On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:13:54 GMT, spodosaurus
wrote:

lumberjack wrote:
Thought the following news item might be of interest ...


Spider cleared of causing flesh-eating ulcer

The white-tail spider, whose bite has been blamed for cases of
flesh-eating ulcers for decades, has been declared innocent following
methodical Australian research.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s926733.htm

Damnit. I just killed a white-tail not long ago. I don't like killing
animals that I'm not goingn to eat or that do not pose a threat to me :-(

It depends on whether you think a really painful bite constitutes a
threat.

I've only been bitten once and it was worse than a paper-wasp sting --
kind of like a red hot needle being pushed into your flesh.

The effects were only temporary though -- some itching and red
swelling followed but it all subsided within a day (no creams or
potions were used).

If you've got lots of other spiders then it's almost certain you'll
have white-tails as well --s ince their main food is other spiders.

I never kill them unless I'm in a hurry and there's no easy way to get
them outside.

What *is* fun is to catch a little white-tail and stick it in a jar.
Then get one of those great big fat house-spiders that make webs
outside and put it in the same jar.

Sometimes you get to see the "action" but more often you can leave
them overnight and come back to find that the big spider is "deflated"
and the white-tail is a little bigger.

--
you can contact me via http://aardvark.co.nz/contact/