Brown recluse

[SpellKaster4]

So, I don't know about anyone else but where I live we have a ton of brown recluse spiders. They're the only medically relevant spider in the area. Every now and again we get a black widow but that's super rare. Anyway, so people freak out about those spiders. They tell you that you'll die instantly if you get bit or all your flesh will rot away. It's ridiculous. People don't want to accept that that just isn't the case. In truth that can happen but it's more like if you're allergic, same as a bee sting. I've been bitten by a recluse and it didn't do anything. I had what amounted to a blood blister except it was hard. It fell off and there was a small hole but it healed just like any other wound. I'm not sensitive to bee stings so I'm assuming that kinda transfers over to these style bites as well. These spiders are another spider that people think are highly aggressive. That's another false one and another one I can use personal experience to speak on. The other night I found a recluse in my bath tub. I have a catch and release policy with spiders so I throw them outside when I find them. Recluses though, I dunno. Since their venom can be an issue I worry about my pets so I tend to put them down. Anyway, I grabbed my tongs and grabbed the recluse by a leg. Fun fact, they apparently drop legs when grabbed. So, I grabbed it and the leg just popped off and started twitching. I grabbed the recluse again but no more legs came off so I guess they can only do that trick once, I dunno. Anyway, I'm holding this recluse with my tongs and it's just frozen, just chilling there. If they were as blood thirsty as people claim this thing would have been trying to destroy my tongs but no. It was pretending to be a statue hoping I would forget it was there and let it go. The moral of the story is that people are dumb and need to educate themselves about things. Rant complete lol.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Some people really are nutty when it comes to animals. I got a script for a tarantula a couple weeks ago (This is what brought me back into the hobby and how I found this forum…) and after I ordered the tarantulas, but before we could shoot the show, one of the actresses was freaking out and told them she would not work with a real spider. They switched it to a snake and then one of the crew members was literally in tears and could not be on the set when the snake was contained in the bucket even. Next episode we had a dog in a spider costume and the actress who wouldn't work with the spider was literally shaking and sweating.

She could barely contain her hysteria because of the presence of a friendly little dog in a costume.

I see this frequently in my career. People, well, some people, seem to be losing any sense of connection to the real world, and to reality. They grow up in cities far removed from any sort of nature other than a potted plant or a tree outside encircled in concrete, and they have no concept or understanding of how things work outside of their cell phone. Meanwhile the animal rights groups are trying to shut down zoos, animal parks, and even pet ownership so people have even less opportunity to see, appreciate and understand the other living things that share our planet, and the problem grows.

To your point, I read an article that pointed out that most of the brown recluse sightings and bites are not even the brown recluse. We've reached a point where any long legged brownish spider is now misidentified as a brown recluse and treated with horror and fear. This is happening in parts of the country where they don't even exist. Out here we are surrounded by black widows. They are every where. I've never even heard of anyone being bitten. I know that it can happen, but in my whole life, with all the people I've known and met, not one person or anyone they know has been bitten. Doesn't seem like much of a menace to society if you asked me.

 

[Metalman2004]

This morning there was a local news story here in Texas about a guy that found a 6” fishing spider in Indiana. Its nothing less than absutely crazy the hysteria that surrounds spiders these days.

 

[MassExodus]

I find recluse spiders too often. If they were jumpers or wolf spiders its one thing, but I wont tolerate a potentially dangerous spider in my house. People get bitten and sometimes have no reaction, just like with widows, but who wants to chance it? And yeah, those are two very docile spp. from what Ive seen. Shy, really. Im a live and let live kinda guy, except for things like rattlesnakes and recluses. The ideal just doesn't apply to real world living, I'm sorry to say. I love all critters, but if they're a threat..they aint gonna make it in my yard.

 

[SpellKaster4]

That's pretty much how I handle it. Thankfully where I live I can count the truly dangerous things on one hand.

 

[MassExodus]

That's pretty much how I handle it. Thankfully where I live I can count the truly dangerous things on one hand.

The main one would be human beings. Lol

 

[SpellKaster4]

Lol, yes. They actually count for three out of five.