Three Bolivian boys ended up hospitalized after they let a black widow bite them in the hopes they would gain super powers a la Spider-Man.
“The Marvel-loving siblings — ages 12, 10 and 8 — found the spider while herding goats in Chayanta,” according to the New York Post (via Telemundo). “Thinking it would give them superhero powers, they prodded it with a stick until it bit each of them in turn.”
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The reports, citing local Bolivian officials, say the boys’ mother found them crying.
The boys were hospitalized with “fevers, tremors and muscle pains” before ultimately being discharged almost a week after they were bitten by the non-radioactive, non-power-granting spider.
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Black widows are among the most venomous spiders but generally only pose a threat to humans when disturbed.
As ill-advised as it is for kids to let a deadly arachnid bite them, at least they didn’t surgically alter their faces to look like Red Skull.
Source: IGN.com 3 Boys Hospitalized for Trying to Gain Super Powers Via Spider-Bite