“Yet spiders kill at an astonishing pace. One Dutch researcher estimates that there are some five trillion spiders in the Netherlands alone, each of which consumes about a tenth of a gram of meat a day. Were their victims people instead of insects, they would need only three days to eat all sixteen and a half million Dutchmen.”
From “Spider Woman,” by Burkhard Bilger in The New Yorker.
Additional item worth noting: “Tucson — perhaps the spider-bite capital of the United States . . .”
One time, when I lived in Tucson, I sucked up one of those bad-boy Wolf spiders with my vacuum. It clogged the pipes and then I was afraid a really mad spider would come looking for me. The vacuum lived outside for about a week before I felt it was safe to bring it back inside.
There are more prickly, stinging, biting, sucking, nettle-y things there than I’ve ever seen in my life. I NEVER walked barefooted when I lived in Tucson. Ironically, in my 14 years there, I only saw a rattlesnake once. Palo Verde bugs and kissing bugs were awful. But it was the spiders that really freaked me out. Just the thought of it makes me shiver!
Ew!
OH MY GOD!! I have lived here my entire life and I live in terror of Wolf Spiders and Tarantulas. Like I really needed the confirmation that spiders are horrifying!! Thanks Ken. I’ll sleep great tonight.
I read, a few years ago, that we humans are never more than 3 feet away from a spider throughout our daily lives. Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you…