Boys let black widow bite them in hopes of turning into Spider-Man
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Three young Bolivian brothers were hospitalized after getting a black widow spider to bite them — thinking it would turn them into Spider-Man, according to officials.
The Marvel-loving siblings — aged 12, 10 and 8 — found the spider while herding goats in Chayanta, a Ministry of Health official revealed at coronavirus briefing Saturday, according to Telemundo .
Thinking it would give them superhero powers, they prodded it with a stick until it bit each of them in turn, the official, Virgilio Pietro, said.
Finding them crying, their mom rushed them to a nearby health center, which transferred them to a nearby hospital, Telemundo said.
The would-be Peter Parkers were transferred a third time, taken to the Children’s Hospital in La Paz the next day with fevers, tremors and muscle pains, according to the report.
There, they were successfully treated and discharged last Wednesday, almost a week after they were bitten, the report says.
Pietro shared the drama as a warning to parents, saying that “for children everything is real, movies are real” — even though they are in fact an “illusion,” according to Telemundo.
With venom 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake’s, black widows are one of the most feared spiders in the world, and the most venomous in north America, National Geographic says .
While their bites are not usually fatal, children are among those most at risk, along with the elderly and infirm, the site says.
They are not aggressive and bite only in self-defense, National Geographic says — including, it seems, when prodded by young superhero fans.
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So, where was Mary Jane??
smokin
I can see the lawsuit against Disney and Marvel forming now.
Here, black widows have been cross breeding with brown recluses. That makes the black recluse or brown widow even more of a threat. I was bitten by a brown recluse when I was in college and it almost cost me my life.
So did it work?
I wonder how many kids put on a Superman costume and jumped off a roof.
It does happen now and then.
Young or old, people don't think stuff through.
A/noon..Glad it was over there..If they had of done that here with our Red Back Spider the mother would have been going to 3 funerals...Afraid you don't get to many second chances with our stingy and bitey reptiles, spiders, crocs, jelly fish, sharks etc etc...Welcome to the Land Down Under...
shona, I don't know how you survive there. It seems that all of the outdoors in Australia is determined to murder everyone.
LOL, not quite Sandy. There hasn't been a single case of a Quokka attacking or killing anyone. Mostly they smile at you.
That smile is hiding something.
Actually, they're just cute as can be.
Ahhh Quokkas..Cuteness over load....Only found in Western Australia...But we have got our Koalas on the East coast......
A woman saw this in her mailbox. It does seem like everything down under is poisonous. Haha
Here the black widows are kind of passive. When I have disturbed one they curl up into a ball and drop.
The brown widows are more aggressive.
Only on Rottnest Island.
My wife and I did a trip there and the only vehicles allowed on the island are some small tour busses. My wife and all this fancy camera equipment and since these little critters are very rare we did not expect to get anywhere near them so she had the telescopic lens with a doubler. We were sure that if we ever got a chance to see one if would be a good distance away. The bus stopped and we got out and the Quokka's were right there with that smile on their faces not 10 feet from us...LOL trying to get the telescopic lens off so we could get a photo was a three-ring circus. We finally got the camera ready and they were all still there looking at us with that smile. There must have been 20 of them...
A/noon Ender...Yes one so small can do much damage...I have an extreme dislike for Huntsman Spiders and refuse to go to bed if there is one in the bedroom. It has to be remove as they have a nasty habit of dropping off the ceiling at night and on to the bed..Have one of those running over your face at night and you are soon wide awake..
A/noon Kavika...Yes they are quite tame and happy to be photographed..Not been to WA or Rottenest but is on my bucket list...Glad you had a good time there...
I've found several black widows around my place - some in the wood pile, and one crawling on the gauge to my propane tank when I checked it in fall. Never been bitten, but I admit, I do go ahead and kill them when I see them. Sorry, not sorry.
Hi shona,
It was a lot of fun with Quokka's and you're right they are very very friendly.
I always wanted to visit where you are until I heard about funnel web spiders. On a side note, how are you? Have not seen you post in ages and I think about you from time to time.
A/noon Paula...Funnels are mainly found in NSW around Sydney and very rarely is anyone bitten..and they do have an antidote so you have a good chance of survival. Doing OK thanks Paula. Back at home and battling nausea more than anything but even that is fading. All is going to plan and I just take it a day at a time...Thank you for asking...
Well, it is good to see you back, but take it easy and get better. We aren't going anywhere.
The boys are darn lucky. The world deadliest spider resides in Bolivia, the ''Wandering Spider''.
it would have worked but they did not know to electrocute themselves at the same time..... oops.
I thought the spider had to be radioactive?
only in comics and the movies.... im talkin real world.
Don't go giving them more nifty ideas.
darwinism = it works
but still... snorting bleach because virus? my top pick of the decade. ( tide pods. takes second place )
Small boys usually cherry pick certain facts in order to imitate.
G'day mate, I'm a Quokka is you a hooman?
Hi there, I be a hedgehog is you a hooman.
Finalists for the ''cuteness award''.
I have always wanted to own a hedgehog, but it is illegal in CA to do so.