DUBAI // Reports of poisonous redback spiders are increasing among people living in new developments around the city.
Residents in communities such as Emirates Hills and Al Furjan in Dubai, and Al Ghadeer in Abu Dhabi, have encountered the small spider in their gardens during the hotter weather.
No one has been bitten, although many were shocked that the potentially deadly spiders are in the UAE and so close to their homes.
Redbacks are not indigenous to the UAE and are thought to have been brought over in packing containers from Australia.
They have since spread throughout the country.
No one has died from a bite here, and antivenoms are available at most major hospitals.
Nicole Chahal, 28 from the UK, was about to take her 11-month-old son for a ride on a miniature car she keeps outside the front door of her Al Ghadeer villa, when she saw three female redback spiders in a cobweb in the spokes of a wheel.
“It was just lucky that I looked, otherwise the spiders could have been disturbed and bitten my son,” Ms Chahal said.
“I don’t know what I would have done if he had been bitten. It’s every parent’s fears come true.”
She said that the family hired National Pest Control to fumigate the house and garden two days later, but the experience had made her wary.
“Now any time we go out we check everywhere in case there are more spiders around,” Ms Chahal said.
“I knew there were redbacks here but I thought they were always under rocks, out of sight, and we weren’t in so much of danger of disturbing them without realising.”
Dinesh R, a technical manager of National Pest Control, said reports of the spiders reached a peak in 2006, with the company receiving at least one call a day.
These days they receive no more than one every two weeks.
“It does go in stages. Sometimes there are more, sometimes there are less,” Mr Dinesh said. “It’s certainly not anything to panic about. There are certainly a lot less than there were a few years ago.”
He said many sightings were reported about the time the Emirates Hills development was being built as the construction may have disturbed nests.
“These spiders are not native to the Middle East. The species has spread and is now prevalent.”
Cynthia Joubert, head of invertebrates at Sharjah Wildlife and Breeding Centre, said it was not unusual to find redbacks in new communities.
“They are around and people are moving in to where they would normally live,” Ms Joubert said.
“They may have always been there and construction has taken place where they were living.”
She said the centre was trying to breed UAE redbacks to better understand their behaviour.
“Very little is known about the species in the UAE,” Ms Joubert said.
“Obviously the more you know about them, the easier they are to manage.”
Desiree Goodchild, who lives in The Springs, said she saw a redback spider in her back garden and panicked.
“It shot out from the runners of the patio doors,” Ms Goodchild said. “I ran indoors, grabbed a can of bug spray and proceeded to empty half the can on to it.
“When I checked again in the morning, it was curled up in a ball dead. People just need to be really vigilant.”
Ms Joubert said people tended to overestimate the risk of being attacked by the spiders.
“The chances of getting bitten by one are quite minimal,” she said. “You need to harass them quite a lot in order for them to bite you.”
mcroucher@thenational.ae
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
NO OTHER LAND
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
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A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
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