Found A Brown Recluse!!!

[David_F]

Sorry about putting this in the T forum to start off with. Being half drunk and having internet access don't mix.

This has turned into the best day I've had in a while. My room-mate just got home from work and while on the phone he yelled at me to come look at a spider. Well, he told me they were all over the place here but I didn't believe him. I was wrong. The spider was a male L. reclusa. I just hope we find more (hopefully some females).

 

[Deliverme314]

Gahhh... that is really scarry... I hate recluses and am scarred sh!#less of them...

 

[No name]

This is a link on injuries cause by a reclause spider bit.
Take a look. But not for the faint hearted!

http://www.remotemedics.co.uk/p011.htm

 

[spider]

Don`t poke at the hand with a stick!

Those looked to be pretty bad.Feel Sorry for the man.(sorta)

 

[JPD]

This is a link on injuries cause by a reclause spider bit.
Take a look. But not for the faint hearted!

Those bite pics are unsubstantiated. They have been going around the internet but seems to be more urban legend type material.
Last I heard, they couldn't document any of the information regarding the bite or if it was indeed a bite at all. The pictures and accompanying information have linked the bite to Wisconsin, Illinois, California, etc. Since California and some of the other places listed are beyond the natural range and distribution of L.reclusa, it makes it even more suspicious.
To me, looking closely at frames one and two, it appears to be more of a "wound" versus "bite."
If that is an actual progression photo, the tissue decomposition could likely be the result of any number of bacteria such as streptococci, staphylococci, etc.
The pics are great for shock value and most would easily believe that it is in fact a Brown Recluse bite, but I am not convinced.
The sad thing for our spider friends is that 80-90% of "spider bite" cases seen in emergency rooms across the country are likely from other causes.
In a study conducted at UC Riverside, over 2,000 L.reclusa's were captured from a Kansas home over a 6 month period. They were sent to UC Riverside for identification. The funny thing, there were never any bites reported by any of the members of the family living in the home.....

 

[David_F]

I grew up hearing about how "dangerous" these spiders are but none of the stories I was told were told from first hand experience. While I do believe there maybe some truth to some stories I think things like this are blown way out of proportion. I have yet to read Dr. Breenes book on recluse and hobo spiders but I'm sure it will shed some light on the subject. Anyway, will I handle this spider? Probably not. Am I scared of them? Nope.

 

[JPD]

Yeah, there really isn't much to be scared of is there. They are a docile and shy spider much like the Widows. Supposedly the Widows are nervous spiders but I have yet to observe this.....but, just how does one determine between being shy versus nervous.
I do keep a lot of Widows and would love to have some Brown Recluses in my collection. Here in Washington, we have the Hobo Spider but no Recluses. And with the Hobo's, the only true way to make a correct identity is on a dead specimen. So.........................if you ever get any extra Recluses....throw em in the mail

 

[DE3]

FACT: recluse do bite when cornered!

I agree that the pics shown of the hand have been surrounded in controversy as faked. I tend to agree that they are faked.

But make no mistake, they will bite. And thier venom does "melt" tissue.

Long story made short, several years ago it was an unusually nice day for March 7th. As an person interested in prehistoric man sites, I had been waiting all winter to re-investigate a site I had discovered the previous early winter. To get there, I needed to cross a small river, which at the time was 1-3 ft deep. The water was still very cold, so I grabbed my hip waders that had been hanging in my ancient basement..... When I got to where I needed to cross the river/creek, I put the waders on, and continued. Within ten minutes, I felt a minor "sting" on my right thigh. I brushed it, thinking it was just a small burr or something that had fallen into my waders. Then I forgot about it for the day. Later, I noticed a small pimple-like thing where I felt the sting. I still didnt think much of it. Within a couple days, I had a classic "bulls eye lesion". First dark purple in the center, then purple turned to black, surrounded by a 5 inch beet red circle, then a red circle 8 inches across, all around that....

I limped into the University of Iowa Hosp emergency room, where it was promptly diagnosed as the most definitive example of a recluse bite they had seen. It was debrided for the first time.

I was self-employed at the time, w/no insurance, so instead of checking in, I agreed to show up at the burn unit the next day for further evaluation (they specialize in skin grafts). The first skin graft didnt take. Dr Keely did the next skin graft, and had me in the hospital for 3 days, instead of one, and it worked.

Pain? enough for 6 weeks of morphine. I missed three months of work, and ended up bankrupt.

Now thats (the short version of) reality!

Now I have...about 60 T's, including many Pokes, Stromatapelma, and other venomous ones. This has helped me get over my fear of spiders.

Here is a pic from today. I have pics somewhere in this house of the original open flesh wound that I'm trying to re-locate -- I think I subconciencely (sp) misplaced them...but they're around here.

I was hesitant to post this, because I know I may get some flaming disbelievers. But, I feel I have an obligation to warn; so fair warning.....

Jeff Cooper

 

[rosehaired1979]

Come to my house we have lots of Brown recluse around here lol

 

[Mendi]

I posted about what happened to me when I was bitten by a recluse many years ago...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=9610

And they can cause some really nasty necrotic skin problems, 20 years ago and still have a nasty scar on my upper thigh where it bit me. Sometimes they have caused an ongoing gangrene type condition that can popup over night any time that you have even a bruise for the rest of someones life. And there are even a couple of deaths attributed to the recluse, so you need to have a good amount of respect for the little spider that doesn't look like it can actually pack such a punch.