Extreme case of brown recluse spiders

[Still Waters]

A couple were forced to abandon their dream home after it became overrun with thousands of venomous spiders.

Brian and Susan Trost purchased the four-bedroom home in the upmarket neighbourhood of Weldon Spring, Missouri, for $450,000 (£280,000).

The Trosts quickly discovered it was infested with thousands of brown recluse spiders, an estimated 6,000 of them.

http://www.telegraph...souri-home.html

Video:

http://www.stltoday....e4e21df346.html

[Taun]

My least favorite spider... And that's saying a lot...

[Q-C]

I'm sure I saw or read something about homes or workplaces infected with thousands of brown recluse. And it isn't unheard of or even terribly unusual in certain areas of the U.S.? And people have and do live with them or work in buildings (infested in the thousands) and never get bit. They are called "recluse" for a reason.

But I wouldn't live in a home I knew was infested with brown recluse! And I too would have been upset the previous owners did not disclose this!

Edited October 10, 2014 by QuiteContrary

[Lilly]

In this case perhaps the flamethrower method (endorsed by Dot and Leonardo in a past spider thread) might be acceptable.

[scorpiosonic]

We have the Brown Recluse here....you rarely see them though, and mostly outside.

Their bite can be fatal, but usually isn't.

[aka CAT]

We have the Brown Recluse here....you rarely see them though, and mostly outside.

Their bite can be fatal, but usually isn't.

No, but who wants their flesh to rot off to the point of their possibly requiring an amputation?

The article made me wonder about the "hostile environment" needed to exterminate the spider.

Edited October 10, 2014 by aka CAT

[Taun]

A Brown Recluse ("fiddleback") bite...

WARNING!!! High 'Ick' factor!

[JVG]

We talked about this in a past thread,they are in my area and very nasty.. I have killed some bigger spiders in my shed/man cave and spray for them constantly but they still return...

[Still Waters]

Update -

Pest control company takes extreme measures to rid house of brown recluse infestation

http://www.kmov.com/...-278591811.html

[DefenceMinisterMishkin]

Straight out of a horror movie!

[Wickian]

In this case perhaps the flamethrower method (endorsed by Dot and Leonardo in a past spider thread) might be acceptable.

The Simpsons may have been on to something.

[Roberth Smith]

also launched legal action against their insurers for ‘failing’ to pay claims related to the spider damage.

will this stand in court, eh?

[seaturtlehorsesnake]

something to remember is that the brown recluse is, you know, reclusive. so in most cases, they ain't gonna bother you if you don't bother them. people get way to worked up about individual spiders.

that said, it was probably pretty hard to avoid bothering them in this case. this is one where fear might be justified.

[scorpiosonic]

Hardly what I'd call, 'extreme measures'....they used a standard fumigation tent.

[S2F]

We have brown recluse spiders around here as well however I see far more black widows. I just killed a black widow the other day in our garage. Normally I leave them be though not when they are in my house.

[Sakari]

We have the Brown Recluse here....you rarely see them though, and mostly outside.

Their bite can be fatal, but usually isn't.

You are exaggerating, a lot on this.

You might have the Desert Brown Recluse. Not the same......Reno has the same urban legend.

It is the most widespread of the North American recluse spiders and lives in the south central Midwest from Nebraska to Ohio and south through Texas to Georgia. Although the brown recluse does not live in California, we do have four species of native recluse spiders.

See more on www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html

[S2F]

You are exaggerating, a lot on this.

You might have the Desert Brown Recluse. Not the same......Reno has the same urban legend.

It is the most widespread of the North American recluse spiders and lives in the south central Midwest from Nebraska to Ohio and south through Texas to Georgia. Although the brown recluse does not live in California, we do have four species of native recluse spiders.

See more on www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html

We do have a lot of hobo spiders around here as well (Oregon). I used to feed them grasshoppers in their funnel webs all the time as a kid. The potency of their bite is, from my experience, an exaggeration. A little redness and irritation/itchiness was the only effect I had from a hobo spider bite.

[scorpiosonic]

We have brown recluse spiders around here as well however I see far more black widows. I just killed a black widow the other day in our garage. Normally I leave them be though not when they are in my house.

We do too, and the biggest BW's I've ever seen .

[scorpiosonic]

You are exaggerating, a lot on this.

You might have the Desert Brown Recluse. Not the same......Reno has the same urban legend.

It is the most widespread of the North American recluse spiders and lives in the south central Midwest from Nebraska to Ohio and south through Texas to Georgia. Although the brown recluse does not live in California, we do have four species of native recluse spiders.

See more on www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html

Not sure of any differences between brown and desert brown.

Not exaggerating, there have been @ least 2 documented deaths in Ca from a BR bite that I know of.

[S2F]

We do too, and the biggest BW's I've ever seen .

Yeah, I've seen a few large black widows around here too. I even had one crawl across my hand when I was moving some wood from a wood pile. In hindsight it may have been fear that caused me to see the spider as huge though. I've never moved so fast to brush a spider off of me in my life.

[Sakari]

Not exaggerating, there have been @ least 2 documented deaths in Ca from a BR bite that I know of.

Source?

I mean no offense, I went over this with people when I lived in Reno.

Not sure of any differences between brown and desert brown.

Loxosceles deserta, commonly known as the desert recluse, is a brown spider of the Sicariidae family.^[1]

The desert recluse is commonly misidentified as L. unicolor (of South America)^[2] or as L. reclusa (the brown recluse of the southern and midwestern states), two spiders which do not live anywhere near the vicinity.^[2]

Distribution

This spider can be found in the eastern half of southern California, the southern tip of Nevada, and the western half of Arizona, as well as the southwestern corner of Utah.^[3][4]

It dwells in the wild, and its only domestic occurrence is that near native vegetation, avoiding urban areas in the desert and even green lawns.^[2] The spiders are particularly dense in packrat dens.^[5]

Venom

For more details on this topic, see Recluse spider venom components and effects.

Lesions of the skin can be caused by the venomous bite of the desert recluse.^[6] This occurs through the same mechanism responsible for the effects of the brown recluse bite.^{[citation needed]}

^{and................}

According to Dr. Phillip Anderson, a Missouri physician and recognized authority on brown recluse bites, there has never been a verifiable death as a result of a brown recluse spider bite in North America. End of story.

5 popular lies told about the Brown Recluse.

More lies are told about the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa, than any other arthropod in North America. Public hysteria about this shy spider has been fueled by media hype and medical misdiagnosis. It's time to set the record straight.

My rebuttals to each of these statements are not based on my own opinions, but on the most current scientific research by experts in the field.

Range of Loxosceles (recluse) spiders in the U.S. Red area highlights the range of the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa. Map provided by Rick Vetter, University of California-Riverside. Used with permission.

1. Brown recluse spiders live in my state.

That depends, but for most of the U.S, this statement is false. The range of the brown recluse spider is limited to the red area on this map. If you live outside this area, brown recluse spiders do not live in your state. Period.

Rick Vetter of the University of California challenged people to send him spiders they believed were brown recluses. Of 1,779 arachnids submitted from 49 states, only 4 brown recluse spiders came from outside its known range. One was found in a California home; the owners had just moved from Missouri. The remaining three spiders were found in a shed in coastal Virginia. Attempts to find more brown recluses in the area came up empty, suggesting an isolated population of unknown origin.

Most brown recluse bites heal fine without medical intervention. Some may cause necrotic wounds that take months to heal and cause some scarring. Photo: CDC

2. A brown recluse spider bit my friend, and he nearly lost his foot.

This would be a rare and unusual case, so I consider any such statements suspect. The truth is this: the majority of confirmed brown recluse bites do not result in serious skin lesions. In those patients whose lesions do become necrotic, a full two-thirds heal without complications. The worst lesions may take several months to heal and leave significant scarring, but the risk of loss of limbs from a brown recluse bite is just about nil.

3. I know someone who died from a brown recluse bite.

According to Dr. Phillip Anderson, a Missouri physician and recognized authority on brown recluse bites, there has never been a verifiable death as a result of a brown recluse spider bite in North America. End of story.

4. My cousin was attacked by a brown recluse spider.

Brown recluse spiders do not attack people, they defend themselves when disturbed. A brown recluse is more inclined to flee than to fight. Brown recluse spiders are (as their name suggests) reclusive. They hide in cardboard boxes, wood piles, or even laundry left on the floor. When someone disturbs their hideout, the spider may bite in defense. People who have been bitten by a brown recluse often report that they put on an article of clothing in which the spider was hiding.

Photo: CDC

5. The doctor said my brother's wound was definitely a brown recluse bite.

Unless your brother saw the spider bite him and brought the suspect spider to the doctor with him, and the doctor wisely sent the spider to an arachnologist for identification, there is no way for that doctor to prove the wound was caused by a brown recluse spider. Doctors have been misdiagnosing brown recluse bites for years. Many other medical conditions cause wounds similar to brown recluse bites, including Lyme disease, burns, diabetic ulcers, bacterial infections, lymphoma, and even herpes. If your doctor diagnoses you with a brown recluse bite without seeing a spider, you should question the doctor, especially if you live outside of the brown recluse spiders' range.

http://insects.about...ecluse-lies.htm

Edited October 15, 2014 by Sakari

[Sakari]

We do have a lot of hobo spiders around here as well (Oregon). I used to feed them grasshoppers in their funnel webs all the time as a kid. The potency of their bite is, from my experience, an exaggeration. A little redness and irritation/itchiness was the only effect I had from a hobo spider bite.

I want to move back soooooooooo bad. I miss Oregon to no end.

[scorpiosonic]

http://detroit.cbslo...er-in-michigan/

(This link refutes what second link states about age of victims.)

http://www.emedicine.../article_em.htm

http://www.kirotv.co..._2014_partners1

(This story posted yesterday.)

www.americanownews.com/story/20680220/recluse-spiders

Search, and ye will find, (more).

I lived in Temecula Ca, and a man died there from a BR bite in about 1996....I had read it in the newspaper then, but can't find the link now.

Just because one DR. says so doesn't mean it's correct, or the end of the story.

Edited October 15, 2014 by scorpiosonic

[S2F]

I want to move back soooooooooo bad. I miss Oregon to no end.

It's that time of year again. You know, gray skies and seemingly ceaseless rain. It gets annoying but then again Oregon wouldn't be Oregon without it.

[Sakari]

http://detroit.cbslo...er-in-michigan/

(This link refutes what second link states about age of victims.)

http://www.emedicine.../article_em.htm

http://www.kirotv.co..._2014_partners1

(This story posted yesterday.)

www.americanownews.com/story/20680220/recluse-spiders

Search, and ye will find, (more).

I lived in Temecula Ca, and a man died there from a BR bite in about 1996....I had read it in the newspaper then, but can't find the link now.

Just because one DR. says so doesn't mean it's correct, or the end of the story.

It is not just one...It is all.....Sorry man, the Brown Recluse is not there......Did you read the entire thing?

I can post thousands.Verifiable/

It's that time of year again. You know, gray skies and seemingly ceaseless rain. It gets annoying but then again Oregon wouldn't be Oregon without it.

Yup, I miss it.

About 1 more week and I would be on the mouth of the Elk river......