Comments on: Are you worried about spider bites?

By: dorght

dorght — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:37:56 +0000

In the interest of scientific accuracy I must make note of the following from my previous post:
The assumption of being bit by a female is made because of the proximity to the web, because it ties together the narrative, and seems to be a theme in my life. No gender determination was made.
Getting hives may be and is likely unrelated, but it might still be an interesting observation.

By: dorght

dorght — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:16:10 +0000

Brown recluse are easy to identify with 100% accuracy: just look into their eyes. They have 3 sets of paired eyes (6 total). Violin markings aren’t always pronounced. I caught many for up close examination in my previous KS home. Never had any other bug problems in that 100 year old house.

A female took late night revenge on me for cleaning away her web mass behind the night stand and, more likely, rolling over in bed and swashing her. Got a hive running like acid down my back and joint pain for weeks after but luckily no rotting zombie flesh. I’ve been prone to hives when exercising ever since.

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:52:25 +0000

I’ve lived in Australia for over half a century and I’m still alive, therfore I haven’t been bitten by a spider. 🙂

People’s reactions to ‘bugs’ in general and spiders in particular, are fascinating….

Steve – The Doorman:
Last spring a very large and colourfull orb weaver set up shop on my front porch and for months on end spun huge webs ~2X2 meters, she built a new one practically every evening since birds often flew thru it during the day.

Her webs were every bit as awe inspiring as the Golden Gate bridge, her colours as striking as any bird of paradise, and her many eyes were aranged like tiny red jewels crowning her head. It was, for a few months, an uncommon natural wonder right on my doorstep.

I became fascinated with it’s inate engineering skills and remarkable patience. Long before it dawned on me that ‘he’ was probably a ‘she’, I had named her “Steve – The Doorman”.

The missus called me a *&%$#@ lunatic and the pizza boy wouldn’t come onto the porch.

By: Rick Pikul

Rick Pikul — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:15:13 +0000

Jim, one of the myths about spider bites is that you would expect to see two holes.

Almost every spider likely to bite you will have the two piercings so close together that you will only see one mark.

By: Chuck Nelson

Chuck Nelson — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:08:50 +0000

I like spiders in the house. We have lots of spiders and ZERO other insects. Lots of Huntsman spiders(2″+ leg spans) but they beat a roach any day.

By: Greg laden

Greg laden — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:05:46 +0000

Jim, you were bitten by a tiny snake! Or a vampire bat! THAT would be cool.

By: Cheri Collins

Cheri Collins — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:46:58 +0000

Thank you, Greg! Now if we could only get this column to go out as a meme.

By: Jim Thomerson

Jim Thomerson — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:05:48 +0000

I don’t know. There were two little puncture holes as one would expect from a spider bite. This was several inches above my left ankle. It never hurt, but a large surrounding area became very hard to the touch for several months. I later developed lymphedema in that leg, starting in the area of the possible spider bite.

I did enough 24 hour gill net sets in the West Pearl River swamps in Louisiana that I no longer notice mosquitoes.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:25:44 +0000

When I see someone say “I got a spider bite” and I see the bite, etc. etc. it is almost always a mosquito bite, in my opinion.

Of course this applies mostly to people who seem to get several spider bites a week during mosquito season.

By: Raychelle

Raychelle — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:22:12 +0000

Most of the time it is this being misdiagnosed for a bite. http://patients.about.com/b/2008/05/09/is-it-a-spider-bite-or-is-it-mrsa.htm