Arachnophobia

This is one of those "Odd News" stories that so often get picked up by the press: News.com is reporting that a chef in England was recently bitten by a deadly Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria fera). It is likely the spider came in on a box of fruit delivered to the restaurant. The man was saved because he took pictures of the spider with his cellphone cam, allowing the images to be sent to experts who identified the spider and told the hospital what anti-venom to use. But to me, the real story is that after the patient was discharged, some hospital worker, thinking the spider was harmless (?!), let it go on the hospital grounds. Experts say the spider would not have survived in the wild U.K., and I am sure there are many patients and medical staff that are counting on that.