# Brown Recluse Spiders



## bitshird

A couple of days ago Dudley posted a picture of a spider and a black bug" looked like a beetle on a piece of wood, and some one said something about casting the spider if it was a recluse, I don't think it was a Recluse, it didn't look like the sucker that lunched on my arm last night. Them suckers hurt! my wife has been doing some major cleaning getting prepared for company, and apparently shushed one of them into my recliner.
 Well I fell asleep, and woke up with an urge to visit the little room at the end of the hall just about the time I started getting into the hall I felt something like a prick I get testing my blood sugar, I went on down to the bathroom, was doing my thing and it suddenly felt like I'd gotten stung by a Bee or a wasp, (we got's plenty of both)  I looked at my arm in the light, and there was a red spot about 3mm diameter, so I went back to the living room and put some cortisone on it and went on to bed, no big deal. This morning my arm was kind of sore, but not bad, by this afternoon it had developed a pretty good red spot with a Pimple on it and my arm was starting to swell a little bit, so I got a magnifying glass and sure enough there were two little puncture wounds with stuff oozing out, So I got a HUGE shot in the cheek, (not the one that gets kissed often enough) a 10 day supply of antibiotics, (I think it's an antibiotic) and now this thing is pretty sore, I am not liking the Bugs of Tennessee. First spotted tick fever, now 3 years later get bit by a recluse. I'm really wishing I was back in New Mexico, the worst we had there were fleas and Centipedes, No Chiggers No spotted ticks, No stupid brown Recluse spiders. All I can say is Viva Nueva Mexico!!! Damn I miss you!!!!


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## asyler

sorry to hear that.. i got bit about 10 yrs ago,, i can remember the fire!!hang it


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## Smitty37

Those things can be NASTY.  My brother-in-law got bit by one a few years ago and he had a really nasty looking leg for a long time.


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## Dalecamino

I hope this heals up ok Ken. That venom is a tissue destroyer. I've seen pictures. Not pretty. I have brown spiders down here and, constantly fight these suckers. Hate 'em.  I opened the garage utility door one day to take out the trash, as I opened the I'm looking down and, one of them ran right inside. Like he was just waiting for the door to open up for him. Did I mention that I hate them?


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## nativewooder

Ken, you had better find a "wound center" nearby if possible.  I know people who waited too long for serious treatment and had bites that would not heal.  Good Luck!!


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## Dan26

My son got bit by a brown recluse a few years ago. It was exactly as you describe. Here's a picture of the bite after a few days. It eventually looked like a bullseye, red center, white ring, then a red ring. After a few weeks (I think) it faded and no complications.


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## Richard Gibson

Seriously Ken, if you are diabetic, be sure to let your physician that treats the diabetes know about this. It needs to be watched closely.


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## renowb

Those things can cause major tissue damage. Keep an eye on it for sure.


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## Chatham PenWorks

Glad you recognized what it was in good time. I had a friend that ended up in the ER, then ICU, then rehab. She was out for over a month, and her shoulder, where she was bitten, is still not right. Good luck, and quick recovery.


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## randywa

It's too late this time, but keep some liquis Lysol around. It takes care of spider bites and scorpion and bee stings.


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## Jim Smith

Dan26,
 
Not to worry you, but are you absolutely certain that your son was bitten by a spider and not a deer tick? What you described is exactly what often happens with Lyme’s Disease which is carried by deer ticks. About ten years ago, I found one on the back of my arm and removed it. I got a large red spot like the one in your photo which changed to a smaller red dot surrounded a red bull’s eye ring.  This is a classic symptom of exposure to Lyme’s disease and sure enough, I got Lyme’s disease.   This disease can be very insidious. It will seem to go away with no symptoms, then come back (sometimes years later) with a vengeance with symptoms ranging from aching joints like arthritis, memory loss like Alzheimer’s disease or electrical problems with your heart.  I got door number three and now have an implanted defibrillator.  If your son did not actually see the spider bite him, then I urge you to have him checked for Lyme’s disease, just as a precaution.  At least look up the symptoms of Lyme's disease exposure on the internet and see if it looks familiar.
 
Jim Smith


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## Jgrden

Those are not nice things to be bit. Take real good care. I have seen pictures that still gives me nightmares.


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## Wooden Affairs

Spotted Tick Fever my grandad had that. I thought it was a local thing until now. Good luck with the spider extermination that I am sure is in the planning stages.


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## dgscott

Hey, we still have Black Widows here, ya know! But, unlike Tennessee, we also have green and red to medicate with!

Doug


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## seamus7227

I found this guy back at christmas time I'm the garage! I threw him in some resin for a horrible death!

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## seamus7227

I forgot to add that I never finished turning the block down smooth, so forgive the pic

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## workinforwood

Now you need some preying mantis, they'll lunch on those spiders and the wasps too!


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## el_d

Hopefully you heal well buddy and it's over, just keep an eye on it. 

I was under the impresion that the mandible of most recluse spiders are too small to bite and they have a "violin shape" on their abdomen kinda branding them like the black widows red hourglass. 

Keep an eye on it Ken.....


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## pianomanpj

That's one more reason I'm glad I live in Maine! The worst thing we have are blck flies and mosquitoes... although some of them are large enough to carry you off! 

Hope you get better soon!!


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## bitshird

dgscott said:


> Hey, we still have Black Widows here, ya know! But, unlike Tennessee, we also have green and red to medicate with!
> 
> Doug



I didn't have much of a garden this year, so we are going to have to buy Green chili usually we manage to put up enough and dry enough to carry us through the year, we started with Hatch seed and this is the first time since we've been here we haven't had a good crop.



seamus7227 said:


> I found this guy back at christmas time I'm the garage! I threw him in some resin for a horrible death!
> 
> Sent from my Epic using Forum Runner


If I'd known he was there, I'd probably done something dumb like try and catch it.



el_d said:


> Hopefully you heal well buddy and it's over, just keep an eye on it.
> 
> I was under the impresion that the mandible of most recluse spiders are too small to bite and they have a "violin shape" on their abdomen kinda branding them like the black widows red hourglass.
> 
> Keep an eye on it Ken.....


The Dr. looked at it and there were two tiny tiny punctures, and filled my keester with about a quart of some antibiotic.
 And the ones that can't bite are the daddy long leg, which are supposedly deadly enough to kill a human



pianomanpj said:


> That's one more reason I'm glad I live in Maine! The worst thing we have are blck flies and mosquitoes... although some of them are large enough to carry you off!
> 
> Hope you get better soon!!



I remember the Mosquito's from camping trips to Maine when I was in School in Boston, these people think that a cold winter will kill them off down here, Yeah Right sure it will.
and your flies can sure leave a welt.


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## Haynie

My neighbor got bit by a recluse and we live in AZ.  Yes they exist here.  She's pretty old with diabetes.  Her leg swelled up, then tissue damage.  This was a year and a half ago and she is just now getting back to normal.  She spent about three months in assisted care and 6 months with a nurse coming in daily to clean the bite and other stuff.  Them things are scary.


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## bitshird

My Doctor said since I caught it before any necrosis had started just a place about the size of a BB, at least it is this morning that with the Shot and the Augmenten for 10 days I should be  it still is sore a all get out. I didn't know they existed in the desert. I thought all you had were buzz worms and scorpions and a few black widows.


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## HSTurning

And the ones that can't bite are the daddy long leg, which are supposedly deadly enough to kill a human.
Urban myth.  they cant bit a human but they are not that toxic.  discovery or some other channel did a show about it about a year or 2 ago.  
either way i dont want to be the person to test it out for the truth.


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## TellicoTurning

nativewooder said:


> Ken, you had better find a "wound center" nearby if possible.  I know people who waited too long for serious treatment and had bites that would not heal.  Good Luck!!




Another for this... my grandmother had a bite on her leg that never healed... she was in her early forties when she was bitten and it was still not healed when she died at 58... get it checked.


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## nava1uni

Ken,
Glad you went to the doc right away.  They can cause a lot of damage. Heal well.


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## Haynie

bitshird said:


> My Doctor said since I caught it before any necrosis had started just a place about the size of a BB, at least it is this morning that with the Shot and the Augmenten for 10 days I should be  it still is sore a all get out. I didn't know they existed in the desert. I thought all you had were buzz worms and scorpions and a few black widows.



I here people talk about them more in towns than out in the desert.  I think they stow away in people's things when they move out here.  Lots of grass watering, and wood piles make it feel like home.


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## Brooks803

Glad you got it looked at quickly Ken and hope you have a speedy recovery! I don't see many brown recluse but I find black widows like I have a death wish! Anytime I have to grab something that's been outside I ALWAYS look underneath where my hands will go bc 9 out of 10 times theres a black widow there.


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## Haynie

Brooks803 said:


> Glad you got it looked at quickly Ken and hope you have a speedy recovery! I don't see many brown recluse but I find black widows like I have a death wish! Anytime I have to grab something that's been outside I ALWAYS look underneath where my hands will go bc 9 out of 10 times theres a black widow there.




And I always miss the REALLY BIG ONES until they are crawling on me!  Gives the the heebee jeebees just thinking about it.


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## sbwertz

I almost lost one of my programmers to a brown recluse.  She had been camping for the weekend and came in to work Monday morning.  She asked me to look at the back of her neck because it hurt.  I found 4 recluse bites on the back of her neck.  Apparently a spider got into her sleeping bag and bit her 4 times.  The bites were already the size of nickles and ulcerated.  I rushed her to the ER and they admitted her immediately.  She almost died from the bites, and they took almost a year to heal, leaving some really nasty scarring.


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## sbwertz

Brooks803 said:


> Glad you got it looked at quickly Ken and hope you have a speedy recovery! I don't see many brown recluse but I find black widows like I have a death wish! Anytime I have to grab something that's been outside I ALWAYS look underneath where my hands will go bc 9 out of 10 times theres a black widow there.



You can always tell a black widow web, even it the dark.  You can HEAR it RIPPPPP.   Talk about something giving you the jimjams!


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## TellicoTurning

bitshird said:


> I didn't have much of a garden this year, so we are going to have to buy Green chili usually we manage to put up enough and dry enough to carry us through the year, we started with Hatch seed and this is the first time since we've been here we haven't had a good crop.



Don't mean to hijack your thread, but on the first vacation LOML and I took right after we married in 1992, we took a trip from Houston to Arizona and back.. our first stop in New Mexico was a little town near Las Cruses... the chili festival was in full swing and my wife bought a 5 ft chile riasta (not sure of spelling... a string of chili's that is traditionally hung up to dry and the chili's are picked off to use)  I hauled that string of chili's all over AZ and NM for 2 weeks... the car sure smelled good... 
on our way home, we ran past a pepper farm where they were roasting the Hatch chili's... you could smell them for miles... we stopped and sampled some just coming out of the roaster... sweetest and most tastiest things you ever put in your mouth.... and I think we bought a tow sack full of them ... we're both pretty much pepper bellies... we both love our peppers in almost any variety. 

The year we lived in Tucson, loved the pepper season when all the markets were roasting the peppers... the air was full of the aroma... (I really miss Tucson....)


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## bitshird

I miss the chili roasting a lot, and Hatch in August is incredible, best chili in the world!!!


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