Quote:
Originally Posted by phonelady61
I wonder if you would have this same opinion if you have ever been bitten or seen someone who has been bitten by a brown recluse spider . A dear friend of mine was when picking up some pecan shells from her yard . she now has no skin in btwn her thumb and first finger all due to a brown recluse bite that was treated at the hospital and many surgerys later she had no skin in btwn her thumb and first finger . she no longer picks up pecan shells outside her home and she is also spraying her home on a regular schedule . i would be very carefull what kind of spider I was feeding .
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Well, to the first question, yes my father was bitten by an unknown spider variety when I was a teen, and he suffered from a necrotic wound in his arm for some time. And I am also very familiar with brown recluse bites/wounds, and the spider itself as I've seen many over the years. Poisonous spiders are something to avoid, that is certain. But they aren't something to fear.
I once picked up a horse skull as a kid living in Houston, planning to take it home because it was "cool"... only to find at least 10 black widows underneath
I left the skull
And yes, I've lived in regions of the USA most of my life where regular encounters with black widows, brown recluse, and every other "creepy crawly" was de rigeuer
I am sorry to hear about your friend, just as I am sorry to hear about anyone that gets injured from any unfortunate accident, but I don't think it is fair to demonize the spider or to have to live "in fear" of "picking up pecan shells" now. It simply reacted to a threat, even if unintended, and it honestly was just bad luck on your friend's part. It's just nature, which we all are a part of, and have to learn to live with. To think that one can eliminate all of nature's "threats" with a can of bug spray is frankly naive. And I don't mean that insultingly, it just is a fact though.
I remember picking up a leaf when I was about 10, and to my surprise there was a wasp hibernating underneath. ZAP! I still pick up leaves and sticks.
Or the time I went out and "fixed" a mailbox as a kid, and didn't notice the nest of pygmy wasps underneath... YEOW. I think I got stung at least 20 times. I don't avoid mailboxes.
I also remember unstacking a wood pile during high-school, and after picking up a log and tossing it into the wheel-barrow, hearing the sound of what seemed like 1000 zippers coming from that direction. I turned around to see that I had picked up a log with a rather large hornet nest attached underneath, and had fortunately(unfortunately for them) crushed it against the other logs in the wheel-barrow such that the hornets couldn't get out easily... plus it was just getting into an early cold autumn, so they were lethargic. I got lucky there. I still will stack and unstack wood piles though.
... and "I've got a million more" such stories about wasps, snakes, feral dogs, etc. One can't let these realities dictate life. One has to learn how to live with them.... or live in a bubble
Life's too short for the latter in my humble opinion.
I don't mean to sound insensitive, as I know some people have genuine deep-seated fears of spiders, snakes, heights, etc that they can not control. And I also respect that some people have medical conditions that make them physically intolerant of even the incidental encounter with these examples. But on the other hand, and in cases that don't fall into the categories above, I also have respect for nature's balance and our responsibility to learn how to live with these animals instead of eradicating them. I'm happy to help people understand these creatures when they ask about them, but I also have a hard time understanding scenarios such as asking how to eradicate all spiders, wasps, or choosing a place to live based on if "snakes exist there"(again excepting perhaps the medical/psychological conditions noted above).
A final example: My late great-great-Uncle who lived by himself on a farm in a very rural remote part of Mississippi had a home in the country where literally every exterior door and window was heavily infested with years and years of big red wasp nests. ... and I do mean BIG nests and BIG "country" wasps. Even the front entry always had a couple nests with very "vigilant" and "nervous" wasps right over one's head.
As a kid who having just been stung numerous times working on his mailbox a few years prior, I was nervous about walking into his front door under these inch long monsters. His comment? "Just don't blow on them and you'll be fine. Oh, and they don't like perfume!" Great! *laugh* So at one point I asked "Uncle John" why he didn't just go kill all the wasps around his windows and doors since they seemed to be such a threat? He says, "Well, do they frighten you? If so, then that's why. They really aren't a threat unless you mess with them, but when I am out at the cattle auction, I know that most burglars won't try to climb in a window with a hundred red wasps over their head!"
Oh, and you know how he DID exterminate wasps when he absolutely had no choice? ... I asked because I never saw any wasp spray. He laughed and told me that "wasp spray" was expensive and certainly wasn't something he had most of his life(this was mid-1980s, he was in his 70s then). His method? He would take an old rake or broom handle, wrap some newspaper around the end, then light it on fire and just briefly pass it under the nest in the evening or morning when most of the colony was "home". The heat would instantaneously incinerate their delicate wings, and they'd eventually just drop to the ground where the ants would do the rest. Simple, no muss... no fuss
So, again, I worry that this response may seem too dismissive of some people's fears of some of nature's threats, and I don't mean it to come across that way. I certainly don't advocate keeping poisonous snakes, spiders, or other dangerous animals as household pets. And I don't mean to suggest we shouldn't be aware of and "respect" the threat that some of nature presents. That would be naive as well, and in fact I advocate the opposite.
Definitely be aware of what's around, educate yourself, and if necessary take steps to remove the threat. But I don't recommend blind fear or exterminating every possibly threatening animal/insect hoping to create some sterile environment.
Many of these creatures... most of these creatures.... want nothing to do with us. They won't chase one down, or lie in wait. Bites, stings, etc almost always happen when humans intercede into their world and "frighten" them. The "bug" knows instinctively that by biting or stinging it is giving away its existence and possibly its life by doing so, so it is usually the last resort. We as the "big brains" really have the larger responsibility to just be aware and not stick our hands into a deep dark hidey-hole, or put on an old pair of boots in "scorpion country" without first checking
And our "pet" spider? It's a wolf spider
A currently very lazy and well-fed wolf spider at that!
Al
P.S.
Someone mentioned both "banana spiders" and "orb weavers" in a prior post.
The South American "banana spider" or "wandering spider" (common name) really IS one of those spiders to actually be worried about if encountered. They are aggressive and can kill. Fortunately we don't have them normally in North America, but they have shown up at times in shipments of fruit from SA.
Brazilian wandering spider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Venomous South American spider found in Manitoba grocery store
One additional downside is that this spider could be confused with a "wolf spider" at first glance in my opinion, but again fortunately they aren't native to NA.
But the more typical "banana spider"(golden orb weaver) that one encounters throughout the American south, really is a neat creature(as are all orb weavers).
Golden silk orb-weaver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I used to literally "run into" these guys' webs face first in the woods in Texas and Florida! YEOW that was always a shock! Usually one would see the big(2-3 inches long) spider RIGHT BEFORE YOU RAN INTO IT... and would come up short with a shock
But they are generally harmless, although like most spiders, they *can* bite. Although it isn't a big deal.
But orb weavers to me are some of the most interesting spiders. They are the typical "Charlotte's Web" type of spider with the iconic circular webs. Orb weavers will often build HUGE webs strung between bushes/trees(or parts of a house) so that the web is suspended in the open space to catch flying insects. They create, destroy, and recreate these webs daily. And knowing that is really something to appreciate. Watching them build these webs is a huge treat as well. It really is amazing.
Plus orb weavers are some of the most colorful and possess some of the most intriguing body shapes in all of the arachnid world. Some of them look much like funky "crabs"
Our family once had an orb weaver build a giant, had to be 3 feet across, web between our camper and a pergola every night for about a month back in San Jose. One day it just *appeared* and we'd go out every evening and check out the new version and watch "her" sit in the middle of her net waiting on a moth. Then one day, "she" just moved on!
Neat....
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Appears to be a Wolf Spider
