Posted on 06/01/2005 7:17:47 AM PDT by Pyro7480
I share a duplex house with two other people. My room is the basement, while the other two live in rooms on the second floor. We share the living room, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor. Our house is just outside the DC Beltway in northern Virginia, south of Alexandria.
On Sunday, one of my roommates was apparently bitten by a brown recluse spider. She didn't get it looked at immediately, since she thought it was just a really bad pimple. By yesterday, however, it was quite apparent that something was wrong. She went to a doctor, and the diagnosis was confirmed, that she was bitten by a brown recluse. The doctor told her that they get a bunch of these in the summer months in the area.
I was under the impression that the brown recluse was only found in the south central region of the United States. Are they now prevalent enough in Virginia to cause the doctor to say such a thing? It doesn't make sense to me that she was bitten, most likely in her room on the second floor, while I haven't even seen anything that looks like a brown recluse spider in my basement room. You would think that something like that would more likely get into a basement than into a second floor room.
Have you seen pictures of bite victims?
Very, very bad little creatures.
Move to Maine
Just bugbomb the house. My wife was bitten by one in NC as was a friend. It's really ugly.
Just bugbomb the house. My wife was bitten by one in NC as was a friend. It's really ugly.
I've heard that they can be found as north as Maryland.
Yes, I've seen pictures. Nasty, nasty.
Call a bug man immediately. Leave the place for a day after he's been there. Mention the brown reculse bite and make sure his spray will kill spiders. Have him come back and spray again in three months. These bugs are nothing to fool with and they can be found as far north as Minnesota.
While the Black Widow is the most well known poisonious spider, the Brown Recluse is actually far more dangerous.
I've heard that we have them here in Northern Virginia.
How did it "become obvious" that something was wrong? I haven't heard of the effects of a bite.
"Very, very bad little creatures."
Very bad, squared.
It could be a misdiagnosis:
http://spiders.ucr.edu/
Are the bites always really really bad, or do some people just react to it worse than others? I've seen some people (on TV, not personally) whose entire lives were destroyed by the little buggers.
If you kill a spider you make it rain.
I was bitten by one - in VA - in 1982 so they have lived here for quite a long time. Also, my nephew - who lives in Poolesville, MD - was bitten 3 yrs ago while sleeping over at a friends house. They like to creep up on you in the night. (Sorry, just could not resist that.) I thought I was going to lose my leg.
My husband was bitten 5 times by a brown recluse. By the time he went to the Dr, days later, the Dr. said he was lucky to be alive.
Tale of Ed ping!
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