News 8 – A new warning released by the FDA has pumpkin carving lovers a bit creeped out this Halloween. There have been nearly 2000 complaints across the US just in the last week stating that spider eggs are being found inside the pumpkins and some of them have already hatched.
Robert Grimes, a 23-year-old father from St. Louis, Missouri, caught the incident on film after he carved into his pumpkin and found a strange looking “seed” and removed it. “I was carving a pumpkin with my son, and as we were pulling out the seeds, I found one that looked odd,” said Grimes. “So I took it out and put it in a separate bowl, what happened later was absolutely disturbing. There had to have been at least 100 spiders that hatched from what I thought was an oddly shaped seed. It still makes my skin crawl when I think about it.”
The Grimes is not the only one that has come across this horrifying encounter. Grimes was lucky compared to the hundreds of other people who have reported cutting into their pumpkins and having baby spiders escape that have already hatched inside. The FDA has not said how they think these heebie jeebie creepers have gotten into the pumpkins, but they are warning consumers that possibly hundreds of thousands of pumpkins may be contaminated with spiders.
The FDA has released these precautionary steps they say should be taken:
- Carve your pumpkin outside and make sure you are several feet away from your home
- Have a can of bug spray handy in case you are carving into a contaminated pumpkin
- If bitten, please seek medical attention immediately, several of the spiders have been identified as black widows
- Parents, please carve pumpkins open for your children