Three treated for bite of spider rarely found on Long Island [Sorry if this was previously posted!]

Newsday.com ^ | By Indrani Sen and Nick Iyer

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

In what experts say is a rare if not near-impossible occurrence on Long Island, at least three people have been diagnosed with brown recluse spider bites this week and are being treated at a Port Jefferson hospital.

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Marlene Israel said three people were being treated in a pressurized-oxygen chamber as out-patients for what doctors believe are spider bites...

Use link for the rest of the story.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Sincere apologies if this was already posted here, my search didn't show this story.

It is a curious one.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

I don't know how to insert images, otherwise I'd do that. This story is curious because the bite of the brown recluse spider and cutaneous anthrax are very similar.

C:\My Documents\My Pictures\brown_recluse_spider_ bite.jpg

C:\My Documents\My Pictures\anthrax_lesion.jpg

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Most spiders are harmless, but there are a few than can do some damage, especially in the southwest. I don't care if they're harmful or not, whenever I see one I zap it. They're ugly little creatures aren't they?

[Virginia-American]

They're ugly little creatures aren't they?

Behold the hippopotamus!
We laugh at how he looks to us,
And yet in moments dank and grim,
I wonder how we look to him.

Peace, peace, thou hippopotamus!
We really look all right to us,
As you no doubt delight the eye
Of other hippopotami.

-- Ogden Nash

Ugly or not, anything that eats insects is my friend!

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Bear with me, I'm going to see if this works-

Cutaneous Anthrax

Brown Recluse Bite

:*)

[upchuck]

Sincere apologies if this was already posted here, my search didn't show this story.

Guess you didn't search on "spider" 'cause here it is. With 146 comments and lots of pix and links.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Behold!! Man's best friend-the windscorpion. Gobbles up insects like termites and cockroaches, also snakes, rodents, and lizards. So you may be onto something there, even though I still prefer them not to be in my house.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Guess you didn't search on "spider" 'cause here it is. With 146 comments and lots of pix and links...

Oh crap.

I guess my search of "Brown Recluse Spider bite in Long Island" was too specific or something.

Duh, my bad.

Thanks for the information though!

:*)

[upchuck]

With all due respect, might I suggest you make a quick trip to FR's HTML Bootcamp? Everything you need to know about making links that work, posting images, etc. is just a click away.

[martin_fierro]

Previous post

[upchuck]

And here's a tip on doing FR searches: Keep it simple. Sometimes the poster will change the headline (something we are NOT supposed to do as it makes searching harder). So just pick the main word, spider in this case, and have at it.

I knew your post was a duplicate as I read the original yesterday.

[LuigiBasco]

A father watched his daughter playing in the garden. He smiled as he
reflected on how sweet and innocent his little girl was.

Suddenly she just stopped and stared at the ground. He went over to her and
noticed she was looking at two spiders mating.

"Daddy, what are those two spiders doing?" she asked.
"They're mating," her father replied.

"What do you call the spider on top, Daddy?" she asked.
"That's a daddy longlegs." Her father answered.
"So, the other one is a mommy longlegs?" the little girl asked.

"No," her father replied. "Both of them are daddy longlegs."

The little girl thought for a moment, then took her foot and stamped them
flat. "Well, we're not having any of THAT sort of sh*t in OUR garden."

[Big Bunyip]

Aren't you glad you don't live in Australia, where spiders are more venomous than mothers-in-law -- and often almost just as ugly. Here's a little ditty by Australia's unofficial poet laureate, the immortal Slim Dusty, to remind Americans how lucky they are to have indoor plumbing:

The Redback on the Toilet Seat
by Slim Newton

There was a redback on the toilet seat
When I was there last night.
I didn't see him in the dark,
But boy I felt his bite.

I jumped high up into the air
And when I hit the ground,
That crafty redback spider
Wasn't nowhere to be found.

I rushed into the missus,
Told her just where I'd been bit.
She grabbed a cut-throat razor-blade
And I nearly took a fit.

I said, "Just forget what's on your mind
And call a doctor please,
'Cause I got a feeling that your cure
Is worse than the disease."

There was a redback on the toilet seat
When I was there last night.
I didn't see him in the dark,
But boy I felt his bite.

And now I'm here in hospital
A sad and sorry sight,
And I curse the redback spider
On the toilet seat last night.

I can't lie down, I can't sit up
And I don't know what to do,
And all the nurses think it's funny
But that's not my point of view.

I tell you its embarrassing,
And that's to say the least,
That I'm too sick to eat a bit
While that spider had a feast.

And when I get back home again
I tell you what I'll do,
I'll make that redback suffer
For the pain I'm going through.

I've had so many needles
That I'm looking like a sieve,
And I promise you that spider
Hasn't very long to live.

There was a redback on the toilet seat
When I was there last night.
I didn't see him in the dark,
But boy I felt his bite.
But now I'm here in hospital
A sad and sorry sight,
And I curse the redback spider
On the toilet seat last night.
Slim Newton. The Red Back on the Toilet Seat. (Online) Available http://www.powerup.com.au/~glen/spider5.html March 13, 2000

[Prodigal Son]

Black Widows are big where I was raised in Georgia and they leave an ugly wound that is excruciating as well. Used to pry up old lids to wells and what not and see dozens of 'em. They were also a hazard in Ft Benning (basic training) in the old outhouses.

Personally, I thought they were beautiful- sleek, black and with that red hour glass on the bellly. I kept one in an old one gallon tea jug for a long time. Put in a couple of crossed sticks and she spun her a web. Used to throw in moths and things. Deadly little predator it was. Just sit still as a statue for days, waiting for something to fall in its web- then when something did, it was lightning fast to go get it- venom worked instantly.

The other thread had a lot of pretty gross pictures. I'd say don't mess with the brown recluse if that's the kind of wound you could wind up with.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We have the recluse here in Missouri. A counsin"s wife almost lost her leg because she couldn't tolerate a recluse bite that kept getting bigger and wouldn't heal.
I don't care what any one says. My place is sprayed.

[heartwood]

my brother was bitten by a brown recluse, probably in NJ. never saw the spider but had a sore that bled for a year. cured by Chinese medicine, a powder right on the sore that burned and made him feel real woozy, but the sore healed.