Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatterasguy
Spiders.
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Totally, man. When I'm out riding my mountain bike along the trails around here, we have these things we call "facegrabbers" which over night, like to spread their webs out about face level right across the piece of singletrack.
It carries a similar neurotoxin to the Black Widow spider, although it is typically not lethal to an adult, and also has such fun acids as Xanthurenic acid to add insult to injury.
I had the unfortunate experience of running into one when I stepped an inch or so off the trail to let another rider pass. Quick action by unbolting my helmet and stepping on it saved me a nasty bite, I'm sure.
Fortunately, it's not one of the "other" banana spiders in the world, which has one of the most potent spider venoms known and requires immediate emergency treatment.
From the Wikipedia: "Aside from causing intense pain, the venom of the spider can also cause
priapism - uncomfortable erections that can last for many hours and lead to impotence. The venom may eventually be used in erectile dysfunction treatments."
I had to unfocus my eyes during the copy and paste of that second spider there, so I didn't look square at it.