What is the average number of spiders a human eats per year while sleeping?

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 14 Nov 2006 06:30 PST

The "average person" eats NO spiders while sleeping. That is only a myth.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/whileyousleep.html

How's that as an answer?

tutuzdad-ga

There are many other websites that corroborate what Tutuzdad-ga has posted:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=eat+spiders+sleep

Just to assume the myths are correct  - despite the conflicting figures -
Tutuzdad's link provides a couple of choices of per year averages:

Let's assume an 80 year lifetime:
4 per year;
one every four years  (we can discard the possibility of eating 1/4
spider each year);
250 per year to consume the 20,000 estimated to make one pound of spiders.
That is about one a weekday night, which would seem adequate to keep
down the spider population in the bedroom  - two a night if one has a
partner, we are talking about averages for worldwide human consumption
of spiders.
Let's see:  6 billion persons x 250 spiders ...
Hmmm, the WWF should maybe put all spiders on its endangered species list.

There are, of course, larger spiders  - nice big juicy ones -  but
eating them in one's sleep would seem even more unlikely and a rather
senseless way to forego enjoying such delicacies  - don't you agree?

My cat, Albert, would eat the spider before it got near me.

Steph53