I was just joking!
In fact, today I'm buying
my brother this book!
Posted on 06/01/2005 7:17:47 AM PDT by Pyro7480
I share a duplex house with two other people. My room is the basement, while the other two live in rooms on the second floor. We share the living room, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor. Our house is just outside the DC Beltway in northern Virginia, south of Alexandria.
On Sunday, one of my roommates was apparently bitten by a brown recluse spider. She didn't get it looked at immediately, since she thought it was just a really bad pimple. By yesterday, however, it was quite apparent that something was wrong. She went to a doctor, and the diagnosis was confirmed, that she was bitten by a brown recluse. The doctor told her that they get a bunch of these in the summer months in the area.
I was under the impression that the brown recluse was only found in the south central region of the United States. Are they now prevalent enough in Virginia to cause the doctor to say such a thing? It doesn't make sense to me that she was bitten, most likely in her room on the second floor, while I haven't even seen anything that looks like a brown recluse spider in my basement room. You would think that something like that would more likely get into a basement than into a second floor room.
And in "outhouses"......
-------------------------------------
They killed the guy who was working on the story.
I was just joking!
In fact, today I'm buying
my brother this book!
Wow. That's a pretty serious looking progression. Did he lose his thumb? I killed a brown recluse last summer, I think I will re-check the house.
I lived in TX for 11 years and I NEVER killed spider without checking it out w/a magnifying glass first. Brown recluse are difficult to identify without the aid of magnification.
KILL them. The nasty little buggers can cause serious problems. Maybe it hitched a ride with someone that moved from TX.
Years ago they started migrating east with retirees from California, where they originate. My husband was bitten by one...and I just happened to have the medication of choice on hand. IM Decadron. It is a steroid. The doctor then gave him oral preparations to make sure, as his bite was in the groin area. He changed into work clothes in order to paint. The spider was waiting in the workclothes! Nice surprise!
I count my blessings on that bite - apparently, I'm not as sensitive to the venom as some are. Of course, I about died at sick call the next day. MD took a look at the bite, asked about the circumstances and announces "You were bit by a black widow. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do for you now."
I asked him "What do you mean? Am I going to die or what?"
He looks surprised and tells me that if I had come in the day it happened, they could have done this, that, and the other thing - all they could do now was some antibiotics and put me on quarters for two days.
Talk about needing to work on your bedside manner...
They are also in Pennsylvania. The bite is called the "patriotic bite"; it's red, white, and blue (seriously).
The Dr. kept telling him how lucky he was. I quess some people have a better immune system than others.
Thanks for the link.
When Belushi died,
killer bees stopped being fun.
Now they're just more bugs.
Thanks
Jake
The effects must vary. Just like any toxin, some people have dangerous reaction, while others are hardly fazed.
My husband falls in the 'hardly fazed' category. He's always getting bitten by all types of spiders. Black widow, brown recluse, etc., and all he gets is a small, tender lump that goes away in a few days.
One of the single biggest things you can do to avoid being bitten is to remove everything from your bed frame and clean the rail and any other nooks and crannies around the bed. Vacuum under the bed and wash your bedclothes regularly, making sure to turn the pillowcases inside out.
Brown recluse are nocturnal and actually quite shy. Their favorite hiding/feeding places are dark one that are rarely disturbed, since they eat soft bodied insects like cockroaches.
That's why one of the most common times to be bitten is while your sleeping.
Yeah, I knew it was
only a matter of time
before they blamed BUSH!
Hmm, I see spiders like that all the time. They could be just regular spiders though. I catch them when I see them, and release them back outside.
Don't know. I found the link via Google. ;) Those aren't the worst I've seen however.
The skin is pretty thin on the back of the thumb, and as long as the tendon is OK, a graft might repair the area. Sure going to leave a mark though...
It isn't global warming to balme, it is George Bush, why jsut ask anoyne over at du or even herr doctor, "I never did and abortion, I only interened in an abortion mill", dean.
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