**UPDATE** We're finding brown recluse spiders in and around our townhomes!

[oldandquitemad]

Those pictures look about right. You can clean the wounds with hydrogen peroxide, but the actual stuff in the venom that eats tissue also seems to have a taste for most antibiotic ointments.

It just takes a LONG time for those bites to heal, and even then they will leave some pretty scars.

 

[PG]

Oh, sh!t!! I have those spiders in my apartment from time to time. I didn't realize that they were BR. Actually, about every week I see one of those SOB's. My wife can handle bugs better than me , and she usually grabs some toilet paper or paper towels and grabs them, smashes them, and throws them away. I hate those things and I usually get out the Raid. I let them have it until they stop moving and then I flush them to make sure they are gone. Then I usually Raid the door openings, patio door area, etc. I better tell her to stop smashing them. She could get some venom on herself.

Maybe I better tell my landlord about these buggers and I am definately buying some more Raid tonight. I'm out of the good stuff.

 

[kami]

did you dudes know daddy longlegs spiders are something like 5 or 10 times more poisonous than the most deadly snakes? but their puny ass jaws can't penetrate our skin.

 

[thereds]

Holy Crap. This is what their bite causes our skin to look like.

 

[TommyWDetroit]

I dunno about the rest of the men here, but when I see a spider.. ANY spider I scream like a little girl and run for my life. I HATE spiders. *shudders*

 

[Descartes]

I made it through the night! Of course, I checked my sheets 10 times before going to bed, and woke up in the middle of the night freaked out and checked again several times. It's funny how I didn't even think twice about it until I knew the BRS had been found in my home, now I'm paranoid as hell.

Btw, thereds, that's a nice picture compared to what could happen:

48 hours after a bite
72 hours after a bite
2 YEARS!!! after a bite

I fear.

 

[thereds]

wtf!

 

[TommyWDetroit]

<< Btw, thereds, that's a nice picture compared to what could happen:

48 hours after a bite
72 hours after a bite
2 YEARS!!! after a bite

I fear. >>



Ugh, I don't think we have those here in Mi. But my dad has them in S.C. Next time when we (girlfriend and daughter) go to visit i'll be sure to get some of that special spider killing stuff in Arachniphobia. I can only imagine what a bite from those SOB's could do to a 2 y/o. :Q:disgust:

 

[urameatball]

dammit. I use to like spiders.

but after reading this thread, it's gotten me a little nervous.

I never knew spiders bite for fun... and I never knew spiders could leave wounds that look as ugly as that! I always had the idea that spiders stick with insects, and not mammals! ...

 

[Antisocial Virge]

<< did you dudes know daddy longlegs spiders are something like 5 or 10 times more poisonous than the most deadly snakes? but their puny ass jaws can't penetrate our skin >>



urban myth

 

[Ipno]

I hate spiders worse than any other creature there is.

If there were those spiders where I lived, I would move. Far far away.

 

[Fausto]

I'd get an exterminator in there pronto. I got nailed by one of those little bastids almost a year ago and still have a huge scar on my forearm from the bite.

They do tend to keep to dark places tho, so just be careful in crawlspaces and attics.

Fausto

 

[Emos]

<< dammit. I use to like spiders. >>


Just remember...MOST spiders are our friends! Even though they may look like alien monsters, spiders do a good job of reducing the insect pest population. It's only the Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders we have to be concerned about.

 

[geno]

/me is glad there's no spider infestation around here

 

[Descartes]

Updated.

So, the exterminator came to rid us of the BRS. Great. I was doing some laundry last night, putting things away in my closet, and.... what's this I see??? A damn BRS! It wasn't fully grown yet, but that doesn't comfort me much. I proceeded to end the life of said BRS with the end my Birkenstock (no, I wouldn't grab a shoe. How horrible would that be to grab a shoe to end the life of one BRS and have there be a BRS in the shoe? Too much irony for me). Where there's one, there's more. Where there's a child, there's a mother. I have yet to face the reclusive mother recluse, and I hope it stays that way.

 

[palad]

Are you absolutely sure they're brown recluses? The reason I aks is that when I was a kid, we were convinced we had caught one in our house, but it turned out to be a rather large wolf spider, not nearly as dangerous. The mistaken identity could very easily have been because we don't tend to study spiders much for id purposes, and to the average person different breeds can look very similar.

Personally, though, I cannot stand any spiders, and kill any of them that come into the house.

 

[rahvin]

<<It's only the Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders we have to be concerned about.>>

Correction, it's the Hobo (A new spider that has immigrated to the US, it is spreading outward from the seattle area) and Brown Recluse you have to worry about. Black widows are uniformly very non-dangerous. Although they have a powerfull venom it isn't strong enough to kill a healthy human (Flu like symptoms for a day or two). Although it poses a life threat to <2 years and >70 years, it is a very non threatening spider. Given the option a Black widow will run AWAY from you, bites are very rare and usually from attempting to handle the spider. (ie a child trying to play with the widow). Black widows are also a very non-mobile spider, they are a web spinner and like dark corners. You really couldn't stumble into a black widow unless you were blind or they were trying to find a spot to build a web. Don't be afraid of Black widows people, and if you are comfortable with it, use a bottle to catch them and haul them outside. They are voracious eaters of insects and really keep the insect population down.

Personally non-web spinning spiders, especially the jumping ones scare the crap out of me. Having a big wolf spider jump accross a room and land on you while your at the computer is a real addrenaline rush.

It should be also noted that spiders are not insects and most insecticides will not work on them. The agents used to kill spiders are often neurotoxins and poison the nerve system of spider, these chemicals do the same thing to humans. Because of their human effects the chemicals that kills spiders that are approved for use these days have contact times of less than a week (I remember one sold when I was a kid, was a white powder you sprinkled, spider touched it and it died and the powder lasted years. Of course your pets and loved ones would die to if they touched it so they banned it.). Getting an exterminator to kill spiders unless you have a major infestation (over a 100) is a major waste of money. Use a paper towel or wad of toilet paper.

 

[TranceNation]

maybe sleep with your lights on

 

[TommyWDetroit]

HAH, I bought a bottle of spray that will kill ANY flying, stinging, ugly, ewwy, insect, arachnid, human, ghost, ect, ect. Stuff works WONDERS. A 1-2 sec shot will kill instantly!

 

[Sugadaddy]

Try to get the stuff they put in the automatic insecticide dispenser things. (don't know what they're called) They're meant to only have a little sprayed like twice an hour and are suppose to kill flies in the whole room. It's pretty effective when you spray it directly on the bugs...

 

[Soulflare]

Forget using raid or your favorite Birkenstock, there's only one
thing that will effectively take care of those bastards:

Flame Thrower

Just be sure to make the proper arrangements with your insurance
provider ahead of time.

 

[AKA]

Hmmm.. from everything ive read.. its the black widow that has a more venomous bite. Brown recluse less deadly.

I live in Broken Arrow.. Ive collected so far 43 fiddlebacks.. probably killed around 20-30 before that. I have been biten twice. Never had to go to a hospital.. although my ankle and my hand swelled up pretty good. I was also told by my doctor that fiddleback bites are more common.. but blackwidow bites more dangerous.

I have 5 children and none have ever been bitten, atleast as far as we know.

 

[Deicide]

There are electronic devices that you can plug in around the house that will keep spiders and other bugs away. I guess they transmit sound at a real high frequency that will drive them away.

 

[Pyxis]

Damn, I hate ANY kind of spiders, even those little ones we always get in the summer. I can't even kill them. I always run and get my mom to kill them. I can't imagine ever seeing a big spider, I'll probably piss in my pants.

Lucky I live in Michigan, I don't think we have any big spiders up here. At least I hope not.

Now I'm paranoid, rahvin's post about the jumping spiders is making me look behind me every second now.

 

[rahvin]

Pyxis,

Here is a link to a list of all the jumping spiders in North in America.

http://spiders.arizona.edu/salticidae/na.scenic.html#platycryptus