identify brown recluse spider - good to know
- Thread starter bheadboy
- Start date
Believe what you read in the ref'd article and follow the advice it gives! I, too, had a good friend who got bitten..behind the knee. He ignored the results too long and he ended up dying in hospital as a result of the bite.
I was personally bitten by a brown recluse in the 70's and the results scared the pee out of me. Woke up on a Monday morning with a tiny, itching blister on my ankle. Thought I'd gotten into some poison ivy. Scratched it a few times then forgot about it and left home for a flight up to Indiana on business. That night the bite site was the size of a dime, red, and slightly oozing. By the second afternoon it was half-dollar sized and had turned purple and looked ulcerous. Too late in the day to get a flight back home. By the next morning my foot was throbbing and I hopped a plane back to Tenn. I didn't know a thing about leprosy but was certain that was what I had.
I stopped off at the house to leave my bags and went straight to the hospital. Admitting nurse took me to a Dr's exam office and told me to pull sock down for her to see. I did, she looked and said "Oh God!" and ran out and slammed the door behind her. I told myself "yep, its leprosy" and convinced myself of it as I sat there in the closed office for 15 minutes before the Dr came in. He took one look at it and said "brown recluse bite... good thing you came in because it would have ulcerated its way through and out the other side of your leg." He showed me his scrap book of photos he'd taken of other patients, some with multiple bite wounds and scars. He gave me a shot of something in both arms....don't remember what it was but by the time I got to my car I couldn't lift my arms to the top of the steering wheel. The bite site started healing the next day, healed within a week, but left an ugly brown scar on my leg that didn't fade away for about 20 years.
Those of you who live in the South and leave your hunting clothes hanging or piled around in dark places for the entire off-season should thoroughly shake them out or wash them before putting them on.
Frank B.
I was personally bitten by a brown recluse in the 70's and the results scared the pee out of me. Woke up on a Monday morning with a tiny, itching blister on my ankle. Thought I'd gotten into some poison ivy. Scratched it a few times then forgot about it and left home for a flight up to Indiana on business. That night the bite site was the size of a dime, red, and slightly oozing. By the second afternoon it was half-dollar sized and had turned purple and looked ulcerous. Too late in the day to get a flight back home. By the next morning my foot was throbbing and I hopped a plane back to Tenn. I didn't know a thing about leprosy but was certain that was what I had.
I stopped off at the house to leave my bags and went straight to the hospital. Admitting nurse took me to a Dr's exam office and told me to pull sock down for her to see. I did, she looked and said "Oh God!" and ran out and slammed the door behind her. I told myself "yep, its leprosy" and convinced myself of it as I sat there in the closed office for 15 minutes before the Dr came in. He took one look at it and said "brown recluse bite... good thing you came in because it would have ulcerated its way through and out the other side of your leg." He showed me his scrap book of photos he'd taken of other patients, some with multiple bite wounds and scars. He gave me a shot of something in both arms....don't remember what it was but by the time I got to my car I couldn't lift my arms to the top of the steering wheel. The bite site started healing the next day, healed within a week, but left an ugly brown scar on my leg that didn't fade away for about 20 years.
Those of you who live in the South and leave your hunting clothes hanging or piled around in dark places for the entire off-season should thoroughly shake them out or wash them before putting them on.
Frank B.
I was also bitten one time while living in Virginia. I had the bright idea of going into my attic to try to clear out some squirrels living there. I was wearing shorts and never gave it thought. It started out looking like a small pimple on my thigh. Well after a couple days it had gotten to the point that I couldn't walk because of the pain.
The bite had become about 3 inches around, red swollen and filled with pus.I lanced it to drain it and realized that the hole in my leg was big enough to stick my thumb in it.
That's when I decided the hospital was a better bet than continuing to be stubborn.
The Dr. read me the riot act and told me I could have lost my leg.
To say the least I learned my lesson about being stubborn. That was 10 years ago and I still have a scar and a soft spot in my leg which is indented from the bite.
The bite had become about 3 inches around, red swollen and filled with pus.I lanced it to drain it and realized that the hole in my leg was big enough to stick my thumb in it.
That's when I decided the hospital was a better bet than continuing to be stubborn.
The Dr. read me the riot act and told me I could have lost my leg.
To say the least I learned my lesson about being stubborn. That was 10 years ago and I still have a scar and a soft spot in my leg which is indented from the bite.
Buddy of mine buys and rehabs houses. He killed 3 of them in the past month at his current house that he is rehabbing. He said screw it and hired a exterminator and had the whole house gassed. You dont want to be bite by one of those!
Long Ranger, I had to laugh at your story even though it was not a laughing matter. I live in Ca and got bit by a spider in two spots years ago and thought I had the flu. By the time the bites started to ulcer I was having malaria symptoms. When I felt it was time to go to the doctor he immediately diagnosed the areas as spider bites and put me on strong antibiotics as I am allergic to penniciclun. I was sick sick for 3 weeks and had to have my wounds lanced. I had a relapse two months later as he said the bites give you a staph infection and I still had some in my system. A rattlesnake bite can't be much worse! The bad part is I never knew when it bit me to have the last laugh by killing it! He also said there were more than brown recluse that will cause those nasty bites so don't think just the southern and eastern states are at risk. Tom
The stories are true and the danger is not just in the South. Up here in Vermont there have been several cases from the pesky little buggers coming in on fresh fruit cases from "down South" and/or South America. Their venom apparently dissolves flesh (making it easier to eat). A female who may have been bitten more than once while she slept was in ICU for several weeks and may never regain total use of her leg. Another friend is presently out of work because of a bite on his neck and the doctors are working frantically to keep the damage out of his nervous system. He says he hasn't been around any fruit and hasn't been out of state.
Glad you posted that Phil, I'm no friend of spiders of any kind but hate to give anything an undeserved rap sheet. Truth is there's a bunch of critters out there that can wreak havoc on your flesh. Many are pretty tiny & can go unnoticed until after you've been bitten only to find you've got a serious problem.
(I myself am unusually reactive to chiggers. Every spring I stock up on repellant before lawn-mowing season otherwise I risk big red itchy welts that don't go away for about 10 days & make me really unpopular from the change to my personality)
Let's leave for another time any discussion on the various bacteria and amoebas that'll kill you too given the least opportunity, most of which can be found in stagnant or salt water.
(I myself am unusually reactive to chiggers. Every spring I stock up on repellant before lawn-mowing season otherwise I risk big red itchy welts that don't go away for about 10 days & make me really unpopular from the change to my personality)
Let's leave for another time any discussion on the various bacteria and amoebas that'll kill you too given the least opportunity, most of which can be found in stagnant or salt water.
I hate spiders
I'm not afraid of them, just don't like them 
BigDMT
my wife was freaking out that she had found a brown recluse in the house. said she had killed it and put it in a plastic bag for me to see when I got home from work. well we live in northwest Montana so I figured if it was a recluse, it would have had to been a stow away from someone who came from the south on vacation this summer. checked it out when i got home. Nope, just a mean looking Hobo spider. A lot of people improperly identify Hobo's as Brown Recluse spiders. They look very similar, but the hair is the giveaway on the Hobo. I suppose some folks up here just like to think the worst.
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