spider bite

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kartracer

Member
Jan 5, 2009
96
Vale NC
My son was bitten twice tonight by a black widow.The wood pile is under my lean to on my detached garage.I've warned him before about the dangers.I just don't want to see any on else go thru the same thing.Wear gloves and shoes,it ain't fun watching the suffering.especially after waiting 6hrs in an emergency room.

I'm sure it's worse on a 12 yr old than an adult but,either way it could be bad news.If anyone knows of a good way to get rid of them,I'm all ears.An exterminator had sprayed about a month before.
 
He's 12 and you don't know anything, Kart.. Good advice, do you think this "got his attention"? Good that he's OK, bet you're relieved, too.!

What happens when a Black Widow bites you... swelling, intense pain at the site of the bite? Do they deliver an anti-venom, or what? (I'm still picturing the shots of the Copperhead bite posted last year... yikes!).
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Watch out for the brown recluse spider as well- open sores and tissue death for years. Yikes!
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Yeah, We got those up here too. Very nasty as you say, Randy
 
kartracer said:
My son was bitten twice tonight by a black widow.The wood pile is under my lean to on my detached garage.I've warned him before about the dangers.I just don't want to see any on else go thru the same thing.Wear gloves and shoes,it ain't fun watching the suffering.especially after waiting 6hrs in an emergency room.

I'm sure it's worse on a 12 yr old than an adult but,either way it could be bad news.If anyone knows of a good way to get rid of them,I'm all ears.An exterminator had sprayed about a month before.
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I would go to Home Depot & get some spider spray. If this is anything like lawn sprays etc commercial co's are forced to use watered down stuff, Randy
 
I'm not sure you can "get rid of" them so to speak. A good dousing of the wood pile with spray will probably make them move somewheres else though. They can frequently be found in barns and garages because they are crafty. Like with most tiny little poisonous thingies, diligence is about the best thing you can do. On the plus side, those little buggers are super territorial so there aren't likely to be too many of them around the same location. If you have access to a flame thrower, I'd give that a go.

Hope all is ok with your son. He'll have a great story to tell when he heals up.
Now I'm recalling pics from the copperhead bite too, gosh that was nasty. Hope vicious spider bites aren't that nasty....even though they are vicious.
 
Sorry about your son!

I've read that mud-dobbers are natural predators of black widows. Apparently, after they build a mud tunnel, they catch a black widow and trap it inside, and then lay an egg (s?) and when the egg hatches, the larvae eats the widow before transforming into an adult dobber. I'm not sure which species of dobber specializes on black widows - i guess each species specializes on a different spider species or something like that.
 
Bobbin said:
What happens when a Black Widow bites you... swelling, intense pain at the site of the bite? Do they deliver an anti-venom, or what? (I'm still picturing the shots of the Copperhead bite posted last year... yikes!).
Click to expand...

I got bit back in '02. Minimal swelling but it can cause minor diaphragm paralysis, chest pain and a whole host of other crappy symptoms. Hope he's doing well, all my symptoms cleared up in about 10-12 hours.
 
I dislike spiders, but I like to let them live wherever I find them. I'd rather they take care of the annoying little bugs everywhere.
 
I've heard ugly fruit helps repel spiders.
 
Black widows are a dangerous spider. I am glad your son is alright. I have heard of people having to go to the doctor or hospital because of bad spider bites. Did you have do this? This should definitely be a lesson for everyone. Spiders are bad!
 
Got bit by a Brown Recluse about 10 years ago on the top of my foot (wearing sandles). I was getting my bike out of a bike rack that was in sand and wammo, felt like somone poked me with a hot poker. I ended up with my foot turning black up to my calve and a hole on top of my foot down to the bone that oozed puss and blood for a week. It took about three years for the "meat" to grow back. I now have a 3 inch round dark maroon scar. you definetely dont want to get bit by one of those.
 
waited almost 6 hrs at the emergency room.never got to see the doctor.went to the family doctor the next day.He could not verify it was a black widow although there were red streaks up his leg and swelling.His throat felt funny,but never like he couldn't get his breath.My wife was going out of town to a funeral and it was kinda of trying with work,but you know what cones first.

He is feeling okay now,but a little lethargic,the swelling is down and no signs of serious damage.I showed a neighbor last winter all the black widows inthe middle of a snow storm.they were very lethargic,but alive.He didn't believe they would live through the winter in those conditions.I probably killed a 100+.The bite almost looked like a fire ant bite,it had a little pus at the top and made a ring,but didn't advance much more.I think he has learned about the seriousness of bugs,snakes etc....
 
Glad to hear your son is okay. Not a good problem to have, especially if you have any younger kids around.
Have you tried Diatomaceous Earth? It's basically like sand made of tiny bits of diatome shell. It's supposed to kill anything with an exo-skeleton by piercing it & dehydrating. Best part is no chemicals & it's completely safe & cheap. It's even given in feed to livestock to for de-worming (look in feed or garden stores). So you can spread it all around & through the pile as often as needed. I don't see it killing the spiders too efficiently if they don't move out of the stacks much, but it may kill off the other bugs that they're living off.
I'd also keep any wood with ants... in it totally out of the pile. With that # of spiders there must be a crapload of bugs around for them to eat.
I suppose the 'nuclear option' would be to tarp & fumigate the woodpile, but they'll just come back if it's good habitat for them.
 
I find one about every other time I handle wood. I've learned to give each piece a quick look as I'm moving it. Day before yesterday I was splitting some rounds I had stacked. They were pretty big rounds so it took a few bites of the splitter on each one and I tossed the pieces in my cart. I pushed the cart up to my stacks and started unloading and had a piece in each hand when I looked down and saw a huge Black Widow clinging to one of the pieces, inches from my abdomen. I shouted "h*$y f@#$k!" and dropped the piece. I kill 'em whenever I find them (but let all other spiders live) and I did this one in too. It shook me up pretty bad to realize I'd handled that round, maneuvered it on the splitter and was stacking the pieces before I saw the Black Widow. I always wear gloves but one of these days I know I'm going to get bit. I hear some lizards eat them and I encourage reptile and amphibian life around my house by NOT spraying spider spray everywhere. Spider spray only works on direct spray contact, it has no barrier effect or residual effect.
 
Arlo said:
Got bit by a Brown Recluse about 10 years ago on the top of my foot (wearing sandles). I was getting my bike out of a bike rack that was in sand and wammo, felt like somone poked me with a hot poker. I ended up with my foot turning black up to my calve and a hole on top of my foot down to the bone that oozed puss and blood for a week. It took about three years for the "meat" to grow back. I now have a 3 inch round dark maroon scar. you definetely dont want to get bit by one of those.
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Holy wow! Just like that. Scary
 
Arlo said:
Got bit by a Brown Recluse about 10 years ago on the top of my foot (wearing sandles). I was getting my bike out of a bike rack that was in sand and wammo, felt like somone poked me with a hot poker. I ended up with my foot turning black up to my calve and a hole on top of my foot down to the bone that oozed puss and blood for a week. It took about three years for the "meat" to grow back. I now have a 3 inch round dark maroon scar. you definetely dont want to get bit by one of those.
Click to expand...

Holy crap that sounds hellatious :-O gland there are none of them around me :)
 
kartracer said:
My son was bitten twice tonight by a black widow.The wood pile is under my lean to on my detached garage.I've warned him before about the dangers.I just don't want to see any on else go thru the same thing.Wear gloves and shoes,it ain't fun watching the suffering.especially after waiting 6hrs in an emergency room.

I'm sure it's worse on a 12 yr old than an adult but,either way it could be bad news.If anyone knows of a good way to get rid of them,I'm all ears.An exterminator had sprayed about a month before.
Click to expand...

Best wishes to your boy, who I am sure will be "up and at 'em" tomorrow morning. I don't think he'll go near the wood pile without gloves and shoes for the rest of his life. We learn a lot of our lessons the hard way!
 
I think some exterminators kill them and look for the nest as the spray only kills on direct contact. With the brown recluse had a buddy get bit while on a job in another area and didn't know by what. The Dr.s had a hard time figuring it out as the spiders are not in this area and he didn't know for sure where he was when bit . The bottom line is the damage was so extensive by the time they figured it out he disabled and died a few months later.
 
Adios Pantalones
In your header it says mass's smoking section
would this be center of mass?


been there, he is quite the extraordinary teacher
 
kartracer, I'm glad, also, that your son is doing well. It depends on the spider and the individual as to what the outcome can be. Some people have a little discomfort, some people go into shock. The black widow's poison is a neuro-toxin which travels via the nervous system...brown recluse's poison is a hemo-toxin and travels via the bloodstream. Neuro toxins tend to cause more "instantaneous" pain whereas the hemo-toxins tend to produce little/less pain.

With a black widow bite a person pretty well knows instantly that they've been bitten, but it seems that once a person is over the initial effects of the bite that they recuperate well. With the brown recluse, though, there is a difference...a victim is many times unaware that they've been bitten by a brown recluse and do not realize it until the flesh starts to die and a sore begins to form. As for long lasting health problems it seems the brown recluse is the most injurious...but for immediate, serious health issues the black widow appears to be more guilty.

There are anti-venoms(?) for black widow bites. Something I read a couple of years ago is that in some countries in south America they have such a large population of black widow that when a person is bitten by one of them the doctors will withhold the anti-venom until the patient is right at death's door. The reason that was given is that the anti-venom can only be given once in a person's lifetime and that they figure that the person may get bitten again later in life and have a greater need for the anti-venom then...so they will watch the patient and only give the anti-venom as a last option.

Bootlegger is correct in stating that a poison has to have direct (sprayed) on contact with spiders to kill them...spiders do not preen themselves like roaches and some other bugs do so they will seldom pick up any poisons from their feet/legs.

DE/diatomaceous earth is good for soft-skinned critters...especially worms and caterpillars and will work on some thicker skinned bugs. But, from what I understand, once it gets wet it loses it's usefulness.

Many times it's easier to spot the black widow web rather than the spider herself. Being predators, the black widows do not build pretty webs. Mostly what they have is just sloppy web material that they've spun in a crevice or under an object (piece of wood). This is only used as the spiders "den" and not to trap anything with. So if you look pick up a something (piece of wood?) and see some web material that looks like a spider didn't know what they were doing when they built it....start looking around 'cause there's probably a shiny patent-leather looking spider with a (small to large) splash of bright red paint on their *stomach*. Anything that's been laying on the ground for a few days in spider territory is suspect!!!!

One thing that is good at getting rid of spiders....chickens!!! Yelp, them wonderful yard birds...they love spiders!!!! If you can stand the noise, guineas work and will take care of your tick problem, too. ;)

Best wishes and watch where you put your hands,
Ed
 
Glad your boy is ok. Hopefully chalk it up as a learning experience. I know I was paranoid for years after my run in. I now live on the east coast and I don't think there are brown recluse here, but I know I still freak out when I walk into a web in the dark. It is truly amazing how much damage a little spider can do to a "big" human.

When I was in the gulf, there were these spiders called "camel spiders" I don't know if that is there true name but the were freakin scary looking and would give a mean bite. Not as toxic as the the recluse or widow. LOL thinking back now....we used to break in the green troops who rotate into the sandbox for their first time by tensioning a rubber band around a small clothespin and putting it in the greens combat boots next to his cot so when he woke up and pulled on his boot he would think he got stung because the rubber band would unravel and snap. We would all make sure we were up before the victim and then wake him up real quick and tell him to get dressed fast and meet the CO outside. Sometime the person would fall over his cot with the oot half on, screaming like a little girl! It was tooo funny! I wonder if the tradition carried on?
 
I have some type of spider living in my unsplit wood pile. The reason why it is unsplit is because when I was splitting it I found it. It is a big brownish spider with big thick hairy legs with well defined body segments resting legs not fully extended it was about as round as a typical coffee cup. It was relaxing in a gnot of a chuck I was splitting. Since I cut the tree down, put into a trailer, hauled it to the wood pile, then split it. I am very creeped out. Which is the reason why I haven't been splitting the wood lately. Hopefully it wasn't a mommy, if so and the eggs hatch they might just carry away my wood pile.
 
I find some black widows every winter in the back compartment of my Hardy OWB. I guess they leave the woodpile when it gets cold and find the dry and warm temps of the compartment to their liking. Have found some brown recluse in the house just in the last couple of weeks. Four year old came down the other evening and said very non-chalant, "mommy there is a spider on my pillow." Wife vacumed the entire upstairs the next day and found three or four more. From the research I did spraying sounds pointless, best thing to do for recluse is keep things as clean as possible(tough with four little kids) and get rid of all the old cardboard boxes in our attic and storage spaces. Also shake out the bedspreads/sheets before climbing in and not leaving clothes on the floor then putting them back on in the morning.
 
Intheswamp said:
kartracer, I'm glad, also, that your son is doing well. It depends on the spider and the individual as to what the outcome can be. Some people have a little discomfort, some people go into shock. The black widow's poison is a neuro-toxin which travels via the nervous system...brown recluse's poison is a hemo-toxin and travels via the bloodstream. Neuro toxins tend to cause more "instantaneous" pain whereas the hemo-toxins tend to produce little/less pain.

With a black widow bite a person pretty well knows instantly that they've been bitten, but it seems that once a person is over the initial effects of the bite that they recuperate well. With the brown recluse, though, there is a difference...a victim is many times unaware that they've been bitten by a brown recluse and do not realize it until the flesh starts to die and a sore begins to form. As for long lasting health problems it seems the brown recluse is the most injurious...but for immediate, serious health issues the black widow appears to be more guilty.

There are anti-venoms(?) for black widow bites. Something I read a couple of years ago is that in some countries in south America they have such a large population of black widow that when a person is bitten by one of them the doctors will withhold the anti-venom until the patient is right at death's door. The reason that was given is that the anti-venom can only be given once in a person's lifetime and that they figure that the person may get bitten again later in life and have a greater need for the anti-venom then...so they will watch the patient and only give the anti-venom as a last option.

Bootlegger is correct in stating that a poison has to have direct (sprayed) on contact with spiders to kill them...spiders do not preen themselves like roaches and some other bugs do so they will seldom pick up any poisons from their feet/legs.

DE/diatomaceous earth is good for soft-skinned critters...especially worms and caterpillars and will work on some thicker skinned bugs. But, from what I understand, once it gets wet it loses it's usefulness.

Many times it's easier to spot the black widow web rather than the spider herself. Being predators, the black widows do not build pretty webs. Mostly what they have is just sloppy web material that they've spun in a crevice or under an object (piece of wood). This is only used as the spiders "den" and not to trap anything with. So if you look pick up a something (piece of wood?) and see some web material that looks like a spider didn't know what they were doing when they built it....start looking around 'cause there's probably a shiny patent-leather looking spider with a (small to large) splash of bright red paint on their *stomach*. Anything that's been laying on the ground for a few days in spider territory is suspect!!!!

One thing that is good at getting rid of spiders....chickens!!! Yelp, them wonderful yard birds...they love spiders!!!! If you can stand the noise, guineas work and will take care of your tick problem, too. ;)

Best wishes and watch where you put your hands,
Ed
Click to expand...

100% correct on everything. I was going to mention the sloppy web and not cleaning themselves and guineas. I did not know about neuro vs the hemo toxin so thanks for the post.
 
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