One Costco shopper got much more than she bargained for in the produce aisle, and it definitely wasn’t on her shopping list.
TikTok creator Heather Sumrall (@heartofheather) posted the now-viral video, which has racked up more than 415,000 views since it hit the app on October 18.
What started as a grocery store operation turned into a full-blown public service announcement for anyone who buys grapes at Costco or any major retailer. The video zooms in on a bunch of green grapes, and crawling between them is a giant black widow spider with its signature red hourglass on its shiny black body.
The on-screen caption tags Costco and warns other shoppers, before jokingly saying, “Now I’ll just eat a little Debbie.”
How often do spiders hide in grapes?
Obviously, this is nothing new. Black widows are known to be poisonous and have been showing up in grocery store grapes for years. Back in 2015, a Vermont woman was hospitalized after a grape crawled out of the bag and bit her.
Every year there are reports of wandering and huntsman spiders (called “banana spiders”) found in store bananas, as well as black widows hiding in bunches of grapes.
The reason is simple. Grapes are the perfect hiding place for spiders. The vineyards are infested with fruit-eating bugs. Grape trellises provide ample space for spiders to settle and build their webs.
The comments are a mix of jokes, spider trauma, and straight-up nightmare fuel.
“Donuts would never do this to you,” one person joked.
Another warned: “Wait until you take a closer look at the banana and you’ll find a giant banana spider.”
“New fears unlocked OMG! [loudly crying face emoji]”, someone said.
Other viewers added fuel to the fire with displays of advanced insect knowledge.
“Hi, so they actually use black widows in a lot of their vineyards to help with natural pest control,” one person wrote. “This is like the 8th post I’ve seen on this issue in the past few months.”
Another chimed in: “As a retired inspector this is pretty common.”
Sumral declined to comment for this story. We also reached out to Costco for a statement.
@heartofheather not a black widow spider 🕷️ in my grapes @Costco Wholesale @COSTCO FINDS 🛍️ ♬ Halloween・Cute scary songs – PeriTune
