Brown Recluse Spider Bite
 

Here's the culprit.

The early consequences.

The ugly result.

Izzat you Kerry? Ouch!

Have a distant friend who was bitten by a recluse and then suffered toxic shock as an added complication. Bad neurological damage and has been out of work for a couple of years now. Basically, it ended her career as an MD.

Did somebody get bit?
 

I seem to have stumbled across the middle of this thread.
I was once bitten by one of these bad boys. Didn't know what had caused it at the time, but my hand swelled up and began turning black from necrosis (I think that's the correct term for it).
It took several days for it to turn the corner, but my immune system won in the end. It was a *****, though! I had a huge hole in the back of my hand immediately after it broke open. Pretty gross:( I still have a scar from it 30 years later.

Not me, thank God.

Kerry--is that your hand? I had a similar issue last year (to the month) that kept me in the hospital for 10 days. Brown recluse was one possible guess, but it turned out to be a rare flesh eating virus I had most likely contacted from a fish in Bot's backyard. I missed having my finger amputated by several hours before they arrested the virus (78 bags of IV). The bi -weekly debridements during recovery are the fun part. I did escape having to have any reconstructive surgery though. Hope that's not you. If so, I'll pm you some of my lovely pics.

Well, sob , as soon as I posted my anecdote, you replied it was not you. Good news, even if I did waste a minute and 1/2:D

People should keep in mind that the brown recluse doesn't lilve west of Texas. If you are bit by a similar-looking brown spider on the west coast, it's a hobo spider. They're also poisonous; I think the effects are similar but possibly not as bad. I hope not, they are all over my house and yard! :eek:

Not sure if hee bee gee bee's is the right term but that what this thread gives me.

A hobo spider?
 

Damned vagrant and anti-social arachnids. . .

Hee bee gee bee?
 

Is that a spider, too?

Someone sent me the pictures, I don't know who it is. Just gruesome enough to post.

Info on the creature:

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef631.htm

I should have mentioned that Hobo spiders make funnel-type webs that are usually on the ground. They're not good climbers. They came from Europe, probably in a shipping container that went to Seattle. In Europe a bigger, nastier poison spider eats them, but here they have no serious predators.

On the plus-side, the ones in my house seem to catch more flies than your average spider. Also, I've read that they're reluctant to bite unless they feel threatened, so most people are bit due to tossing and turning in their sleep after the spiders climb up the sheets.

They are also very good at avoiding swatting. I used to try and kill them all; now I just leave them alone and so far, so good....(knock on wood).

Also, did you know...
 

The most poisonous spider in the world is the daddy longlegs. Don't worry, though, their mouths are such that it is impossible for them to bite humans.