spiders!!!

Hello Sam,

We have spiders. It’s common to have them get in the house and form webs in the corners at the ceiling. This type is usually small, like a quarter and easy to catch and remove if you don't want it there. They do catch bugs so serve a useful purpose. 🙂

We also have tarantulas, scorpions, usually outsider, under rocks, in holes in the dirt - but you don't see them often.

--Islander

Not intended to alarm (but it will probably end up that way) because this spider is common in other areas - not just found in the VI. But.......you wanted a heads up so....
Spider that you should take special note of is Brown Recluse. The Brown Recluse can be found in most countries in the world. It is shy and will try to run from a threatening situation but will bite if cornered. It likes the dark and dark, undisturbed places. The bite of the brown recluse is usually painless until 3 to 8 hours later when it may become red, swollen, and tender. (If you're drinking and in the sun it will take less time!) Later the area around the bite site may develop into an ulcerous sore from 1/2 to 10 inches in diameter. Healing often requires a month or longer, and the victim may be left with a deep scar. Prompt medical attention can reduce the extent of ulceration and alleviate other complications that may develop. It should be noted that not all brown recluse bites result in ulcerations or scarring.

Spider bites are difficult to diagnose, even by physicians. Anyone bitten by a spider which is believed to be a brown recluse should try to collect the specimen and bring it to a qualified individual for identification. Positive identification by an expert will help the physician decide on the appropriate course of treatment.

The large tarantulas usually come out at night. I know this first hand when my husband came home late and while walking in the door I saw a dark object run in the door and under the stove. I thought it was a mouse. It was dark and fuzzy. We found it a couple of days later in the bathroom...by me. It ran across my foot and I promptly woke up the neighborhood with a loud scream. It was a large tarantula. Unfortunately because of the hysterical state I was in, the tarantula has gone on to his next life. Ummm, I read somewhere that tarantulas are not spiders, but a different species. Unfortunately for them, I don't care. Neither spiders nor tarantulas are invited in my home. I have lived here 9 months and this has been my second sighting of the large fuzzy wuzzy creatures. The other was outdoors at night.

I hate to hear that the brown recluse live here as well. I don't know what they look like and really fear them. We have them back in Missouri as well. Just shake out materials and items that have been stored for a while. Be more aware at night when opening doors. At least that is my advice. Good luck!

Teresa

TARANTULAS!!!!!!
...(deep breaths)...whewww ok I've accepted it. I was kinda jokeing when I mentioned them earlier but thats alright. Deff glad I asked as I would probably have had a severe heart attack should one surprise me out of the blue. Teresa I think you deserve some sort of award for remaining in the house for days with that thing. I'll try to remember to bring one down for you. I Don't mean to sound like a compleate wuss guys but I have one more girly question that you'll prob. all get a kick out of.... Do they bite???

Hey FBI (Ha! See what happened when I tried to acronym-ize FL Barrier Island)

I experienced one of those Brown Recluse spider bites on the back of my calf. Several years ago I had what I thought was a pesky mosquito bite and didn't have the self-control to keep my self from scratching and it got infected. A trip to the doctor got me an antibiotic and some antibiotic ointment. This didn't seem to help. Ten days later and another antibiotic, ten days later a third. Nothing was helping. The wound was growing and oozing and dripping and disgusting. As you said, a month or longer, it healed. I have a 3/4 inch scar to show for it. The doctor never mentioned the possibility of a spider bite. A year later I visited a different doctor for another matter, and she told me it was most likely a spider bite.

Yours is the first explanation of the spider bite I've seen. Thanks.

This was on Long Island, NY, by the way.

Gerie

Brown recluse treatment!!!
I saw a news program a couple of years ago that said a Doctor in Texas figured out how to treat brown recluse bites. He said the toxin collapses the blood vessels near the bite, and the tissue dies, kinda like gangrene. His solution was to place a heart patch on the bite and the medicine will keep the vessels open and allow the body to heal itself without scarring. I don't know what kind of heart patch it was, but it made sense to me. I've never had a recluse bite to try this myself, so you may want to ask your Doctors there.
Edgar