Spider Bite Thread

[saltpoint]

Have you ever been bitten by a spider -- either a harmless household spider or a poisonous one -- and either home-grown or overseas?

Below are choices that may match your experience, and an 'Other' choice in case your situation is different.

After you vote, tell us the kind of spider, where you were when it happened, and whether or not you sustained damage of any sort.

TIA.

[toddzilla]

1. i was bitten by a red ant whien i lived in florida..

still have a mark on my arm. i was at the beach taking a shower to wash the salt water off, and it bit me.

[Sympleesmshn]

2. I have been bitten by a some red ant one time.

But my father was a forward observer in Vietnam (he called in fire support) and had to carry a radio everywhere they went. Well the radio has a really long antenna, and they all had special pockets in their backpacks sized to hold a can of RAID.... When they went through the jungle the antenna would rip Fire ant nests wide open, causing the ants to fall down the shirt of the man behind you. They would then drop their packs and spray each other with RAID. He also walked into a Bee's nest (he is allergic to them) and was out for 3 days, the doctor lost count at 100+ stings on his back.

[saltpoint]

5. Are red ants the same as fire ants?

[yardwork]

9. Fire ants are a type of red ant - a very aggressive type with a bad bite

Fire ants can kill people or animals. They swarm and bite all over the body.

[saltpoint]

12. I've heard that entymologists have found a natural --

-- predator for fire ants. I wonder if that's so, and when they will be introduced to Florida (and other states that have them).

[yellowdogintexas]

14. FIRE ANTS MUST DIE

They are endemic here and they build huge anthills in like no time flat

and they are a pestilence from hell

and they hurt, itch and get infected all at the same time.

I believe Fire Ants are the source of that wonderful Texas adjective:

PISSANT !!!!!!!!!!!!

[saltpoint]

24. Isn't there a fly or some other sort of critter that --

-- entymologists have discovered will burrow into a fire ant's head, gnaw on its brain for nutrient, and then leave the fire ant to die?

I'm sorry if this grosses anyone out -- but I'm not making it up -- I really did read this. But I don't know which critter, or whether it's going to be used or not.

I'm a victim of two fire ant attacks and didn't like either one of 'em, so I know you speak the truth, yellowdogintexas.

[da_chimperor]

42. Yup, it's called the phorid fly. Native to Brazil

Here's a link to more information.

http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~gilbert/research/fireants/

[LDS Jock]

23. fire ants do this to you

[saltpoint]

27. Yes. Those photos bring back some very unpleasant --

-- memories for me. Once in Key West and once in St. Petersburg.

If anybody is ever driving from St. Petersburg south on 275, then onto I-75 south toward Bradenton, don't sit down on the grass if you have a flat tire.

There are fire ant colonies by the dozens along the southbound lanes.

And they don't seem to be very welcoming to guests.

[LDS Jock]

25. dupe

[DemoTex]

3. I was bitten by a brown recluse spider in 1975.

The resulting ulceration required surgery. It was painful and necrotic. I still have a bad scar at the tip of my left index finger. My dad, an entomologist, ultimately found the brown recluse in our country home (1975). He still has it in his collection.

[saltpoint]

6. I'm kind of amazed your dad found it --

-- aren't they on the small side for spiders?

Of course, if he's an entymologist, he would know better than anyone where to look.

Aren't brown recluse bites sometimes fatal?

[DemoTex]

19. Fatal? I do not think so.

Dad went right to where I was bitten, the bedroom, to find the offender. It was a very small house too. Dr. DemoTex and I were poor as churchmice back then (1974).

[saltpoint]

26. Not fatal? Well, that part, at least, is good.

Still, I'm sorry you had to endure the pain and discomfort, but how lucky for you that your dad knew the world of critters.

What if all DUers were discovered to have been bitten by spiders and that something in their venom made us liberals, progressives, etc.?

(Wow, is it late or what?)

[Spiffarino]

4. Black Widows - three times

I used to clean a school at night. Some of our little-used supplies were stored in a room that was mostly dark. Sticking your hand in a spider web when grabbing a can of floor polish was a common thing to do and everyone who worked there got bitten at least once.

I remember the area around the bite would turn red, then form a pustule(?) and became somewhat painful. I felt kind of sick, but I'm not sure if it was because of the bite or just psychological.

I was young and inexperienced then. I would never stick my hand in an unknown spider's web now.

[saltpoint]

7. Spiffarino, I've got to tell you --

-- your story sent a shiver down my spine. I know it was very real for you, and it has the authority of a scene from a well-done horror film.

[yardwork]

8. How do I know what bites me???!!!

It's bad enough that I get bitten, now I have to somehow ESP what kind of nasty biting animal it was that bit me? Why is that my responsibility? The only thing I know for sure I've been bitten by are several bumblebees (they died - ha ha!), sweat bees, mosquitoes, chiggers, black flies, and horse flies (the worst of all - demons from hell they are).

I can't be bothered identifying the source of every nasty red bump. Stop wasting my time!!!!!

[saltpoint]

13. Careful with those words, now. I have a laboratory full of --

-- jars of very nasty crawly things...

[yardwork]

18. Uh oh

[saltpoint]

20. Yardwork -- hello to you. Thank you for posting in this --

-- thread.

I have no laboratory and no spiders or anything else. Not even a dog, after the last one grew old and passed on.

Your profile says you're in North Carolina. If I DID have a laboratory of crawly things, I wouldn't unleash them in North Carolina.

I'm sorry if this if boring you to bits, but I just feel like telling somebody.

When I was 17 I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth before school and "Carolina in my Mind" came on the radio. I'd never heard it before. It stopped me in my tracks.

I bought the album later that week and listened to that song repeatedly. That summer I was allowed to go with friends to North Carolina camping. That song was the inspiration for that trip. To this day, and for many reasons, North Carolina is among my most favorite places on earth.

It's some years ago now, and now when I think of North Carolina, I think of our next president and first lady -- John and Elizabeth Edwards.

Please do what you can to elect Democrats there next time -- no matter which candidates you prefer.

I appreciate your post today very much.

Good wishes.

[yardwork]

32. What a sweet response! I was just joking last night- love this thread!

James Taylor spent his high school years in Chapel Hill, and he's still sort of a local hero around here because of that song. I first heard it when I was a little younger than you. I loved the whole album, and it contributed to my decision to go to college in North Carolina. That was in 1978 and I'm still here.

There are a whole lot of liberals here in the Triangle - we paint the counties blue. Also, did you know that our governor and state legislature are Democrats?

[saltpoint]

34. I knew the governor was a Democrat but didn't know --

-- about the state legislature. Good for you guys!

I've heard pretty good things about the Triangle all around, and you add to that impression.

If Taylor's still a local hero around those parts, then you folks are doing great work across the board.

My hat's off, yardwork.

Very nice to meet you on DU.

[yardwork]

39. Nice to meet you too, Old Crusoe. Where do you call home?

Come on down and see us if you're in the neighborhood!

[saltpoint]

40. I hang out in Florida & some in the midwest, with --

-- an occasional vacation in San Francisco and Berkeley.

(I vacation in blue states if I can!)

A return visit to North Carolina sounds wonderful. "Geese in flight and dogs that bite..."

[Mojambo]

10. The Spiderbite song

For you Lips fans...

When you got that spider bite on your hand
I thought we would have to break up the band
To lose your arm would surely upset your brain
The poison then could reach your heart from a vein

I was glad that it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cause if it destroyed you
It would destroy me

When you had that accident in your car
That whole thing just really seemed too bizarre
Dodging holes and telephone poles through the dash
A million to one that you would survive such a crash

I was glad that it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cause if it destroyed you
It would destroy me

When you fell in love, it was so sweet
So devoted, completely swept off your feet
Love is the greatest thing a heart can know
But the hole that it leaves in its absence can make you feel so low

And I was glad that it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cause if it destroyed you
It would destroy me

I love that song.

[saltpoint]

15. Thanks for throwing that in, Mojambo.

Seems to fit with the thread.

[yellowdogintexas]

11. yes, and they itch like hell too.

[FM Arouet666]

16. Never bitten, but seen a lot of brown recluse bites......

They are the worst in my opinion. Widow bites are nothing by comparison. The recluse bite causes tissue necrosis, which often needs surgery to control. I have scooped out large amounts of dead tissue with nasty looking scars. If you live in an endemic location, shake out your foot ware and clothing.

[saltpoint]

21. That's good advice, and I will listen to it.

I got in the habit of shaking out sneakers in Arizona -- for scorpions.

You know the story.

[FM Arouet666]

28. Yes, Arizona is a dangerous place

The majority of insect bites are brown recluse, bot flys and scorpions. The other thing you can do is spray, I have the house sprayed inside and out every few months. After seeing my first recluse bite, I was a bit paranoid. Tucson is loaded with little venomous bugs.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

17. Had a girlfriend who was bitten on the leg by a Brown Recluse

It left a rather nasty hole in her leg. Took forever to heal, too.

[saltpoint]

22. I'm sorry it happened.

I guess very small critters can do a lot of damage to us humans.

[Floogeldy]

29. A fiddleback got me

Right on the inner thigh. Somehow they like that, for whatever reason. It awakened me from sleep as if a lit match had been touched to my skin.

I had dumped a bunch of stuff out of my closet on to my bed the day before. Make a mental note to never do that.

There was a bump and a softball-sized area of red skin before I went to the doctor. A shot of steroids did the trick.

[AlienGirl]

30. A giant wolf spider attacked my ankles in my sleep

She left behind many itchy red welts, like pumped-up mosquito bites. They took weeks to scab over.

I know she was a wolf spider because I found her in the bed that morning. :scared:

Tucker

[Sgent]

31. Wolf spider

about 3 feet in diameter (or so I thought) got me on the thigh.

I was gathering firewood while camping, and although their wasn't really in long term effect, it hurt like a mother.

I was 8 at the time, and have been arachnophobic (sp?) ever since. Strangely, I'm allergic to wasps but they don't really bother me when I see them.

[saltpoint]

35. Wolf spiders three feet in diameter...

Yes. I am having no problem envisioning that at all.

I'm not arachnophbic exactly, but I am in agreement with DU posters in this thread that certain cautions have to be taken.

I AM allergic to wasps and I give them wide berth.

They fly a lot faster than I can run!

[shawmut]

37. Those things look nasty

[bobbobbins]

33. I shouldn't have read this...

im deathly scared of spiders and just reading these stories makes me cringe. I'd be happy if all animals with more than 4 legs would disappear.

[saltpoint]

36. I hear you, bobbobbins, but they won't return our calls!

Bureaucrats! Grrrrr.

[Debbi801]

38. Not sure what type of spider it was, but...

I wound up on antibiotics for 6 weeks to get rid of the after effects.

It bit me on the foot and the front of my foot became massively inflamed and swollen.

Debbi

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

41. I grew up in the land of the brown recluses (Kansas)

I've never been bitten (knock on wood). I have read that you should shake out clothes you haven't worn in a while because they like to nest in clothes. Don't do it over your bed, though!