I'd go with a B.R.......

This is the first insect post in recent memory in which I actually agree w the OP.

Just to be sure, pick him up gently and turn him on his belly to look for a double violin, I hear those are particularly aggressive.....

Man - Brown Recluse. That damn thing gives me chills every time I hear that name.

I remember going as a child to the gym with my father- I was probably 12. And I'd sorta work out with him and generally just goof around. Well - I remember seeing this one, huge buff dude with a massive and NASTY looking wound on his leg- look like it was blown off with a firework. Burnt, Black. Well- he saw me staring and told the story to me and my old man. Needless to say I was scarred for life

Jeez, these things give me the heebee jeebees.

Kill with prejudice!

malenurse said:

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dr_boogs said:

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This is the first BUG post in recent memory in which I actually agree w the OP.

Just to be sure, pick him up gently and turn him on his belly to look for a double violin, I hear those are particularly aggressive.....

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Sorry, you fail.

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FIFMN......

I picked up the dog bowl this past weekend to change the water and guess what was underneath... a black widow. I jumped about 3 feet in the air to say the least

The name is correct. They are usually very reclusive. For several years, we would kill 3-4 per week in our house. I hired an exterminator and have them come spray quarterly. As long as they show up I rarely see spiders. If they skip a quarterly spraying I will start finding them again. Lots of time I will find one in the bathtub if I wake up in the middle of the night and go to the restroom. It's crazy that we can't eliminate them totally, but it appears that we will simply control them.

Just remember their other name... fiddleback spider. They have a dark brown fiddle that is very obvious on the thorax which easily differentiates them from other spiders... see OP pic for verification.

Yeah, one got in a battle with my left calf. The spider won. Though, especially considering what I do, most people think I got shot. Instant street cred, though, so I have that going for me.

When I was in high school I met this old man in a pharmacy while waiting for some pills. He was covered in infected sores. I asked him what was up. He was waiting for medicine due to the bites. He said he lived in an old house that was infested with brown recluses. He said at night they would come out and bite him as he slept.

That gave me chills then and still does. I still can't understand how someone could live like that.

highvelocity said:

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I picked up the dog bowl this past weekend to change the water and guess what was underneath... a black widow. I jumped about 3 feet in the air to say the least

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Favorite kind of home for a black widow.

Also, just put out some Tonka Toys or lawn sprinklers in your yard. Black Widows will move right in.

That being said, if you have kids, when you let them go out into the yard to play, be sure to turn over all the stuff they left in the yard from the day before and check for Black Widows.

As a kid, I got bit on the arm by a brown recluse. Got to spend a couple days in the hospital. My arm was very Popeye like.

OnlyForNow said:

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That's most likely not true bud.

BR bites are seriously grotesque, and chase quite a bit of soft tissue damage.

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You didn't see this guy. Perhaps I wasn't colorful enough in describing the sores (abscesses) on his body.

I guess so. But entomologically BRs aren't just going to bite a dude sleeping for no reason, you typically have to brush aginst them in clothing or something.

Got bit by one in first grade. Left my tennis shoes out by the trampoline over night and he tagged me when I stuffed my feet in the next morning. Thought it was red ant bite because that was the worst thing I'd been bitten by at that point in my life. Didn't hurt much the first day, had limp by day two and when I showed my mom she about fainted. Went to the doc and he cut the necrotic tissue out and I was back to cruising the neighborhood in flip flops on my bike in no time. Still have a faint scar.

I hope I'm not the only one saying "So THAT'S what those are!" realizing that I've seen them numerous times throughout my life.

Average Joe said:

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I hope I'm not the only one saying "So THAT'S what those are!" realizing that I've seen them numerous times throughout my life.

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I actually argued with my inlaws about one. Found one on a toilet seat in their barn loft. I'm like.. yeah, I have very intimate knowledge of BRs.... trust me, what I saw was one.

TheEyeGuy said:

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Average Joe said:

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I hope I'm not the only one saying "So THAT'S what those are!" realizing that I've seen them numerous times throughout my life.

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I actually argued with my inlaws about one. Found one on a toilet seat in their barn loft. I'm like.. yeah, I have very intimate knowledge of BRs.... trust me, what I saw was one.

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Growing up on a ranch I saw a dozen spiders a day between our 80+ year old house, two barns, well house, and unattached "garage." A majority were brown so I always figured one of them was a recluse but we couldn't exactly pull out our phone to check the internet then.

Multiple sores are usually a staph infection.

Maybe it is the way the photo was taken, but is the camouflage against the woodgrain that is freaking me out a bit. Too many weapons in one wee beastie...

The guy with multiple sores either had staph, horrible scabies, or was a meth addict. All of those will cause nasty looking ulcers and abscesses all over your body. Nobody gets bit by that many brown recluses and they do not bite sleeping people. As an ER doc I can't tell you how many "spider bites" I've seen that were actually staph infections. In fact, if the person never saw a spider 99.9% of the time it's staph not a bite.

Entomology professor told story of a construction worker getting a brown recluse bite on the 'ol nut sack while in a porta-john. I think he said the guy lived, but was in the hospital for a good while.

I'm not doubting this but why would a Ph.D know the medical history of the guy?