Shopper discovers 8-legged surprise Black widow spider found in red grapes

WINDHAM – It’s not a case of sour grapes, but a woman who found a black widow spider in a bunch of supermarket-bought grapes would like Hannaford Bros. Co. to pay for the fumigation of her house.

Brenna Reali of Windham bought the red grapes last week, and while rinsing them on Saturday she found the venomous spider.

“Another two seconds and it probably would have been on my hand,” she said. “We had eaten some of them, too.”

Reali managed to get the spider, which seemed fairly active, into a glass jar. The following day she called the Hannaford store in Falmouth where she’d purchased the grapes.

Reali brought the spider to the store, along with a bunch of grapes that appeared to be carrying a spider’s web.

Black widow spiders show up on grapes about three or four times a year, said Karen Epstein, a Hannaford spokeswoman.

The grapes are typically shipped from California in the summer and Chile during the winter, she said. Black widow spiders are common in warmer climates.

“They typically treat grapes before they’re shipped, which theoretically is supposed to kill all the spiders,” Epstein said. “Occasionally one of them makes it through, typically in a dormant state.”

Hannaford has never had a report of a spider biting a customer, Epstein said. The black widow’s venom is poisonous to people, but it’s rarely deadly.

The spider is out of her home, but Reali is concerned about possible offspring. The spider she found was identified as a female capable of laying eggs, and Reali plans to have her house sprayed.

Hannaford has contacted the grower and distributor of the grapes to see if either will pay for the spraying, Epstein said.