Bongchitis Posted June 13, 2006 Hi all, Just had this sent to me and thought you all would be amused in one way or another. Yes, yes, Steve.........quarantine matters! "A true story and its source was the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service in Adelaide. A bloke and his family were on holidays in the United States and went to Mexico for a week. An avid cactus fan, the man bought one-metre high, rare and expensive cactus there. On arrival back home Australian Customs said it must be quarantined for 3 months. He finally got his cactus home. Planted it in his backyard, and over time it grew to about 2 metres. One evening while watering his garden after a warm spring day, he gave the cactus a light spray. He was amazed to see the plant shiver all over, he gave it another spray and it shivered again. He was puzzled so he rang the council who put him on to the state gardens people. After a few transfers he got the state's foremost cactus expert who asked him many questions. How tall is it? Has it flowered? Etc. Finally he asked the most disturbing question. "Is your family in the house?" The bloke answered yes. The cactus expert said get out of the house NOW, get on to the front nature strip and wait for me; I will be there in 20 minutes. Fifteen minutes later, 2 fire trucks, 2 police cars and an ambulance came screaming around the corner. A fireman got out and asked "Are you the bloke with the cactus?" I am, he said. A guy jumped out of the fire truck wearing what looked like a space suit, a breathing cylinder and mask attached to what looked like a scuba backpack with a large hose attached. He headed for the backyard and turned a flame-thrower on the cactus spraying it up and down. After a few minutes the flame-thrower man stopped, the cactus stood smoking and spitting, half the fence was burnt and parts of the gardens were well and truly scorched. Just then the cactus expert appeared and laid a calming hand on the bloke's shoulder. "What the hell's going on?" he says. "Let me show you" says the cactus man. He went over to the cactus and picked away a crusty bit, the cactus was almost entirely hollow and filled with tiger striped bird-eating tarantula spiders, each about the size of two hand spans. The story was that this type of spider lays eggs in this type of cactus and they hatch and live in it as they grow to full size. When full size they release themselves. The cactus just explodes and about 150 dinner plate sized hairy spiders are flung from it, dispersing everywhere. They had been ready to pop. The aftermath was that the house and the adjoining houses had to be vacated and fumigated: police tape was put up outside the whole area and no one was allowed in for two weeks". There was a pic but not great quality, spider as big as a dinner plate apparently (hard to tell due to quality) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teonanacatl Posted June 13, 2006 yeah interesting story ay too bad its a myth, id imagine tarantula's fetch a nice price in the spider market :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted June 14, 2006 it's one of the oldest internet myths. good to see it still works http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/cactus.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunter Posted June 14, 2006 I've met a few fellow americans who were afraid to grow any cacti at all due to this and they insisted they heard about this from somebody who knew somebody it happened to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted June 14, 2006 I've met a few fellow americans who were afraid to grow any cacti at all due to this and they insisted they heard about this from somebody who knew somebody it happened to. This factual certainty of obvious internet myths is disturbing. Imagine how often in your life you have heard stories which were backed up the same way. "I swear, my best friend's mum had the ability ot photosynthesise"... etc. That sort of evidence based fact creation makes it very difficult to disprove the myth on the spot. It has certainly put into perspective how a few decades of any oral history can be distorted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bongchitis Posted June 14, 2006 Party poopers! It was a great story and it had me going for about 5 minutes this morning until logic prevailed over the top of the pre-caffine haze. Yeah Yeah......................bloody noob! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted June 14, 2006 I saw this exact myth almost word for word on a program on the discovery channel recently, a program on Urban Myths, in this one a guy had purchased a giant saguaro cactus from mexico and brought it home, then it started to "shiver" when sprayed with water etc.. Its been adapted to Australia and everything, someones had a lot of time on thier hands... LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dodie Posted June 14, 2006 Ah bloody urban myths, If i had a dollar for every time iv heard "Redbacks make nests in dreads" and whats worse is when they say they knew someone it happend too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leo^ Posted June 14, 2006 "I swear, my best friend's mum had the ability to photosynthesise"... etc. Well I guess this isnt unusual if your best friends name is Mary Jane Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kakti Posted June 14, 2006 I know about 15 different people whose cousins or brothers friends put a sheet of acid in their sock, and it all absorbed and now they think theyre a glass of orange juice. Too afraid to lay down because they might spill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted June 14, 2006 (edited) Oh dear, sounds like it must have been the same kind of acid that caused AFOAFOAF to think he was an orange and peel his skin off! Edited June 14, 2006 by AndyAmine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teonanacatl Posted June 14, 2006 lol yeah i hate that, somtimes i say ahh it bullshit and they put up a little fight but give up soon, other times i walk away laughing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woof woof woof Posted June 18, 2006 lol - it had me going - was about to look up for more info on it on the net. good one - ha haha! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
indigo264nm Posted June 19, 2006 Smoking menthol cigarettes makes you impotent - and smoking weed stem makes your balls shrink. Oh and acid puts holes in your brain. I swear, all happened to a FOAF of mine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
