Getting rid of Brown Recluse....HELP!!!!!! (house, area, places)

[BigJon3475]

I have lived in NC for 28 years and the only deadly spiders I have ever seen were a few black widows under a house in the crawl space. I backed out of there very quick as I was 100% sure it was a black widow.

I found this when I did structural damage repair and was under houses and in crawl spaces all the time. One house though never another site of brown recluse or black widows in 28 years. I wouldn't let it stop you from coming to NC. It's more likely you'll see snakes that are deadly poisonus than spiders.

That's my two cents.

[DDR57]

Kandb4ever..I hope you are healing from that bite..what a traumatic & horrible experience! I think most of us would be feeling the same jumpiness you have.
I do have a question regarding the insectides being sprayed..are there any harmful effects of having this applyed to the house & ground on such a regular basis? I just worry about children and pets..we are moving to the area and I understand from reading about the area that it is a necessity to treat the house with insecticdes to repel the bugs from entering the home. Do the companies that apply the insecticide give information on the effects of it?
Thanks very much for anyone's input!

[ultraviolet*]

If it makes anyone reading this thread feel any better, we've discovered we also have Carolina anoles (harmless and pretty little green lizards) who like to sun themselves on our front porch. They eat spiders. So maybe that will help subside some of that creepy feeling we're all getting from this thread.

Unless you don't like lizards!

[kandb4ever]

Originally Posted by SunnyKayak

it is very rare for brown recluse to be indoors a home. Besides normal extermination I would check for cracks or vents into the home especially from the basement or craw space a place they like to live but more common to be found outside around wood.

If you use a wood fireplace it good to bounce the wood for burning on the ground to try shake off any free riders. Wood is common place for brown recluse living enviroment so they can feed off other bottom feeders. They like dark moist enviroments.

We do not know the OP living enviroment to what subjected her to this aledge bite but the likely hood for the brown recluse to be indoors a home is rare.

Heard from doctor and whom ever they sent the spider to has confirmed that it was a Brown Recluse!!!
As for the living enviroment, we live in a tri level, the bottom level which had been all torn out last year due to moisture problems, there is also a firepalce down there. Only been here a few months and haven't redone it yet, so basically it's just the studs and exposed insulation in the walls and ceiling. It is now on the top of the list!!! I'm not quite sure where it came from, I was bit while sitting on my couch. At that point didnt' even realize it thought at first my lef was getting a cramp. 15 minutes later I was running to the bathroom sick to my stomach, that's when I noticed a rash and my leg was killing me. To be honest.. my first thought was "OMG, I have MRSA!!!!!". Went down stairs and got on the computer to check that out and my leg was really bothring me so I stood up to look at it again. When I stood up the little bugger ran out the bottom of my pant leg!!!!!! So, I had just assumed that it came from inside. However, I do have two dogs and had jsut come back in from having them outside ( about 30 minutes before the infamous bite!) The more I think about it, maybe he hitch hiked a ride into the house!

Thanks for everyone's advice and concern. Healing up just fine, although it's not very pretty. Think it made a huge difference getting to the doctor's office so quickly!

[kandb4ever]

Originally Posted by ultraviolet*

If it makes anyone reading this thread feel any better, we've discovered we also have Carolina anoles (harmless and pretty little green lizards) who like to sun themselves on our front porch. They eat spiders. So maybe that will help subside some of that creepy feeling we're all getting from this thread.

Unless you don't like lizards!

Can I have a few of those?!!! Or where can I find some!!!!!!!

[Ninor]

Kandb4ever,

I don't want to rain on your parade at all but I've been doing a slew of research on brown recluse bites as I have what I thought was a bite on my leg.

I discovered some things that make me think yours, based on what you said, was not in fact a brown recluse. Some of the (mis) diagnosis I have cut and pasted below but one thing I did find out is their bite is completely painless. It's not till 24 to 72 hours later that necrosis (in some cases only) occurs.

Also, they're not HUGE...the biggest ever found was roughly the size of a quarter which included the legs.

You might want to do some more research as to what type it actually was (or not, seeing as you're recovering )

Actual Size of a Recluse
[SIZE=2]Recluses are not huge like some wolf spiders and big orb-weaving garden spiders. Also, they are truly reclusive and so are not often seen. There is some variation in size but recluse body length (from the tip of the head or cephalothorax to the tip of the abdomen) averages about 10 mm or 1 cm.[/SIZE]

"Doctors are horrible [about] misdiagnosing any kind of necrotic-looking wounds as brown recluse bites," says Sean P. Bush, MD, a professor of emergency medicine at Loma Linda School of Medicine.

Myth: Physicians, exterminators, and entomologists can identify spiders.
Fact: Only arachnologists have the highly specialized skills needed to identify spiders, which take years of concentrated study to learn. To be sure, a few entomologists (insect specialists) and a very small number of physicians are also arachnologists, but the vast majority are not.

No medical school teaches even the basics of real spider identification; the most that medical students are likely to get is misinformation about identification by so-called "markings." Sad to say, numerous physicians have mis-diagnosed patients with mysterious sores, without even seeing a spider, as having been bitten by spider species which did not even exist in their locations.

Most pest control operators have very inadequate training even in the identification of common pest insects; few are trained entomologists, and I know of only one in the United States who is an arachnologist. Misidentifications by non-arachnologists are the source of a very large number of false spider reports and "scares" in the news media.

Hope the above helps some...it's all taken from the guys who spend their entire lives devoted to the study of spiders at various universities.

ninor

[BxRosie]

Originally Posted by kandb4ever

Can I have a few of those?!!! Or where can I find some!!!!!!!

Come on down to Mooresville, I have a bunch of them! They're all over our retaining wall & love to sun themselves on both my back & front steps.

I don't like bugs, spiders even less. I think I have scared the bee-jeebers out of my family (with photos from this forum alone) that they shake everthing & look twice all the time. I have seen wolf spiders here. Also saw a few small black widows (also in my retaining wall behind my rose bushes). Killed them suckers quickly!

Glad to hear you're healing!! WELCOME to NC!!

BxRosie

Where in NY are you from?

[Teacherchick24]

Yikes! While brown recluse bites can be painful and leave a small scar, they do heal up. Please do not freak out when people warn you about tissue damage and your leg falling off. There have been a lot of emails going around like that, and stories, etc. The only problem you could have that would cause that would be if you scratch the wound a lot or otherwise get it infected by not keeping it clean. Then you could get an infection (like MRSA), but trust me, a brown recluse bite is not going to turn your leg black! Just keep it clean, don't scratch it and take your antibiotics.

[marblmom]

Originally Posted by Teacherchick24

Yikes! While brown recluse bites can be painful and leave a small scar, they do heal up. Please do not freak out when people warn you about tissue damage and your leg falling off. There have been a lot of emails going around like that, and stories, etc. The only problem you could have that would cause that would be if you scratch the wound a lot or otherwise get it infected by not keeping it clean. Then you could get an infection (like MRSA), but trust me, a brown recluse bite is not going to turn your leg black! Just keep it clean, don't scratch it and take your antibiotics.

No, it probably won't make your leg fall off, but you are incorrect that brown recluse bites will not cause tissue damage. See excerpt below from emedicine.com:

"The brown recluse venom is extremely poisonous, even more potent than that of a rattlesnake. Yet recluse venom causes less disease than a rattlesnake bite because of the small quantities injected into its victims. The venom of the brown recluse is toxic to cells and tissues.

This venom is a collection of enzymes. One of the specific enzymes, once released into the victim's skin, causes destruction of local cell membranes, which disrupts the integrity of tissues leading to local breakdown of skin, fat, and blood vessels. This process leads to eventual tissue death (necrosis) in areas immediately surrounding the bite site.


The venom also induces in its victim an immune response. The victim's immune system releases inflammatory agents-histamines, cytokines, and interleukins-that recruit signal specific disease-fighting white blood cells to the area of injury. In severe cases, however, these same inflammatory agents can themselves cause injury. These secondary effects of the venom, although extremely rare, can produce these more significant side effects of the spider bite:


Destruction of red blood cells


Low platelet count


Blood clots in capillaries and loss of ability to form clots where needed


Acute renal failure (kidney damage)


Coma


Death "

[Teacherchick24]

Ok, I was incorrect to say it doesn't cause ANY tissue damage. It, like many other bites and injuries, causes a small amount of damage to the local tissue. However, as your article states, it is very rare for anything more to happen. You can check out snopes.com or other medical sites for more information. A doctor friend told me that she has NEVER seen anyone who, with a brown recluse bite, had any more significant damage than a small red dot by the time they healed. I just dont think we need to excessively worry the OP, that's all! As long as she is cautious and received immediate treatment, she will be fine.