that totally happened to me one time.

Cannot stop shuddering.

You hid this post from Dominic, right?

A few things:

1. ew
2. That's what you get for keeping spiders and lizards for pets.
3. ew

I was freaked out enough when I found an egg sack in my bedroom, now I will never be able to get to sleep. Although I did have a pet black widow as a kid, two actually that I caught in California and brought back here.

I was raised in California on a farm and found black widows all the time. We had lots and lots of daddy long-legs but you could always tell there was a widow around because their web silk is super strong.

I hate spiders. So much.

Movie recommendation of the day: Eight Legged Freaks

thanks megan, for insuring that i never sleep again.

Oh hells yeah. That's fucking awesome.

Pet TERMITES?

That's so weird-- this story originally broke in 2004. Why is it being covered again?

This has got to earn a "wag of the finger" for all creepy crawlies from Colbert. Or at least being put on notice with Girzzley bears.

When is Charles going to chime in with a philosophic wax related to the irony (or appropriateness) of this caring man, this lover of reptiles, being systematically destroyed and consumed by the very thing he loves the most?

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

this is the best title ever!!! everyone else just give up...
you win weekly world news props...totally dude...rawk on pinche araña viuda negra...

This is probably crap.

1) only 5% of untreated black widow bites are fatal
2) Tarantulas don't "scoop up" chunks of decomposing flesh to eat. They only eat liquids, i.e. the guts they suck out of hapless insects or in rare cases something the size of a bird or mouse.
3) the "some guy in Germany/France/Poland" setting to the story is classic Weekly World News style.
4) his gecko was feasting on his corpse? His GECKO?

Man in Luxembourg eaten by ravenous bunnies and butterflies! Film at eleven!

"Man in Luxembourg eaten by ravenous bunnies and butterflies! "

o.k. i like this title too.... damn anything aboooot cute fuzzy things devouring/masticating human flesh is cool by me: and bonus points for sexual innuendo....yes i have low standards, sometimes the lower the better!! hmmmmm??
--hipsterlite

Huh. It really puts being a crazy cat lady in perspective, doesn't it?

@15: Yes, it's the Sun, but the actual article does have pictures of police hauling out the body.

On a related note: see "Camper Bug Alert"
on page 55 of the latest (Aug 20) New Yorker or at:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/08/20/slideshow_070820_bugs

My spidey sense says that this is a load of crap. It is the Sun, after all, and that is only one step up rom the now defunct World Weekly News. The termites in the photo appear to be eating leaves on a sandstone surface, the cobra is on grass, it looks like a stock photo of a body being carried out of anywhere in the world, and how did they know the black widow spider's name was "Bettina"?

Once, the English called it "cucumber time". They don't use that expression anymore, but the Dutch still talk about "komkommertijd" when it's summer and urban myths like this surface. The Germans call it "saure-Gurkenzeit".
Just the fact that I cannot (for the life of me) find even one German article about it (not even Bildzeitung has it) says it all.