False Widow Spiders Terrorize Britain School

It’s a nightmare come true. No matter what people say about their beneficial impact on the environment, spiders are terrifying. No one wants to look down and see a giant, hairy, eight-legged mini monster crawling up their arm. It’s enough to make your heart stop. Why do they have to have eight legs? Those extra two legs differentiate the spider from any other insect, making it infinitely more scary. Their giant pincers and elaborate color schemes don’t help either. The point is clear. Spiders are scary. They’re scary enough, in fact, that a recent infestation of the creepy crawlers prompted a school in Britain to shut down, according to the Associated Press.

The Dean Academy, a secondary school in southwest England’s Gloucestershire, decided to close its doors on Wednesday in order to get rid of the swarming numbers of false black widows. The spiders are commonly mistaken for their relative, the black widow, one of the most venomous and lethal spiders on the planet.

No one has been bitten as of yet, but the local health authorities have urged the school to close for at least one full day to take care of the infestation. The species of spider, Steatoda nobilis, otherwise known as the false widow, are becoming more and more common in the U.K. and are the most dangerous species of biting spiders known in Britain, but their bites are not known to be lethal.

“They’re not aggressive spiders, they don’t seek out humans,” said David Lalloo, a professor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. “Most people won’t get much of a reaction. Some people may feel a bit unwell for a day or two, but that’s very rare.”

Regardless, let’s get those kids out of school. School and spiders at the same time? That’s just cruel.