In Texas, black widows are a fact of life. You don't want one in your attic, but if you find one, it's something you deal with. Across the pond in England, it's apparently cause for freaking the fuck out.
According to a breathless account in the Daily Mail ("Believed to be Britain's first infestation of the deadly Black Widow spider"!), an entire factory was evacuated in East Norfolk after workers discovered a black widow inside a newly delivered crate from Texas. They knew it was a black widow because they Googled it.
"We cordoned off the area in the yard where the spider was discovered and created a ring of insecticide around it," Ian Parkinson, the pest control guy who handled the call, told the paper. "We then used electric and petrol based foggers on the rest of the site."
Fearing the worst, a plan was hatched to track down antivenom from hospitals in Liverpool and London, the only two places in the United Kingdom that carry it.
Later, a nest was discovered inside the crate after 100 or so baby spiders came pouring out of it. That would admittedly be pretty freaky, but the Brits luckily have the sage advice of Hank from Texas, who chimes in in the story's comments.
"I'm fixin to ax why and how them critters were able to ride in the plan all tha way yonder and get out to that place? Here is Texas we call them anklebiters and thats what them do lol. My advise would be to wear high boots and then ur feet will be safe from 'em. Good luck to yalls!"
