This week: spiders

It’s hard enough to run a school without pesky little creatures running everywhere. And this time we’re not talking about the students; it’s spiders that have been causing chaos.

A couple of weeks ago, a school in England was forced to close after being invaded by the country’s most venomous eight-legged inhabitant. Admittedly, the false widow spider isn’t quite as deadly as its cousin, the black widow: symptoms can include severe swelling and chest pains, but no deaths have yet resulted from its bite in the UK. This, however, was threat enough for the Dean Academy in Gloucestershire, which closed for a day while it was fumigated.

Now, a British teacher has had a run-in with an altogether more dangerous arachnid: the Brazilian wandering spider. This not-so-cuddly critter is reputed to have the world’s most toxic venom, which can result in paralysis and asphyxiation. So imagine how Richard Taylor felt when his wife, Consi, started tucking into a banana, only to discover that it was covered in dozens of the eight-legged invaders.

For disrupting the lives of students and teachers alike, it’s off to the naughty step with you, spiders. And if you even think about making a run for it, we’ve got a rolled-up newspaper on standby.