized and almost lost a toe because of the brown recluse spider. One walked out to get the paper barefoot one morning and ended up 2 weeks in the hospital and the other would leave his shoes on the patio. He put his shoes on without doing the Florida check for spiders and bugs and got bit. I work in a store and we have had spiders in boxes of purses etc. that are made in foreign countries, too. A couple people got bit and had some nasty painful bites.

I opened this thread because I was curious if there was some spider bites at Disney from a brown recluse. Very common here in Texas.

[vicki_c]

We found a black widow (and her soon to be hatched babies) on our back deck last week. I was shocked - I've never seen one in real life before. We're in Maryland. She's been properly disposed of, unfortunately for her and her kin.

[tink,too]

Originally Posted by BarleyJack

Its a shame for us guys that its a scam, thought we had an excuse for leaving the seat up finally.....oh well

Sorry, guys - no dice!