Tiny And Extremely Deadly

As Spring gets into full swing many folks will begin a Spring Cleaning ritual. 

In the home it might be time to clean out the attic, basement or garage. Straighten up the wood pile that became disheveled after the heating season.  Rake up fallen branches and dead leaves. 

One of the most deadly and dangerous creatures you can encounter is a brown Recluse Spider.  Tiny and hardly noticeable. They can be deadly to children and the elderly.  Their bite is as venomous as a rattle snake.  The amount of damage they can do to body tissue through necrosis is truly unbelievable.

They can be on your clothing and carried into your home from the outside. They can be on your pets.  Their nests can inadvertently be disturbed in your attic or basement causing them to crawl into the living area. 

The bite is painless.  You have no idea you have been bitten until the symptoms start showing up.

• A news article caught my attention today about a woman waiting in an airport in Texas being bitten.  She was nearly blinded.

Recluse Spider Bite  
 
When I lived in Virginia I was bitten twice while sleeping.  The resulting lesion was huge, deep, painful and festering for months.  Fortunately I was bitten on my back and the venom did not spread to anything vital. I never saw them in my house, but I did see them in my detached garage.

This is typically how the lesion looks.  

Depending on the amount of venom and where the bite occured it can spread to vital organs.
 

• My Doctor was cleaning up a wood pile at her home.  She was bitten and never felt it.  The bit occurred between her thumb and index finger.  Her hand swelled, became infected which was resistant to treatment.  She could not use her hand for weeks.

News articles indicate their habitat is the south and mid-south up to the Appalachians.  I know for a fact they are in the upper regions of Pa.  I have seen them in houses I've gone into in Pa.

Become familiar with them.  The Black Widow which we all recognize is a walk in the park compared to the venom these tiny spiders carry.