I've been out working in the yard, I took my dog out with me. When I came back in I saw this HUGE spider skitting across the kitchen floor. That's when you usually spot the hiders, when they think they're alone. When he spotted me he stopped and hunkered down, hoping I wouldn't see him. I thought it must be a Wolf, they get really big, but, they're harmless. They're the good guys of the Arachnid world. I hold no grudges against spiders and they don't freak me out. I just don't like living with them. I snuck past him to the sink and grabbed a big plastic mixing bowl out of the dish drainer and slammed it over him. Then I worked a piece of drawing paper underneath and flipped the bowl over. I took the critter outside in the back garden and turned him loose.He sat there like he couldn't believe his luck, so I squatted down to admire him. He was a handsome fellow with a blue butt. No kidding. It was dark blue/gray. The top of him was dark brown and blue/gray. That's when I realized he wasn't a Wolf. He just looked different. Then I saw it. The fiddle. The violin. You almost can't see it until you really look directly at it. It was a Brown Recluse. I thought they were, you know, BROWN. Or beige. Or brown and beige. I guess I thought wrong. That's what happens when you know a little bit about everything and a whole lot about nuthin'. I also just read that the Brown Recluse is typically one half inch long. An inch at the most. I beg to differ. The sucker wouldn't have fit in a big pickle jar, that's why I grabbed the mixing bowl. Maybe I should have stomped him...but, I didn't. He's out in the burn pile. He'd better stay there. If I see any more of him in the house, I'm gonna smack him. (And all his relatives.) Still, he was a pretty thing. You have to admire something that's gotten that big without being noticed.
Oh, here we go...click HERE to see a blue one. Geez, who knew they could be that color?
22 comments:
brown recluses can mess peoples up! a neighbor got bit by one---she was in bed asleep and her face swelled up!! had to go to the ER, brown recluse spider bite!
i have all kinds of spiders around here and some probably are them, i just avoid them; but i better pay closer attention now, since i too thought they were BROWN.....
I know. Why don't they call them 'any fucking color' recluse? Fiddle back is a better name. They sure will mess you up.
fiddle back is an excellent name!!
Okay, still reading about them. They don't throw webs, they hunt. No wonder they're so hard to spot. No telltale webbing. Dang, that makes it harder to know they're around.
i know they're very prevailant in NE Ohio....but i didn't know that about the webs though!!! THANK YOU!! eek!
I added a link to a vid of a blue one. I knew I wasn't imagining that color!
DAMN!!!!! yeah, that name is VERY confusing.....it should be 'no web weaving fiddle backs in a variety of colors stay the fuck away spider'.....
Got bit by one. Lovely experience of blood poisoning and necrotic flesh. My hand is still jacked after all these years. I sleep with my hands under the bedspread now. Bastards.
Man. Where you from?
first off, let me start off by saying. it feels good to be back! dd, i've followed you for years, then fell off the face of the earth and have now returned. always loved reading your blog.
second, don't google brown recluse bites =( *shivers*
moni
They all look like a completely different spider. I know I would have been looking for the "brown" on that spider. Thanks for the tip!!
Was in the dessert of WA state. The little bastards are everywhere. I justifiably hate them. Aggressive paranoid critters that like dark tunnel like places. Bedcovets, dark corners.
Welcome back, Moni! Glad to hear from you.
Elpha, I'm in Iowa and they seem to be pretty common here. But, I never saw a big one before today. I also didn't know they could be agressive. All the ones I've come across were shy hiders. That big sucker today kind of weirded me out. Now I'll be paranoid anytime I find a spider on me. Which in Iowa is a lot. Do you have a bad scar?
Holy crap...I checked out their range and they don't come this far north. *unclenching*
I think they're a Midwest thing. But, they're probably everywhere. I've just found another bad one. I'll post it later. You can tell it's Spring here.
This is exactly why I use light bed sheets with no pattern. I check every nite.
It took about five Years for the scar to fade away. Now I'm left with a joint that seems to be losing mobility, flexibility and strength. Hurts like hell if someone grabs my hand wrong. I had read that the bite can leave scars and adversely affect underlying tissue/bone. Didn't believe it til recently. It is what it is.
Northern state here and we have them. Ive heard of some of the wellers in the area get bit by them and having bad horrible bites and infections. One co-workers son got bit by one and it went into his muscle tissue. Poor guy lost that leg. But I think he went to long without proper care. Saw something last year with a house that had bowring spiders or how ever you say that. The peoples house was infested in them, they came out the walls. THAT IS MY HELL. I would freak out.
ABC..Never heard of bowring. I have to go look that up. Now. Poor guy, jebus, lost his leg?? That's bizarre.
Elpha, that critter sure put you through the ringer. Are you paranoid now? I killed a Hobo last night. I'll do a post on those. I got nailed by one of them once, it was bad. I don't have any after affects like you though. Man, I don't know if I could sleep if I found a recluse in my bed. I took it, from your comment, that it happened in bed?
I can't find bowring. Help! Any other name for them? What do they look like?
They were little black spiders. let me check to see if I can find it. I know it was in the south. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97804&page=1#.T2WaU8Ugc_c I guess it was just brown reclusive. ( I swear last year some news woman said they lived underground) Hum???
Have you seen the story about the area in Australia that is infested with over 10 breeds. This town is covered in webs. Looks like a horror film.
Woke up one morning and my hand itched. Scratched it and thought I was going to die. Spent the rest of the day trying various home remedies and scaring the shit out of anyone that saw my hand. Dragged my ass to the Dr. The next am and he diagnosed the spider bite and pointed out the blood poisoning going up my wrist and forearm. He was real casual about it so I didn't panic. Not even when I saw the blood poisoning line went all the way up my arm when I got home. Began to think it could have been a panic situation when WEEKS later the eye doctor saw it and said "wow! Brown recluse bites are hard to heal. Yeah look at that classic necrotic center" I did research and realized just how lucky I was. I hate spiders and have a "kill first identify later" attitude to this day. I don't fear them, just loathe them all.
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