Can You Eat Spiders in the UK?
WouterWhen people hear the term spider they are probably thinking about Halloween. However, many people don’t know that eating a spider isn’t a good idea. Besides being disgusting, it can cause harm to your health.
The Daddy Long Leg, also known as the Cellar Spider, is one of the more common UK spiders. This spider is a spindly, thin creature with very long legs. It’s often found in sheltered corners of homes in the late summer and autumn. It vibrates on its web to scare away any attackers.
This spider isn’t known to bite humans. But it does produce a sticky silk that flies can bite. The spider can even be found living in holes in the bark of trees and walls.
In fact, birds are known to regularly feed on spiders. Blue tits, robins, sparrows and wrens are among the insects which tend to eat them.
Although there are plenty of insect-eating birds, not all of them are so bold as to eat a spider. In fact, some of them are arachnids, so the spiders they consume are a bit more exotic.
There aren’t many cases of spiders actually being ingested by cats. A few cat owners have reported that their pets have been bitten by a spider, but the likelihood is extremely low. The spiders are usually too small to cause much damage.
On the other hand, if a bird does ingest a spider, it’s usually a good thing. They can be used for food, as well as being a great way to teach chicks about the world.
