Brown Recluse

Hey guys, I heard that the brown recluse heavily populated Texas.. how often do you guys run into them? I've heard some bad stories?

I havent seen one in years but I live in the city. I heard their venom is worth a lot of money for vacine.

I ran into one when I was 15.. required getting cut open and packed with gauze for 2 weeks...and shoving a long q-tip with alcohol down in my arm and swirling it around. Wasn't cool at all. I see quite a few every year in our feed barns.

we had a bad problem with em at one of our places one year, but no one got bit. i see em on a semiregular basis, but havent been bittin, and neither has anyone close to me.

I've been bittten before. It turned from a bump into a giant hole about the size of a dime that was filled with puss and all kinds of nasty lookin junk. Nothing just anibiotics won't fix.

Or if you're a hoss, you can rub some dirt on it and walk it off. I got the antbiotics.

There's quite a few here in N. Texas. My daughter got bit by one back in the summer. They caught it quickly and it didn't turn into much, thank God. They can be terrible, because once bitten, it's starts eating your flesh from the inside, out. (not the spider itself, of course, lol)

I see 'em all the time.

I got bit by one in the most unpleasant of places about a month ago!! Stay Away from Them!!

They are everywhere. be careful at the woodpile.
I have been bitten 4 times in the past 15 years.
the first time I had to be admitted, 2nd time not so bad
knew what it was & what to do.
last time 2yrs ago, swelled my leg so bad had to cut my pants off
never really hurt, and you never feel the bite.
it's not deadly unless it's ignored. it's not the venom that kills you, it's the resulting staph infection that comes after the bite.
large doses of Cephalexin & a lot of peroxide/q-tips will neutralize the poison in about 72 hrs.

what do they look like can someone post a picture ...i got an idea but not sure.

they are about as big around as a quarter and have what looks like a fiddle on their back. Some people call them Fiddle Backs, just because of that.

Humm I'm no expert at all but I don't think they are NEAR that big... I thonk their but is about as big as a kitchen match head and they have long skinny legs.
We find them mostly around stuff that's been in storage... ply wood, fire wood ect...

i think yoiu are thinking of the DADDY LONGLEG?

they are not very big and get squashed before I see what they are, lol. we have a lot of spiders out here in Midland and the BR is one of them but I dont see them near as much as I see Black Widows, them ladies are all over the place. Never heard of getting bit by one but they love to build a web in dark dank corners.
DannyG

Wikipedia pic comparing size to a penny

Got bitten on the inner thigh by one. Started out as an itchy little pimple looking red spot. Made a scab over the hole it had eaten in my leg. Took the scab off and it drained for about a week. It ate a hole out about the size of two match sticks together. I could stick a needle in there all the way up to the end and never feel it. I still have a scar and this happened about 22 years ago.

My husband got bitten by one years ago and it left a big hole. Had to take antibiotics to stop the eating away of the flesh. I personally have never seen one but I know they are around. Never pick up a log or brush without gloves on. I have seen black widow spiders on a regular basis though. They like to live under upside turned buckets. Both spider species are extremely poisonous.

in our area espically for the deer blinds just befors season, get a bug bomb made for the house, i think they treat a 10x12 room or something like that. and put it in the 4x4 blind with it all closed up......... i can hunt a lot more relaxed after that.....................i dont like spiders

I have them all over the damn place at my house. They can range anywhere from dime to quarter size. Most are about as big as a nickel.

They are really easy to identify once you learn what they look like. No other spiders really look like them.

LOL, when I say as big around as a quarter, I mean the legs and all. Usually, the "fiddle" on their back is quite pronounced. It really looks like a fiddle(without the strings ) They like to hang out in dark places. Always, ALWAYS, check/shake your clothing/shoes if it's been laying in a pile. Most people don't do that(pile of clothes), but I know we have some young batchelors on here, lol. I hate scorpions too! Sometimes those things are bad around here. My ex-wife had one drop from a ceiling onto her face when she was little.(probably what made her the crazy b!t#% she is, lol)

They are penny sized. Just make sure you go to the doctor if you think you have been bitten by one of them.

Photo of Brown Recluse

I do that but I drop 2 bombs in my 4x4 blind

Nothing natural should live through that

Somebody sent me an email years ago with this sequence of pictures. Days 3-10 after a bite. I sure avoid them.......

Mmmmm, tasty!

Holi Chet. that is nasty. defently need to kill them.

Holy hell thats nasty !! Is that the norm or was it not taken care of properly ??

there went my lunch

It probably went untreated for a while, who knows? My daughter was bitten this summer, and she immediately went to the Dr. But hers was NOTHING like this nasty stuff...

thats nasty!

I am now sure that I saw one of those in my blind Sunday. I thought it at the time and tried to smash it but it got away. I will be fogging tne blind now as I dont want anything on my body looking like a burnt up hot dog.

No LOTS less legs (I mean 1/3 rd as long) and 3 pc body instead of one piece... but is about the color of a cup of coffe with cream.

You would think after about the third day he would have went to the doctor!

I have been bit by one on my stuomach and it knoted up and i went the third day and he gave me antibiotics. You could take a needle and put it half way in the whole and not touch.

After seeing that picture I never want to have a run in with one of those.

I think I'm gonna puke. That is just gross. Why would anyone wait THAT long to see a doctor.

My dad was bitten by one in CA, didn't realize it for several days, then almost collapsed (everyone thought it was a heart attack). By the time the antibiotics kicked in, his leg was over double normal size and the doctors said if the antibiotics hadn't taken effect when they did, they would have had to amputate.

Several years later, his leg "remembered" and swelled up again, apparently some latent poison was still in his leg, and they got to it quicker but he was hospitalized for a week.

Don't mess with brown recluses.

They are really bad and will put a hurt on you, plus the permanent damage from scarring. A former coworker of mine got bit, trying to score points with a hottie by changing her flat tire on some tall grass. He got bit on the leg below the knee and had to use crutches for a while. I try to be extra careful wherever I suspect they can be.

Wow, here in California they have the Black Widow and not so much the Brown Recluse but im amazed guys.... Do they hang around a lot in December? Cause thats when im gonna be in the blind in Northeastern Texas.

I got bit on my wrist by one about 20 years ago. Started out as a small red bump and then started rotting (not nearly as bad as that series of photos). Went to the doctor and got antibiotics, and it took about 4 months to completely heal. The funny thing is I never felt a thing when I got bit.

I have never seen a spider, any spider, in late November or December in TX and I've been here for over 20 years. Relax Caviel, you are more likely to be attacked by a bobcat or cougar then bitten by a Brown Recluse during the winter. Now don't you feel better? LOL

I just moved into my new house in s.c. Kansas last weekend and killed 3 within about ten minutes in the shed. gonna have to bomb that place!

You never know where you'll find one either. I also like to biggame fish. 2-5 day offshore trips. On one 60 hour trip out of Port Aransas for tuna a friend was bitten by a recluse while sleeping bellow on a bunk 100 miles offshore! It had gotten on the boat somewhere and just loved that cold, dark lower bunk room. I was glad I was stuck on a bunk in the galley... He had to go to the doctor when we got back in.

Earl

I killed one today that was under the cover of my hot tub.

I guess it liked the moist warm area underneath.

Thats the second one I have ever seen.

Guess I'll be breaking out the Demon WP and doing some spraying.

Thanks ladies and gents!! I loved the Great State of Texas ever since my first visit. I've traveled there about 14-15 times since then and traveled all over the state and been to every major city. Just wanted to know what that creature is like, so when I eventually move to Texas, i'll be prepared.

Spiders don't bother me although I usually just kill them. Y'all are creeping me out though. Alot of people here have been bit. I'd hate to get bit and not know it until my flesh started falling off, and I don't need any more holes in my body.

I wouldn't worry about it. When I was bitten it didn't look anything like that, and I went four days without treatmeant. I figured it was just a bug bite that would heal after a week, but it just got worse and worse before I broke down and couldn't stand it anymore.

I do still have the scar though.

Nasty! My dad has been bitten a couple of times , didn't look quite that bad. Actually nowhere near that bad

I seen one about 4 months ago. I'm more worried about black widows as I see a ton of them all the time. I just asked my wife about them because she's a nurse and she told me they get about 3-4 people maybe in a year that get bit by a recluse. Black widows more often. Either one are a squish and kill on site with me.

My uncle almost lost a leg to a brown recluse bite, nothing to scough at, and then in the hospital he got a dose of staph to go with it....

I WAS BIT SEVERAL YEARS AGO BY ONE. AND I CAN TELL YOU I DON'T WANT IT TO HAPPEN A GAIN. THE BITE SHOWED UP ON THE BACK OF MY UPPER LEFT LEG. THOUGHT IT WAS PIMPLE AT FIRST,,,UNTIL MY LEG TURNED INTO A FIRE. WENT TO THE DOCTOR AND HE SAID IT WAS THE SPIDER BITE. PUT ME ON ALL KINDS OF MEDICNE. I WAS SICK AS A HORSE FOR SEVERAL DAYS. THE BITE SPOT JUST ROTTED A HOLE THE SIZE OF A QUARTER. IT DIDN'T TOTALLY CLEAR UP FOR ABOUT FIVE MONTHS. I GOT BITE AT THE DEER LEASE AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WHEN IT HAPPENED OR WHERE. I ADVISE NOT TO GET BITTEN.

Killed two of them last time I was at the ranch...

I set a fogger out in my blind yesterday after previously seeing one in there.

I never really run into brown recluses, but black widows seem to be everywhere I go.