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Watch Out For Spiders! Or Watch This Short Spider Video.

By
Home Builder with Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 CSL#642819

I don't know if there is a spider season, but there sure seems to be a bunch of them around in the week of no rain. Maybe the lack of rain has allowed the bugs to fly and crawl, giving the spiders a reason the start "webbing". The two spiders that I have always been told to watch out for are the black widow and the brown recluse. Both of these can give a vicious bite, and potentially deadly.

The brown recluse is very rarely found in California, but can be found in the mid-western states, especially Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. The black widow however can be found here in California. Both spiders have relatively painless bites but,

In a few hours, the bite starts to hurt and the skin swells. The victim can also show nauseas and slight general pain. Just in a few cases the bite of a brown recluse spider can get infected and cause temperature or destroy the red corpuscles and, eventually, a surgery in the affected area must be needed. In the most serious cases caused by the bite of a black widow, some people can suffer from breathing problems and perspire. However, both bites have slight consequences and the symptoms decrease on their own in a few days. Thank goodness!

Spider Bites? Check out this site: California Poison Control

Now that we have covered some of the pleasantries...

How about a short black widow video?

Pacita Dimacali
Alain Pinel - Oakland, CA
Alameda/Contra Costa Counties CA

When I lived in Florida, one of my co-workers was putting something in the attic and felt a sting. He didn't think any more of it (he was from Chicago, guess he's never run into this problem). But the sting got worse, the skin started to almost dissolved. Another co-worker took a look and immediately recognized it as a brown recluse bite. So off he went to the emergency room.

 

Jun 13, 2011 05:46 PM
Donald Hester
NCW Home Inspections, LLC - Wenatchee, WA
NCW Home Inspections, LLC

Tom,

We have both spiders here in Washington. I actually had a friend that got a brown recluse bite that ended up having complications and she ended up having to have some major skin grafts to cure the bite area.

Jun 13, 2011 05:47 PM
Kristin Hamilton CA REALTOR
Berkshire Hathaway California Realty - Beaumont, CA
(909) 557-6966- Specialize 55+ Communties Banning

Very informative. I hate spiders and just had my rental house sprayed on the inside. The tenant has been complaining of seeing spiders recently and having spider bites. Only thing worse than spiders is snakes.

Jun 13, 2011 05:47 PM
Peg Barcelo
Fluff My House! Home Staging Inc. 250.486.6369 - Summerland, BC
The FlufftasticStager from Summerland, BC

Tom, EEEeeeeeeeEEEeeeWWWwwwwwWWWwwwwwww!!! (Is that 50 characters!?!) :D

I actually like spiders, not on me mind you, but they eat all the bad bugs in my garden and house, so what's not to like? When they're not on you...

Jun 13, 2011 06:00 PM
Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

Pacita - Guess you have seen this first hand.

Donald - I've seen some picture of this sort of thing (didn't want to post it - gross)

Kristen - Snakes can be creepy can't they.

Peg- Brilliant! 50 characters in one word - gotta remember that one.
I too am a fan of the spider from afar.

Jun 13, 2011 06:51 PM
Doug Bullwinkel
E Mortgage Capital, Inc. NMLS 1416824 - Roseville, CA
Mortgage Loan Officer NMLS #281609

Thanks for the reminder about these little critters.  Nasty, aren't they?  Having your photos will help us recognize them.  Lots of Black Widows in this area in Northern California.

Jun 13, 2011 07:02 PM
Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

Thanks Doug, I guess they are a necessary evil.  :)

Jun 13, 2011 07:31 PM
Lee & Pamela St. Peter
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices YSU Realty: (919) 645-2522 - Raleigh, NC
Making Connections to Success in Real Estate

Well I wasn't going to watch it but I did, Tom!  We have both here in the Triangle to I believe.  I've seen a black widow twice in 16 years.  The ones that always get my attention are the humongous Orbs ~ man they are some ugly spider!! 
Pamela

Jun 13, 2011 11:45 PM
Dan Edward Phillips
Dan Edward Phillips, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA - Eureka, CA
Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA

Good Morning Tom, even the smallest spider can cause major problems if they bite you in the right place!

Jun 14, 2011 01:20 AM
Kristine Ginsberg
Elite Staging and Redesign, LLC - Short Hills, NJ
NJ Home Stager

Tom - all I can say is thank the good lord we don't have Black Widows in NJ - I'd be creeped out all the time. I'd rather see a rattle snake (which I have on many of my hikes) than a Black Widow!

Jun 14, 2011 01:32 AM
Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

Pamela - I know what you mean, they can get ugly. Thanks for viewing the video.   :)

Dan - True. Where they getcha can be horrible.

Jun 14, 2011 01:36 AM
Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

Both are a thing of beauty from a distance Kristine. Sometimes a video is the perfect distance.

Jun 14, 2011 01:41 AM
Robert Butler
Aspect Inspection - Montreal West Island, QC
Montreal Home Inspector | Aspect Inspection

Seeing that make me appreciate where I live and work. My biggest risk from fauna is bees and wasps (as I've developed an allergy). After that it would be getting skunked, but that's never happened.

Jun 14, 2011 02:10 AM
Kim Carnes
Licensed - Certified Home Inspectors (317) 753-7098 - Indianapolis, IN
Carnes Home Inspections - Indianapolis Metro Area and beyond -

Hey Tom

OK...I can only do so many of these and I start to swear off nasty crawl spaces forever!

Any tips on best way to get through a crawl space.  i usually wave a broom ahead of me.  Sometimes I think I am just aggravating the spiders...lots of big juicy ones this week!

Jun 14, 2011 04:29 PM
Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

Robert - That sounds a little scary too!

Kim - I usually break the webs with a flashlight (since its in my hand anyway) to get through the webs. I found that the breaking of the webs moves the spiders back to safer ground, never in an attack mode. Hope that helps.

Jun 14, 2011 04:44 PM
Sheila Newton Team Anderson & Greenville SC
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - C. Dan Joyner - Anderson, SC
Selling the Upstate since 1989

I HATE spiders... for me they are much worse than snakes or mice or anything!! I won't go anywhere I think a spider may be ( like under my house )

Jun 14, 2011 04:51 PM