Today's venomous arachnid...

[LeeH]

While getting ready for bed my daughter found a tiny house spider in her room. We do the right thing and catch it in a tissue to take it outside. At 6 she claims that she wants to be an entomologist some day.

Andi follows me outside barefoot and in her night gown as I go to release the spider. As I'm unfolding the tissue over the flower bed I hear her say, "Whoa! Now that's a spider." I look over to see my daughter crouched down with her hand about a foot from this:



Did I mention we've found three scorpions in the house this week?

[Joeaksa]

Lee,

You can keep all those things down South if you do not mind.

Glad we sprayed my house recently!

[slodave]

Here's the one keeping me company at the hanger while I work on my car.



I got rid of the egg sack, but can't get myself to remove the BW.

[M.D. Holloway]

KILL IT! Those beasts are not of this world!

[LeeH]

After my daughter went to bed I went out to dispose of the spider... and found her sister two feet away! The web has been there for a long time. The webs were built next to/in a storage container/bench where we keep Andi's swim toys. Any other spider would be welcomed. Those girls had to go.

[slodave]

Originally posted by LubeMaster77
KILL IT! Those beasts are not of this world!

Having been bitten by one, I agree. Does Raid work? I can't get close to it, the thing scares me. It's huge!!

Dave

[LeeH]

I used WD40.

[slodave]

Originally posted by LeeH
I used WD40.

And a lighter???

[LeeH]

Originally posted by slodave
And a lighter???

No, but I honestly considered getting out my butane torch.

[M.D. Holloway]

I use some stuff my company makes. I'm not sure but I think it may be a form of chemical warfare - the stuff drops those lil bastids in less than 30 seconds!

[Tobra]

Demon or Home Defense work well for me, Ortho products I believe.

Scorpions, Black Widows(Showed the wife her first one recently, not that many of them in Texas) Brown Recluse, you can keep pretty much anything venomous with too many legs if you ask me.

[cstreit]

It's good to live up north.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Amen, Chris. I'll take the occasional blizzard (and excellent autumn foliage) not to have to deal with hurricanes, venomous reptiles, venomous spiders, scorpions, earthquakes, palmetto bugs, tornados, alligators (not many species indigenous to AZ, I imagine), sand storms, Californians, mudslides, floods (OK, Binghamton/Cortland got crushed, but I'm North and uphill from there), etc.

JP

[fastpat]

Get rid of those Black Widow spiders right away. More people die of the bite of that animal than all the snakes in North America added together. It's the most deadly animal we have.

Black widow spider bites are the leading cause of death from spider bites in the United States. The venom is 14 times more toxic than rattlesnake venom. It is a neurotoxin that causes little local reaction but does cause pain and spasms in the larger muscle groups of the body within 30 minutes to three hours. Severe bites can cause respiratory failure, coma and death.

Those at the highest risk are children under age 16, the elderly, people with chronic illness and people with high blood pressure.

Don't toy around with them.

[LeeH]

Originally posted by fastpat
More people die of the bite of that animal than all the snakes in North America added together. It's the most deadly animal we have.

That contradicts what I read:

"Only sixty-three deaths were reported in the United States between 1950 and 1989 (Miller, 1992)."

[Overpaid Slacker]

In EMT Class, we were taught that, while the Black Widow bite is nasty and the leading cause of death among spider bites, it is unlikely to cause death, except in the immuno-compromised, elderly or infants (and in those cases, prompt attention made survival likely).

The Brown Recluse, OTOH, leaves nasty scars that most times won't heal w/o surgery due to especially necrotic venom, but are rarely lethal.

Just my $.02. Personally, I'd studiously avoid either of them.

I got tagged by a particularly nasty scorpion whilst in Lesotho, and for months afterwards, the muscle in my arm into which it injected me hurt like the blazes any time I used it; enough to involuntarily open my hand. Played havoc with my googly.

JP

[bigchillcar]

only seen a couple of black widows in arkansas in my life, but more brown recluses than i could count..also quite a few scorpions.
ryan

[pwd72s]

There's always the old vacuum cleaner trick...then spray can insect killer into the nozzle....