No, poisonous spiders have not migrated to P.E.I. — yet
CBC
This story is from this week's episode of the new CBC podcast Good Question, P.E.I.
Listen here.
Good Question, P.E.I. is available on the CBC Listen app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
It might be creepy and gross, but good news — that itsy-bitsy spider that went up your water spout is likely not poisonous.
If you've heard rumours that the venomous brown recluse spider is spinning its web on the Island, don't believe them.
Sarah Bernath had heard them, and reached out to the CBC podcast Good Question, P.E.I., for confirmation.
"Like most Islanders, we have a woodpile outside and I just grab logs without thinking about it. If I knew there was a poisonous or venomous spider living there, you know, I might put some gloves on. I might be just a little bit more careful."
Couldn't agree more.
"Do they like damp environments? Dry?" Bernath continued. "Should I be worried when I go down into my basement?"
Should you? The question got podcast host Nicola MacLeod firing off emails to anyone with "spider" or "invasive species" in their job title.
Clay Cutting, a technician with the P.E.I. Invasive Species Council, put the fears to rest.
"We do not have brown recluse spiders on Prince Edward Island," he said confidently. "The chances of the brown recluse spider being on P.E.I. are pretty much the same as they would be, I would say, in a place like the Arctic North."
Cutting had heard the rumours, too. In 2017, a Nova Scotia man thought he had been bitten by a brown recluse spider.
Brown recluse spiders look much like a typical spider, not a tarantula or anything big and hairy. They are typically found in the southern and midwestern U.S.
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