Close call, building engines is dangerous
 

I was in the process of trying to bolt the air deflector onto the alternator, my hands were all contorted up in that tight spot when i felt something on my right hand. I jumped like a school girl when I saw a fairly large blackwidow crawling on my hand.
Yikes. it didn't bite yet but it had the chance. I'm one of them folks who don't care much for spiders, specially the ones with red on their bellies.
The spider crawled up into the alternator so I coldn't even finish the job.
That's when I discovered that black widows don't like brake cleaner. I sprayed her good and she climbed out long enough for me to give her a good squish!
Scared the you know what out of me. For the rest of the afternoon I looked the parts over real carefull before bolting them onto the engine.

Jeez i know the fealing back when i was a kid in CA. Im glad those dont like snow :D

Yuke!!! That gave me the creeps just reading it. Glad there's nothing like that around here. When I read the heading of the thread I was hoping you didn't drop something on yourself.

Several years ago we were with Julia JR at a SCCA driving school in Holtville and while taking a luch break heard a little noise by the cooler. When I looked it was a huge Tarantula just looking things over! After a couple of minutes it ambled back into the desert bushes and left us alone! Glad it did!

I just took a trip down to lufkin Tx. and was telling the Capt. that there were things down there that could kill you like brown recluses and snakes with and without rattles and stuff like that. And when I was preflighting the airplane, and had the engine covers and pitot tube covers in my hand and was handing them up to him I look down at my sleeve and half up crawling was (none other than) a brown recluse!! they aren't terribly common in those parts but thank god for a long sleeve shirt!!! I quickly flopped it onto the ground and stomped the **** out of it!!!

Brian

79 930

Be careful around spiders!
 

Man, that was close. I was bitten on the back by a Brown Recluse and had a really bad time of it. Small spiders are the most dangerous here in the US!

Spiders and me have a love-hate relationship. I don't kill them, as they have a tendency to eat all of those other annoying bugs that I really don't like. They do piss me off though when I walk into their web, or drop down right in front of me...

I capture them and toss them outside when I find them inside...

-Wayne

What's a brown recluse?
Here in the great state of NM, where we have a large assortment of wildlife, my mother found a "finger" sized scorpion walking across her room. Luckily it was a black one (non-piosonous so i hear) but had it been clear that would have freaked the **** out of me. Also when we first moved here, there was a dead silver looking rattle snake outside our apartment that was about 7 feet in length (roughly).

For a minute there I thought something bad was about to happen like you dropping a critical bolt somewhere!

I had a friend of mine bitten by a brown recluse, on the foot. He wound up losing 2 toes before all was said and done. I hate the little buggers. Haven't had a run in with a widow yet, knock on wood...

Naw, the final assembly went very smooth (knock on wood).
No highlights except a cut finger and a spider.

10 hours straight, I got the last 10 rockers installed and adjusted, sealed up the long block, installed exhaust, air shroud, fan, wiring, CIS. That was enough for now. My feet hurt.

I feel guilty because I was tired and just washed my hands and walked away and didn't clean up or put away tools. I problably won't be able to sleep and will be out in the garage cleaning up all my tools at midnight ;)

I think the bumper crop of crickets is feeding the widows this year. I can remember not seeing a black widow spider for 5 years at a time, but I've killed about 6 this year.

The brown recluse spider bite is many many times more dangerous than a black widow bite. Fortunately, I've never seen the recluse up close and personal.

That's really interesting. I do the same. It takes balls to tell these guys around here that you don't kill spiders. My wife hates it that I remove them instead.

Brown Recluse. That's one I'd kill. I've never seen one, but we do have them here in SoCal. They live in a lot of the US. They like hidden places like under the house.

If you get bitten by a Brown Recluse, the flesh around the bite dies. You may loose a limb if bitten there. On the body, well you can't amputate your body, so you could die. It's all in how fast and well you get treatment. If ever in doubt, go to the hospital or emergency clinic.

http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entom...s/brreclus.gif
I did a little reading and they live mostly in the southern and middle part of the country. The reaction to the bite is delayed and is not often fatal. But, it is a serious matter for some people. Others fair better. There is no anti venom.

Personally, I dont kill spiders or any bugs if at all possible. Like some have mentioned, I set them free outside. Its bad karma to kill anything, and in general just not a very nice thing to do.

I hear ya Sammy

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1098069618.jpg

Found this one whilst working on my A-arms last year...

Regular ole spiders that aren't dangerous to me or my little ones usually get ignored, even though they give me the willies when I walk into or reach into their webs.
Any critter that is in my house or garage that can harm me or my kids doesn't get as much leeway I'm afraid. Hope that doesn't make me a bad person ;)

Terry, I think you nailed it. I saw at least 4 crickets jumping across the garage floor today, I fiigured they were just trying to get away from the rain we had yesterday. (I ignored them, they don't bite). ;)

My old roomate I lived in Texas with got bit twice by the same brown recluse before she figured out that it was living in her closet. It left two holes in her leg about the size of a half dollar and about a 5/8 inch deep. Luckily, she was one of those people that don't respond badly to them.

Rattlesnakes at least rattle before they strike. I nearly stepped on a water mocassin once back in Texas. If it hadn't started tightening it's coil I would have stepped right on it. Yikes.!!!

Actually rattle snakes don't always rattle before they bite. I watch the various discovery type channels a lot. I don't too much mind snakes, usually they run away as you approach and are easier to see than spiders. If a widow had crawled onto my hand I'd have likely crapped my pants. I really hate spiders, but I try to usually just move bugs and things outside rather than kill them. That whole karma thing. Roaches I usually just kill, we have more than enough of them around already.

A few, maybe 20 years back a Formula V took turn 10 at Summit Point, WVa a little fast. He piled into the tires lining the right side of the track and into a large wasps nest. It took a while for the safety people to extract the guy. Many got stung.

You Ca guys should move east. It's too cold here for black widows, or at least I think it is, I have never seen one here.

I don't kill them either (wayne) but do move them. I was bitten twice as a kid--one was living in one of those window air conditioners I had in my room.
One bite took a long, long time to heal. A year later, when i went into the cold beach water, I noticed the fang marks still turned purple. And to this day, if I look closely, there are two tiny little scars from the bite.

I didn't get sick from it, but it was a nasty wound that pussed and oozed for days.

Maybe that would explain your propensity to spin webs from your arms at large buildings and swing through the streets of LA on them.

"my spider sense is tingling" - Peter Parker

I hear ya. Last week I lifted the lid to the trash can and there was the biggest Black Widow I have ever seen during my 47 years on this planet. *****. Well I didnt have anything nearby and I wasnt brave enought to try to crush it with my bare hand, so I scrambled and found a can of Rustoleum...I think that I got it...

Sorry, any spider that I that crosses my path immediately will die. I am allergic to bee stings and a spider comes close to a bee as far as I am concerned...

Pigmy rattlesnakes do not have a rattle, rattlesnake pilots, do not have a rattle, tha rattlesnakes on Catalina Island have evolved into not having a rattle.

Spiders, especially very large poisonous ones, give me the heebie jeebies. This fear manifested itself when I, as a youngster, was running with friends through some wild brush and happened through a very large spider web inhabited by a very large brown spider. Scared the shxt out me. But that was then. Life goes on.

Some years later, I was waiting in my car (Volvo wagon at the time) to pick up my daughter after school. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a dark object moving downward. Rotating my head about 5 degrees I see the largest black widow spider I've ever seen from a distance of 6 inches lowering herself (females are larger than males) on her web from the top window frame.

After the obligatory, "oh ****". I'm thinking; is this the species that can jump onto their victom and sink their fangs into my forehead or something, or is it the kind that spits venom for defense? I think what if a mild breeze from a passing car swings her 6.5 inches closer? After about .56 milliseconds pondering those questions, I'm onto next one: How can I make a rapid exit while strapped in my 3-point seat belt before it reaches my shoulder, then perhaps a quick scamper to (or into) more interesting places to crawl, explore, bite or spit?

However, I carefully opened the door and allowed it to lower herself to the ground before I shut it and the windows.... tightly. I think I even locked all 4 doors just in case. I then moved the car about 100 yards from where I was (probably only 10 feet). Yeah, I spared her life, me being a survivalist that I am, but I thought about that episode for a number of days after and still do on occasion. Do you think it could have taken sanctuary under my car and is still residing there?

Yours in arachnophobia,
Sherwood

This morning I was showing my neice the gas door in a '56 Chevy when there it was. I was in Folsom Ca at the time, we have rattlers, small scorpions (I have been biten) the black widow and brown recluse spiders. A freind of mine had a golf ball sized piece of flesh removed from his thigh from a recluse bite. After a few years around here you find yourself expecting to see something everytime you open a hood or a cover to something.
If the spiders or rattlers are near the house they got to go... this spider here is still in the '56 protecting the gas tank for me.
http://home.earthlink.net/~hennavj/56/56h.JPG

This past summer a snake got in my house. It was perched up on 2 boxes in the dining room that I was ready to take to storage. It was semi dark in this room and I thought I saw something out of place. I turned on the light and heard it slither to the floor, kind of like meat hitting the floor...lol. It scared the crap out of me. Not that im afraid of snakes, I just dont want to wake up one night and step on one while going to take a leak. So i did what any good southern redneck would do and got my .22 pistol and shot it. My friends were joking with me and said Im a redneck now that I shot a snake in the house and I told them yeah but how many rednecks actually hit the snake on the first try...lol.

I dont mind snakes outside but when they come in the house and could be aggresive to my family or friends then its time to do something.

I first came to the US when I was 12, to join my parents living in El Paso TX, so the first weekend we went to Big Bend Nat'l park and went on a long hike up the mountain. We were about three hours away from civilisation when I almost stepped onto a big rattler. I have no visual memory of it...
In our El Paso backyard, there were black widows all over the picknick table.
Drowned them in liquid Raid :eek:

Walked into my garage last week from work and was walking toward my car when out of the corner of my eye I saw a slight movement. It was a coiled up baby rattlesnake about 12-14" long that was about 4' away from me. That snake didn't make any sound as it's rattles were still devloping. A little scary knowing my daughter (7) loves to play in the garage. I'll always scoot the garder or king snakes out of harms way.

Brown Recluses have really only gotten noteriety in the last 20 years (though they have obviously been around for eons) In medical practice we just really started understanding that the wounds that patients came in with that just would not heal were due to this little bugger. Most of the time people never even see the culprit as they live under woodpiles, under porches etc and it is usually dark (OK..they are not vcalled recluses for nothing). I have become a big believer in gloves when I work in the yard.
While we do have plenty of rattlesnakes here in KY most of the deaths from snakebites each year occur in our churches..not on the hiking trails.
Keep the faith brothers!

Amazing how something so small can scare the bejeebies out of something about a 1000 times larger that itself! I can't stand spiders, about the only thing we get are the wolf spiders, not really dangerous but very creepy, especially when they chase the dog!

Why, are rednecks poor shots? :D

In one of my pistols, the first two rounds are snake loads (.38 cal with a plastic cap and dinky shot). I set this up while living in AL and never changed my load. Figured whatever I might shoot at will be a snake of one variety or another ;) unless I'm at the range.

Now that will sting. And if the first two don't get some attention, the hollow points coming up next will.

Nice shot. I though that only happened in movies. In the house, LOL................http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/03-rire1.gif

I spent several hours under my house this weekend fixing various items. It's an older house with pier & beam construction and about two feet of crawl space. The day before I went under, I threw 6 "bug bombs" under there to try and kill ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that might be under there. Wore coveralls with feet and hand holes tightly taped. I must have smushed dozens of imaginary spiders that had somehow gotten into my clothing. Probably would have made quite the funny video.

I need to go back under for 10 minutes to finish the last project. Not sure that, after his thread, I'll make it.

Got bit by a Brown Recluse on my side when I was 14... Thought it would never heal. Had fun freaking the girls out with my rotting skin though. :D

My wife & I have a deal... I handle roaches, she does the spiders. Works out well. :)

This thread has throughly freaked me out.

- Skip

The only thing worse than a spider is running face first into a big web, because you know a spider must have been there at some point to build it, and if it's a big web you're thinking it must have been a big spider, but everytime I've ever run into a web the spider always ends up stuck to the part of the web that is still anchored, thank goodness. It's the unknown that's far scarier than the known.

Many years ago I watched a movie called Faces of Death.
Grossest movie of all time.
in that movie they showed a very, very large spider in the jungles of south America or Africa or Australia or where-ever that spins huge webs and catches birds.
The movie showed this monster spider catching a bird about the size of a sparrow (no monty python references please ;)) and running out and biting it until it was paralyzed. Darned thing looked like it was close to a foot across. Gave me the heebee geebies for sure.
I'd hate to run into one of those in my 911 engine (feeble attempt to stay on-topic).

Brown Recluse is also known as "Fiddleback Spider" due to the violin shaped mark on their back...VERY common here in Oklahoma. A good friend of mine lost a big chunk of his calf when he got bit by one that had taken up residence in a pair of levis. He was also EXTREMELY sick. My wife's totally parnoid about them and is conviced EVERY spider she sees is a fiddleback. For some reason she thinks, incorrectly, that our previous home (Dallas) doesn't have them very bad.
Now I have something else to worry about over and above my car squishing me when I have it up on lifts.
THANKS:rolleyes: