ID brown recluse and what to do

[Bookgirl32]

I don’t like them for the same reason. I don’t have a problem with what’s roaming around normally and spiders especially I would always leave alone unless they were in a bed or something. We really don’t have a big problem at all in our house that I can SEE. And I’m fine with them all roaming around as long as they can’t cause disfiguring wounds and I don’t have to see them. I’ve been checking every day. I did set up quite a few traps though so it takes awhile. Would you leave them up if you found even one more? Or is there some sort of threshold? Considering the possible dead one I found I guess I’ve found two.

 

[NYAN]

I don’t like them for the same reason. I don’t have a problem with what’s roaming around normally and spiders especially I would always leave alone unless they were in a bed or something. We really don’t have a big problem at all in our house that I can SEE. And I’m fine with them all roaming around as long as they can’t cause disfiguring wounds and I don’t have to see them. I’ve been checking every day. I did set up quite a few traps though so it takes awhile. Would you leave them up if you found even one more? Or is there some sort of threshold? Considering the possible dead one I found I guess I’ve found two.

Personally I wouldn’t put traps up period. It’s up to you what you want to do and feel comfortable with in your house. If you feel fine without the traps, take them down. My opinion is that there are probably more, but unless you go looking for them or move things around, you won’t see them likely.

 

[Bookgirl32]

Made the mistake of telling too many people about my brown recluse find. Too many people sharing info. I read a lot of stuff by Rick Vetter saying there were no actual verifiable records of death from a bite but then I get this? https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/mom_describes_daylong_descent.html#comments
Just when I was feeling pretty good about the whole situation. Hope you all don’t mind me running it by you, you all are just the most reliable info I can find. Thank you!!

 

[NYAN]

Made the mistake of telling too many people about my brown recluse find. Too many people sharing info. I read a lot of stuff by Rick Vetter saying there were no actual verifiable records of death from a bite but then I get this? https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/mom_describes_daylong_descent.html#comments
Just when I was feeling pretty good about the whole situation. Hope you all don’t mind me running it by you, you all are just the most reliable info I can find. Thank you!!

I’ve read the same story. It seems legitimate and Richard Vetter himself actually made a comment on it. To my understanding this has been the only confirmed death. Ive read about another case, although I can’t find details on it. I think the person died from an infection after being bitten though. Typically with spider bites there’s a lot of misinformation. You’ll hear about a kid in Montana who apparently died from one, even though they don’t live there and no spider was found. It seems that this was the result of a systematic effect, which happens about 1% of the time, also it was a young kid. The official count of people in the US who die from spider bites is also bad. Some sources say 3.5, others say 7+. This makes no sense to me because of there being at most 2 confirmed deaths in the last 50 years from recluse spiders and maybe another 1-2 from widows. I also can’t find accurate information on the last Death from a black widow in the United States, some sources say a decade others say several. Sorry for rambling.

 

[Hardus nameous]

Two things jumped out at me, although an expert I am not.
1. I had always heard you couldn't feel the bite; Perhaps this is incorrect?

2. The spider was in the boy's shirt, a situation where most bites supposedly occur, yet the carcass looks in much better shape than I'd expect.

Perhaps I'm too skeptical.....


Edit: Apparently the bite can sometimes be felt.

 

[The Snark]

One detail missing. The cause of death according to a qualified pathologist or medical examiner. Without that, it's speculation.

I would add a caveat to my observation. The venom is undetectable normally, so the best indication of death by the bite would be 'in the absence of evidence to the contrary'.

 

[loxoscelesfear]

First mistake: aol

 

[chanda]

Even if the recluse bite really was to blame for the child's death, you have to put it into perspective. Death by spider bite is extraordinarily rare. You are much more likely to die by being struck by lightning, eaten by a shark, or run over by a lawnmower. There are a great many other things in your house - including household cleansers, laundry detergents, electrical appliances, fireplaces, furnaces, and even the tub or shower - that are far more likely to hurt or kill you than is a tiny spider - yet no one is afraid of these things.

Yes, spider bites can be serious - but bites are rare and severe complications from a bite even more so. The presence of a recluse spider in your home is not cause for alarm. Countless people coexist with spiders in their homes and never experience a bite. When I lived in Illinois, we had recluse spiders in the basement - which is where my brother and I had our bedrooms - yet none of us ever got bit. I am now in California and have dozens of black widows in my garage, around the perimeter of the house, and in the yard. I've lived in close proximity to widows almost my entire life, but we've never had a problem with them. I even keep both Loxosceles and Latrodectus as pets and can verify that both are shy, timid spiders that will try to avoid confrontation.

 

[Greasylake]

My dad's friend got bitten by a brown recluse a year or two ago. I think he actually saw the spider but didn't think it had bitten him, until the skin on his leg started rotting. He had some necrosis and had to go to the hospital and was prescribed some pretty powerful antibiotics for a few weeks and ended up perfectly fine.

 

[Ungoliant]

Made the mistake of telling too many people about my brown recluse find. Too many people sharing info. I read a lot of stuff by Rick Vetter saying there were no actual verifiable records of death from a bite but then I get this? https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/mom_describes_daylong_descent.html#comments
Just when I was feeling pretty good about the whole situation. Hope you all don’t mind me running it by you, you all are just the most reliable info I can find. Thank you!!

I would 100% trust Rick Vetter over random alarmist articles people find on Google. Genuine bites are rare, and the vast majority of those that do occur heal without complication.

Another good link (from Rick Vetter) for everyone who is convinced that they were bitten by a recluse: Causes of Necrotic Wounds other than Brown Recluse Spider Bites.

 

[The Snark]

Another good link (from Rick Vetter) for everyone who is convinced that they were bitten by a recluse: Causes of Necrotic Wounds other than Brown Recluse Spider Bites.

In addition to Vetter's list, factors that can directly or indirectly contribute to non healing of wounds:
-ANY diabetic or blood sugar condition
-Heart diseases and cardiovascular conditions such as atherosclerosis
-High sugar diets
-High sodium count - salty foods diets
-Caffeine
-Ischemia
-Inherited disorders and conditions
-The drugs Oxymetazoline, Epinephrine, Xylometazoline, Naphazoline, Tetryzoline, Angiotensin, Vasopressin, Felypressin, Midodrine
-Any of the above and a sedentary life style.
-Regularly consuming energy drinks on a daily basis

References: A.H.A., The Lancet, Mayo Clinic, American Diabetes Association

 

[dangerforceidle]

My dad's friend got bitten by a brown recluse a year or two ago. I think he actually saw the spider but didn't think it had bitten him, until the skin on his leg started rotting. He had some necrosis and had to go to the hospital and was prescribed some pretty powerful antibiotics for a few weeks and ended up perfectly fine.

But if he was treated with antibiotics it speaks to a bacterial infection, no? Antibiotics are not an antivenin for recluse venom.

 

[chanda]

But if he was treated with antibiotics it speaks to a bacterial infection, no? Antibiotics are not an antivenin for recluse venom.

As you say, antibiotics are not effective against the venom itself, but they can be an effective treatment for necrosis caused by bacterial infection secondary to a spider bite - or other injury. Given the probability of a spider bite in the first place, there's at least a good chance that the spider in question did not bite him, but after he developed the infection, he remembered having seen the spider and ascribed the blame accordingly.

 

[Greasylake]

But if he was treated with antibiotics it speaks to a bacterial infection, no? Antibiotics are not an antivenin for recluse venom.

It's just as @chanda said, the antibiotics were for the necrosis and to stop an infection, not for the bite itself. I made the post more to talk about the effects of a bite from a recluse, rather than the treatment options for it. I'm pretty sure his experience was on the more extreme end of the spectrum for recluse bites anyway.

 

[Bookgirl32]

Thank you all! You’ve really helped. I’ve read everything by Rick Vetter and have set out some traps but have yet to catch anything but a few young cellar spiders (which I don’t want to catch bc I usually don’t kill the “good” spiders). I will wait another few months to see what pops up. According to the extension office at the university it was a mature male, and therefore if it was born here in our house there should be more, if not then there’s a chance it hitchhiked in. Who knows. I’m praying for the the hitchhiker but mentally preparing for more. One thing I have done is stopped googling it constantly and pretty much just listened to this page and the extension office. I think I kept googling hoping to find people’s accounts of living with them where they are very populous (Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, etc. I’m in Nebraska on the edge of the “map”) and how it’s a normal thing for people, in case that ends up being the case for us. But normal every day people living their lives doesn’t post online about that so all you find are the horror stories. Why don’t I learn my lesson?

 

[The Snark]

Mature male probably = out looking for romance. It could easily have wandered in from the outdoors on a solo sojourn.

 

[dangerforceidle]

Have a read through this: https://scienceblog.com/488/family-lives-with-2000-plus-brown-recluse-spiders-without-bites/

I think I kept googling hoping to find people’s accounts of living with them where they are very populous (Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, etc. I’m in Nebraska on the edge of the “map”) and how it’s a normal thing for people, in case that ends up being the case for us.

Did you happen to see this article I posted on page 2? https://scienceblog.com/488/family-lives-with-2000-plus-brown-recluse-spiders-without-bites/

 

[Bookgirl32]

Did you happen to see this article I posted on page 2? https://scienceblog.com/488/family-lives-with-2000-plus-brown-recluse-spiders-without-bites/

I did see that! It made me feel better while simultaneously freaking me out! I don’t know if I could do it finding that many in my house, just from a mental standpoint. I think it’s impressive that they did and am glad for the evidence of how overblown the dangerous reports can be!

Mature male probably = out looking for romance. It could easily have wandered in from the outdoors on a solo sojourn.

I hope! It was out in the middle of a fully lit bathroom floor too! Completely random. We rarely find spiders in our house and when we do I always look at what kind they are bc if they’re not a brown recluse I just walk away and leave them (unless they’re a huge wolf spider in which case I usually try to shoo them where I can’t see them anymore). We have been here three years and this is the first I’ve ever seen. We had sticky traps for mice under the access space in the same bathroom that’s around a jetted tub. Something (mouse?) got caught in the wall once and so I leave those and replace them when they get really dusty and even those had nothing on them. This is behind a cupboard door by the floor about two feet from where this spider was. Not sure how it got to the second floor though if it wandered in from outside. Can they come in on clothing? My son had been at an outdoor camp in the woods all day and had dropped all his clothes in the middle of the bathroom floor. But they’re usually too scared to ride around on on people aren’t they?

 

[The Snark]

Mature male: Brain off, check. Silly grin, check. Spider operation manual, thrown in trash. And off it goes.

 

[Bookgirl32]

And nope. Just found one on a trap in the basement.