Brown Recluse Spiders
<< This is a Brown Recluse spider. If you live in the Southern States of the US, or the Midwest, you’re probably already familiar with this little critter.
And if you dont live in those areas – no worries. Your chances of running into one are slim to none.
I’d always heard that you could identify them by the fiddle on their back (which is why they are sometimes called “fiddlebacks”)… but I had never been close enough to one to be able to make out any kind of fiddle shape.
As you can see on the map, Tennessee is pretty well covered. That happens to be where I live. Let me tell you my story…
I live in a quiet residential neighborhood in the middle of town. Not out in the woods or down by the water or any other ‘ideal’ place for a spider habitat. Unfortunately, the Brown Recluse doesnt seem to be all that particular about their surroundings.
They showed up in late Spring. At first it was just one or two, but within a week I had killed about a dozen of the same spider. I didnt think much of it at first… after all, they just look like a harmless little ‘house spider’ to me and I’m not all that squemish about stuff like that.
It was a friend that pointed out that they were Brown Recluse spiders, and a quick search on Google Images confirmed it. That’s when the paranoia set in.
Mind you, they have the name ‘recluse’ for a reason. They are very reclusive little spiders, hiding behind and beneath things – in closets or dark places. They only come out at night, that sort of thing. So for me to run into more than 10 of them in 5 or 6 days… I knew there must be a bunch of them.
I called the exterminator of course, and they came out that same week. But those first few nights of “knowing” were the worst. I kept waking up thinking that something was crawling on me (kind of like your head itches anytime someone mentions the word ‘lice’).
I finally just decided to lay very very still… and resolved to let them crawl across me if they had to. Any type of reaction or movement would surely invite a bite, I figured. Those were two very long nights 
.
In case you arent familiar with the Brown Recluse, this is what you might expect from a bite:
Nice, right? 
I didnt even worry about the little spider anymore. All I could think of was the gaping ulcer-like wound it might leave. There are horror stories of gangrene, massive scarring and amputation. Dont believe me? Do a search.
The exterminator came (and I can never remember his name – I just call him Spiderman) and treated the inside, put something under the house and left glueboards (sticky traps) throughout the house. He said that he wanted to monitor the problem – and make sure that it was indeed a Brown Recluse that we were dealing with.
By the time he came back a month later, I was chasing them through the house again and had caught 47 of them in the sticky traps. That’s 47 adult spiders – and doesnt include all of the itty bitty baby spiders that had evidently just hatched.
Spiderman was quite impressed with my collection. I think his exact words were “WOW! I’ve never seen that many on one board!” He got the rest of them and put them in his truck so he could show his boss, treated the house and then left. Once again it was fairly quiet around here for about a week.
All this time I’ve been checking beds at night, shaking out clothes and shoes before putting them on, and keeping a close eye on everywhere I step or reach. The paranoia is not so bad anymore, but I’m definitely keeping my eyes wide open.
But this time when they started creeping around, I decided I’d had enough. Three in one night, barely a week after Spiderman had been here, and I was getting the hibby jibbies all over again. I checked my traps… 23 already – again, not including the baby ones. This is an outright infestation, if you ask me!
My first inclination was to just move. Nah, I’d likely move them with me. My next thought was to tear the whole house apart and clean out every closet, box and drawer from one end to the other. Nah, I’d probably get them all stirred up and they would attack me in my sleep for revenge.
I finally just called Spiderman’s boss and said ‘Look, we’ve got to do something here. I need to know what my options are.’ They are coming out today (Wednesday) to do a super-duper treatment, which means I have to leave and stay gone for the day.
Here’s hoping it works. I’ve had about all of this that I can take! Wish me luck, knock on wood, send positive vibes – or whatever. I could use it 
But also take a close look at the picture, and especially if you live in one of the shaded areas on that map. Be sure that you can identify a Brown Recluse yourself, otherwise you might mistake it for ‘any old small brown spider’ you might see this time of year. Like I did.
P.S. Interesting to note, the term “brown recluse spider” gets almost 179,000 searches per month according to Overture. It seems the majority of searchers are interested in seeing pictures of the spider or reading up on the bites.
Technorati Tags: brown recluse, spiders, exterminator, spider bites
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Now, you’ve made me paranoid. If there is a place on Earth where mutated insects live, it is Georgia, I swear! Some of the bugs I see are enormous, ewww. I know what I’ll be doing this afternoon (spiders – come to me! lol).
Here’s a quick tip in case of a bite:
mix a teaspoon of vinegar (or alcohol), 2-3 drops of lavender and tea tree oil. That should prevent the swelling and itching. After that, go see a doctor.
Those bites look awfully painful
Oh, my… Lynn, I would have been gone from there: can’t even imagine coming in contat with one of those, let alone that many.
Here is to today’s treatment working! I hope you get rid ogf them.
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Oh my, I can’t imagine anything worse then a spider infestation. I live in Australia and we have some pretty bad ones here too. Maybe some sort of mosquito net around the beds at night might help you get some better sleep? Good luck!
Yowsa Lynn. I think I’d be just as paranoid as you, except I live in S. Florida where Black Recluses are rare(r), however, Wolf Spiders don’t seem to be.
At first, it didn’t bother me when I saw the first couple, but I noticed something odd about one (this was before I knew what kind of spider it was). When I sprayed it with spider insecticide, I noticed that its back started to flee. Well, not its back…but the babies that were riding on its back….::shudder::
Good luck getting the infestation under control (and yep, that’s what it is from the sounds of it). I’m knocking on wood, sending you good vibes, and saying a prayer for you
~ Teli
Soooo glad that we don’t those in the UK (do we???)
For us it’s black widows. Mostly outside, thank goodness, but some in the house once in a while.
The worst time we had was the day we were eating dinner outside and I saw a black widow climbing my daughter’s chair. It was almost to her hair when I had her get up. Then my husband knocked her chair over and killed it.
Understandably, my daughter is now a bit paranoid about spiders.
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Oh, Lynn, that is horrible!
I hope the Spiderman folks get rid of every last ugly thing!!!
Ooh, Teli – Wolf Spiders are the worst! They look more like small animals if you ask me, LOL. I encountered one in my shop a few years ago that was covered in babies – quite a sight! Did you know that they jump??
Adriana – yes, that was my first reaction too. But it seems that Brown Recluses are really bad all over the area this year. I assume because of our mild winter. The chances of not moving them with me (they love boxes) or settling into a place that doesnt have them as well are slim… so I decided to stick it out and see if I could get it dealt with.
So far the treatment seems to have worked, but its a bit soon to tell for sure. It certainly made for a lot of extra work, though – everything has to be re-washed and such
. Lovely.
I was driving down the road this morning and thinking back on all of the “life experiences” that I’ve had in the last decade. My son being diagnosed with epilepsy, getting hit by a tornado, being overrun with venomous spiders – and those are just a few examples from the list! The types of things most people think will never happen to them, you know? I’ve had my fair share… and then some.
Well, I’m done. I’m drawing the line right here.
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We live in Colorado, and the Brown Recluse is rare here, however my Father was bitten by one, and had a reaction similar to the pictures you posted.
In fact, he almost died, he ended up going the the emercency room about a week or so after he was bitten and they said if he didn’t get there when he did, in 24 hours he would have been dead.
The bites are extremely serious, and should be treated immediately. They will usually show up within hours, even if you didnt realize you were bitten, and look like a cross between a mosquito bite and a pimple.
Within a matter of hours the skin around the bite begins to deteriorate, leaving a large hole and what looks very much like a skin ulcer. It can lead to amputation – and yes, even death – if not treated quickly… and can leave terrible scarring.
I hate to hear your father experienced this firsthand, Miles. It’s scary to think of him waiting a week or more to get it treated. I’m glad he got in on time, though! It seems crazy that such a small and plain-looking spider can cause so much damage.
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Oh Lynn.. Can I ever relate. This past New Years eve, we were going out to eat. I felt something crawling up my arm inside my shirt. I thought, I’m just imagining things. Well my arm kept itching and itching. I thought surely something is going on. I dealt with it.
We got home and after I took my shirt off, my arm was all red, but I still didn’t see anything.
The next day it got worse. Look at this video
By that night I couldn’t take it anymore with the pain. I went to the ER and he said you have been bit by a Brown Recluse Spider. The dr said they like to hide out in closets like you said. I still have the awful scars all these months later. They will probably never go away.
Now everytime I get my clothes out of the closet I turn them inside out LOL.
I’m so glad you are getting the problem taken care of though.
That link didnt work for me – do you have another link perhaps? I’m so sorry to hear of your bite… were you able to get rid of them in your home??
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I wish that geographical area you showed was the only place they live.
They’re pretty well across the US…We still look out more for black widow spiders in Massachusetts, but the brown recluse is here too.
Fortunately, still much rarer than around you. I think I’d be camping on the roof with a huge can of Raid.
My youngest son is terrified of spiders. If he sees even a little harmless one, he wants it dead!
I’m still trying to figure out how you managed having those scorpions around a while ago. Now this?!?
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dan, im 14 years old and im arachnaphobic and i always have been if i see a little spider ill start crying
and even if i kill it i look around like crazy to look for more cuz i get paranoid.
Wow Lynn! That’s horrible! I can’t imagine having those spiders over here at our house because we hardly have ANY dangerous insects here in Tehran (which I’m very grateful for).
If I were in your situation, I’m sure I’d have a much bigger paranoia than you had.
But I’m happy to hear you and your daughters are fine and no harm has come to your family.
So what’s new with you and these “lovely” spiders?
Could you finally clean your house out of them?
I am surely hoping so, Ladan!
LOL Dan – you have such a great memory! The scorpions were definitely an issue, but not as bad as this. Their sting is maybe a little worse than a wasp or hornet sting, nothing life threatening.
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Lynn for some reason it will not pull up in Firefox but the link will show up in Internet Explorer. Try that.
We haven’t had anymore problems with the Brown Recluse Spiders, but we are forever finding the little black spiders. Not sure if those are much harm or not. Thinking about it though the past week, we haven’t found as many.
I love living in the Mountains, but spiders come with that too I guess
.
This is the message I am getting in IE:
Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access /amb_video/166/106/0/72369MVI_0623_1.wmv on this server.
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Wow,
Now I don’t feel so bad about those huge cockroaches in
my new house here in San Diego. Heck, some people eat
these babies.
It’s doubtful anyone is eating Brown Recluse Spiders.
Lynn,
Hope Spiderman can get the buggers out.
Ewwww LOL – They eat them??
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As I’m reading this page I started to feel something crawling and itching all over me.
Oh – suddenly USA and other parts of the world don’t seem so interesting
BTW. I live in Belgrade, Serbia – Europe. And worst thing we have are earthquaqes from time to time that you basicaly can’t feel if you walk. Sure there are some cracked walls on old buildings near the center of it – but it’s very rare.
No deadly snakes or spiders or such creapy creatures and no tornados or huricanes …
PS. There was a panic about bird flue few months ago …
Scorpions?? You had scorpions as well?? Oh my goodness I’d definately not get ANY sleep around where you live…
LOL yes, but not in this house – that was when I lived down by the lake. They are not that common in Tennessee. Just near the lakes & mountains.
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Not until I saw one jump half-way across the room when I began to approach it…that’s when I actually decided to break out the insecticide and start using it at every moment I saw one.
I really am glad to hear the spiders seem to have retreated. Crossing my fingers that the Spiderman’s methods will be permanent or at least, last a very, very long time.
About the video, I got the same error too, however, if you click on the ‘Go’ button a second time, it will start playing (that’s the Firefox trick).
Apparently the website doesn’t like the referrer/browser combination for some reason. Strange.
~ Teli
[...] Either way, it worked. This is actually something I’ve noticed with my own sites, blogs and newsletters. It seems that the more personal posts or notes get a much higher response than anything business-related that I write. Just take a look at some of the more recent posts on this blog, for example. Shopping for a new Study Bible or my Brown Recluse problem are more popular posts, if you’re guaging by the comments left. [...]
OHH,lynn.I would hate if my house was covered in spides!I have a huge paranoia of bugs,exspecially spiders!If I lived where you lived i woul die of paranoia!I would be out of that house in seconds.I live in Colorado and i see bugs everywhere!But,I have never seen a brown recluse in my life unless you count the ones I see on the internet.I really hope that spider problem will go away.
(p.s-Get a lot of bug spray!:)
LOL Thanks, Nicki!
I actually moved (finally) – which was a huge relief. I have to admit, the paranoia was worse than the spiders themselves. We did all 3 end up getting bit, but fortunately my son and I didnt have such dramatic reactions to the bites. My daughter did, but we caught it fast.
Even in the new home I see them on the deck whenever the men mow out back – it runs them up to the house. Lovely. Its just the area, not much you can do about that. But at least they arent curling up at night with me here!
Here’s the link about the new place:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1353/home-sweet-home-my-new-home-office/
Loving it!
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Well I live in Illinois, USA, and our barn is infested with brown recluse spiders. It’s imposible to grab a bail of hay or a tool or peice of wood, without finding at least two or three at a time. And no they are not being miss-identified, they are brown recluse. I have tried sprays of all kinds none of them seem to work, and if they do it’s for a very short time only. Anyone want a few hundred ?
The sprays, fogs, powders & gases never worked at my place either. I would look into their natural enemies – what eats them. It seems like granddaddy long legs were one. Possibly an anteater?? That’s where I would start…
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