A Brit claimed they are considering “burning their house down” after he found a particularly vicious bug.
The “spider of nightmares” was spotted wandering around the Reddit user’s garden. They were about to release it back into the wild but fortunately realised it was not just an everyday “friendly” household spider.
Instead they had caught a false widow spider and were left unsure on what to do. They wrote: “I was about to set this guy free in my garden (as is customary), but thought I would Google it first as it was so interesting looking. So do I need to burn my house down now?”
READ MORE: Nostalgic Brits demand phone boxes get ‘listed status’ as they look to save ‘staple of society’
He attached a photograph of the insect, adding: “Google says I caught a false widow; the spider of nightmares, in a country where I thought all spiders were friendly.”
Fellow users were quick to warn the insect packs a nasty bite quick is similar to “being nipped by a wasp.” Another said the false widow, if disturbed, would hide away from people.
Other users admitted they couldn’t sleep for months after their own encounters with false widows. One wrote: “I was bitten in the night by one a few years back. I was sleeping and woke up to something tickling my neck, in my half-asleep daze, I swiped at my neck but then it bit me.”
“Swiped again and must have killed it because I then realised what dropped on to my collarbone and launched it across the room. It was all curled up on the floor. I was fine though, just scared to go sleep for about three months after!”
Another wrote: “Males bite is weaker apparently. I got bitten by one a few years ago right in the centre of my calf. I had a soft spot about the size of a marble for a few weeks and it took a few months until my leg felt completely right again.”
One user said they had been bitten by one of the spiders, leaving them convinced they were going to die. They claimed: “Had one of these f**kers fall down the back of my shirt once, didn’t realise it, or feel the bite, until it started getting itchy.”
“Whipped my shirt off and the thing fell on the floor dead. I was convinced I was gonna die from all the horror stories online about them. It got red and blotchy, stung a bit, and itched like mad but as you said, it’s like a wasp sting.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.