Do we REALLY eat spiders when we sleep?

[queenofnines]

You may not have had it happen to you yet, but "common sense" will tell you that there have been many people who have woken up with spiders on their beds...like my husband.  Spiders are a pretty common household pest, so it's only natural to assume that they could and WILL get ingested over the course of a lifetime.  Maybe not 7 (depending on where you live), but definitely 1 or 2.

[ninajay]

I don't believe that. I sleep with my mouth closed, for one. And wouldn't you choke if a spider or anything crawled in your mouth and down your throat?

[SCarter984]

That sounds so absolutely disgusting!     But I'm sure we have had many little critters land in our mouths while sleeping.  You never know what is creeping around your bed, no matter how clean you are.  Spiders particularly--- they come out early spring in wooded areas, and they will get in your house.  But still - the thought! EEch! Just drink a glass of water when you get up each day, wash it all down.  Do spiders have any protein in them??? 

[angie828]

I am not really sure if we do or not.  I have heard from several people that yes in fact we do eat them at night,

[vicogden]

Here's an interview with a spider expert from www.brownreclusespider.org:

It is commonly heard that a spider can crawl into our mouth while we are sleeping, and that we can actually eat that spider without taking notice of it. Brenda Gilmore, expert in spider bites and arachnids in general, sheds some light on this subject during the interview published below - all for the sake of our sleep.

Interviewer: Tell us, Brenda, how many people have asked you about the chance of eating a spider while sleeping in your whole career?
B. Gilmore: A LOT. It is in fact a frequent subject, and people's minds are very eager to believe and fear such things.
Interviewer: But why? Does it happen frequently? Have people been intoxicated or something?
B. Gilmore: I will tell you this: every night, there are at least 5 billion people who rest in their beds in the whole world, and even a bigger number of spiders which "work" at the same time. My answer is really a question: how many people do you know to have suddenly woken up with a spider trying to get into their mouths?
Interviewer: (laughs) I don't know a single person, but still the subject worries everyone
B. Gilmore: Yes. I think that the Internet has something to do with this myth and stories that are spread by word of mouth. Yet, no one ever gets to meet the actual people who suffered such an incident.
Interviewer: I understand. Still, the matter did not come out of nowhere...
B. Gilmore: Well... It is not impossible for such a thing to happen, but it is quite improbable. First of all, the mouth is very sensitive: the tongue, for example, is one of the most sensitive parts of our body. Imagine that something, not a spider but any insect, a cockroach, whatever you like...
Interviewer: Rather dislike...

[vicogden]

Here's the 2nd half of the interview started in the last post.  More information is available on www.brownreclusespider.org:

B. Gilmore: (smiling) Yes, that is the exact point… something that is surely not a part of the bed or our body, something with razor parts, pin like legs, hair...
Interviewer: Oh God!
B. Gilmore: (smiling widely) Yes, but that is the point. When such a thing enters your mouth, it is automatically expelled by an unconscious defense mechanism. You would probably shut your mouth, turn your head away, move or use your hand to push that thing away, or even wake up at that very instant. But… chew it? Swallow it? Not a chance.
Interviewer: I see.
B. Gilmore: And I tell you this: spiders are not stupid. Ok, they are not clever, but they are clever enough to avoid a humid hole which is breathing. They do not enter the mouths of animals in the wilderness; neither do they enter the mouths of humans. They are trying to get their food, and so they tend to go to the light at night where insects gather, instead of going to dark, wet places such as mouths.
Interviewer: And that's fine for me.
B. Gilmore: If someone goes and puts food in your mouth while you are sleeping, do you think you will swallow it without waking up?
Interviewer: If it were chocolate, perhaps.
B. Gilmore: Oh, I didn't know you like it (laughing).
Interviewer: What can I say? I've got it under my skin.
B. Gilmore: Well, maybe I will try the experiment on you if I catch you sleeping.
Interviewer: is that a date? (laughs).

[Jazzzy231414]

I hope its not true!!!

[masked_brown_guy]

I wish delicious slices of watermelon would go into my mouth while i was asleep.

[hagancouple]

thats kinda gross eating spider ...

[willow80834]

I doubt it....   I have never had anyone tell me about a spider crawling into their mouth...   I HAVE swated one on my face when i was asleep i felt it crawl on me   EWWW

[workmama]

I am sure that I've never swallowed a spider in my sleep. However, I have been bitten by one is my sleep, my husband too! 
Not sure I believe that a person can eat a spider in their sleep.....wouldn't they wake up choking? 

[sommap]

I don't know anything about spiders, but I did inhale a fruitfly once in my sleep.    After I got up I coughed and coughed and coughed for a long time and eventually coughed up a fruitfly.  It was weird.

[geo86wel]

could happen if you are a heavy sleeper and hang your mouth open drooling all over when you sleep... not sure what would compel a spider to crawl in tho... I agree it is more believable that we eat them in processed foods

[prtee33]

It may not have been a spider in your sleep or even a spider at all....but I guarantee every single one of us has eaten several bugs in our lifetimes. Could be in food, fly into your mouth while outside, land in your drink and then take a sip, whatever the case it's a fact we have eaten a few bugs. Yum Yum!!

[Annella]

We don't even want to know what is in processed foods, and the Gov't is lax about what is acceptable to pass along to us. I hate spiders and have my house fumigated regularly. I hardly ever see any kind of bug, while my neighbors are plagued with big black spiders.

We do have Brown Recluse spiders. They get their name by "hiding". People I know that have been bitten get sick and the bite looks horrible as it festers up. Between the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow, I'll take the Widow any day. I'm more afraid of picking up bed bugs on my travels. Some of the nicer Hotels are being infested with bed bugs. "Shudder".