TARANTULA’S BITE FAILS TO KILL (Mar, 1931)
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1931
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Not that I think tarantula bites are actually fatal, but it doesn’t help make their case when they describe an arachnid as an insect. Not to mention that Prof. Fattig is way scarier looking than the spider.
TARANTULA’S BITE FAILS TO KILL
Professor P.W. Fattig, curator of the Emory University Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, made a large tarantula from Honduras bite him the other day. The professor said he tried the experiment partly out of curiosity and partly to prove his contention that bites of such insects are not necessarily fatal.
It took about half an hour’s poking to make the supposedly vicious creature bite. Then it hung onto the professor’s thumb with a bulldog grip for about three minutes before it was pried off. Professor Fattig said the bite was two or three times as painful as a bee’s sting and his thumb felt about three times its normal size. There were no other ill effects and the swelling soon disappeared.
High five!
More dead than alive!
Comment by Torgo — June 30, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
He looks like he’s about to recount his favorite panel from a Garfield comic
Comment by Neil Russell — June 30, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
I just remembered who this guy reminds me of.
Comment by Charlie — July 1, 2008 @ 9:47 am
But he’s dead now, isn’t he? Can we be sure it wasn’t a delayed reaction and not old age?
Comment by Rick Auricchio — July 1, 2008 @ 7:40 pm
I would love to see the funding proposal for this
Comment by Erica — July 2, 2008 @ 8:12 am
i thought he died because of he bite not ld age!?
Comment by Abby — July 12, 2008 @ 8:25 pm