Internet Tells Florida Man To 'Burn' Car After Seeing What's Living Inside
A man who brought his car to a garage to get it fixed never expected what he would find when it was finally returned.
Reddit user Mason, who posts to the site under the username u/Mumu2148, shared the shocking discovery to the WTF [what the f***] subreddit; as the name implies, it is filled with stories and images of some not-so-everyday occurrences.
In a post on September 1, which has racked up almost 8,000 upvotes, Mason wrote: "Found these in my car door after getting it back from a repair shop."
The image showed multiple white clumps on the inside of his door, covered with cobwebs, something that will get arachnophobes' hearts racing.
Mason, from Tampa, Florida, told Newsweek that they were "egg sacs", and said he removed them "as soon as possible" after taking the photograph.
Reddit commenters were horrified by the photo, with one saying he should "nuke the car," and another adding: "If you ever wanted to torch a car, now's your chance."
"Naw. I'd be selling that car tomorrow," a third added.
Other commenters said the sacs were from a brown widow spider, one of four widow species that can be found in Florida, according to the state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS).
"Get them out before they hatch because each egg sac can have over a hundred baby spiders in them," one user posted.
Another wrote: "Def[initely] brown widow sacs, congrats on the new fam[ily]."
While unlikely to bite, brown widows reproduce quickly and frequently, the FDACS says, and can be abundant on man-made structures such as houses, garages, or, in Mason's case, cars. Their egg sacs are identifiable by being spherical with silk tufts, while other widow species' sacs are pear-shaped.
What to Do If You're Bitten by a SpiderRead more What to Do If You're Bitten by a SpiderIf Mason's Reddit photo wasn't nightmare-inducing enough, he told Newsweek there was one more "interesting" thing in his car after its trip to the repair shop.
"I found small hornets' nests on both the passenger and driver side door's exterior," Mason said. "There was also one under my car's hood." He added: "Luckily, they were abandoned."
Mason did not contact the repair shop after making the discoveries, instead simply removing the nests and egg sacs, and posting the finds to Reddit.
He wrote in a comment that his car had been in the repair shop for several months, and only recently noticed the egg sacs after having it back for a few weeks.
As for the massive response it had online, he told Newsweek: "It's nice seeing everyone as freaked out as I was about it."
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some extra details, and they could appear on our website.