Readers Respond: Reader Experiences with Brown Recluse Spiders

Brown recluse spiders live in a limited area of the U.S. Even where they are abundant, people are rarely bitten by them. Most brown recluse bites heal without medical intervention. Necrotic wounds are often misdiagnosed as recluse bites. But without catching a spider in the act and having that spider identified by an expert, you can't prove a person was bitten by one.

I know, I know - you know someone who was bitten by a brown recluse! And without a doubt, that person nearly lost a limb or almost died, right? OK, go ahead, try to convince me. Share your stories about brown recluse spider bites. I might believe you.

They're in my house!

I moved to OK last year and saw at least one brown recluse every night. I refused to think they could be brown recluses for the reason given by so many: that they are reclusive and live in wood piles. But out of curiosity one day, I sprayed one with spider spray as it crawled across my living room, and I ID'd it. From then one, I identified one after another, probably close to 30 of them in a matter of a couple of weeks. I called the pest guy and in the meantime, put down sticky traps. Within a few days, they were filled with them! EWWW!!! Once the exterminator sprayed, their presence decreased dramatically. Thank god for chemicals!!! Great article, by the way. I enjoy hearing that people don't die and lose limbs from them. Still...I don't trust 'em! :)

—Guest Okie

Living with brown recluse spiders

I live in the middle Tennessee area and inherited my grandparent's farm house. The house has had brown recluse spiders in it since I can remember. After moving in, I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. Nothing helped. I think spraying just put them in the mood if you know what I mean. I started putting down the glue board sticky traps and have caught many brown recluse spiders. I still see one now and then and I always shake out shoes and clothing that I haven't worn in a few days. I have been living here for almost 14 years and knock on wood have never been bitten. So if you do see a brown recluse spider in the house or the garage, it is not the end of the world. They are not evil monsters out to get you. They are just spiders. Put down some sticky boards in the dark corners of your house, shake out your shoes and accept that you live in brown recluse country.

—Guest Keith Winfree

Sunoco!

I live in upstate NY. I worked at a sunoco for roughly a year in Highschool. The store was right next to a large wooded area so we had a large insect problem. Well, one of the trucks bringing in inventory must have been harboring a brown recluse because we had a brown recluse problem. They weren't a big problem for me, i only saw one or two while stocking inventory from the back room. But, one of the co-workers was bitten in the head which lead to her needing to be on disability. The doctors didn't say if it was a brown recluse bite, and it could have been any number of other venomous spiders native to New York state, but considering we only knew of a brown recluse problem in our store, we only assumed it to be a recluse bite. Moral of the story, pests stow away and pop up in strange places. Although I do think most of these facts you put are true for the most part.

—Guest Mashin

Living With Them

I live in western Kentucky around the Illinois/Indiana border. My family and I just bought a new house in a rural community, and after moving in we discovered we had a spider problem. I will say that I have never saw a recluse spider before, so I had a hard time excepting it. After seeing and killing several spiders I took one to have it identified, which was devastating news to receive. I also have to small children 3 and 6, which just made this situation almost unbearable. After much time researching on the internet I started to come across more and more credible information besides if you get bit you will die. I have read all of the information from the gentleman for UCR and the Missouri doctor as well before finding this site, the University of Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri ect. where these spiders thrive has great information on them. So I done my research and I can say that treating the problem was far easier and less expensive than I thought. No one in my family has ever been bit.

—Guest Brian

Treated Many Bit Twice

I have personally been bitten twice and one bite on the hip caused necrosis with adipose tissue fat) draining from the wound for 8 weeks. The other was a neck bite witnessed and confirmed by a dead spider. I have personally trapped or killed around one hundred spiders in my basement. Tennessee is infested especially in the Memphis area. I have treated 50 plus bites as a physician although only about half included the spider in a jar or ones found in the house-most are from clothing bites but both of mine were in the yard. These are hunter-killer spiders who will attack. The necrosis can be horrible. I have personally debrided extensive necrosis from major bites in the operating room. The best initial therapy is rest, ice, compression and elevation. The poison is a sphingomyelinase D which causes vascular necrosis when your body attacks itself. Many wounds are treated wrongly. Early surgery only makes the necrosis worse and it is not all due to secondary infection-that is patently wrong

—Guest TED

Recluses? No.

We just moved into a house in AR with a crawlspace, attic, garage, & outdoor shed. We are out of luck. The 1st day we were there, I saw a big spider running out of our garage. I snapped a photo of it, & unless there is another spider with a violin on its back, it was a brown recluse. Since then, we've seen at least a dozen brown recluses (it's been less than a week). I have cleaned, sprayed, put down glue boards, etc, and we are still finding them. Before this house, we lived in a house with an infestation of them in the shed. I also work in a place with indoor storage, and I see brown recluses DAILY. They are big, & they are aggressive. I'm amazed I haven't been bitten yet! They have charged toward me on numerous occasions, they are almost never "hiding" & I always see them awake and active during broad day light. I thought recluses were supposed to be hiding behind boxes, in attics, etc. These are everywhere. I'll be sitting on my couch & 1 will walk across the floor - at noon.

—Guest Guest Vicne

Thanks for the debunking

Thanks for giving it your best effort, but the responses really illustrate just how hard-headed people are. I have the same issue when I try to explain to people around here (Raleigh, NC) that the brown water snakes they see are not 'cottonmouths' and will not kill them. Very frustrating. What's amazing is to see doctors who think they *know* a 'brown recluse bite' when they know nothing about the spiders. Scary, but not really surprising...

—Guest Susan Hogarth

To Guest SW Utah

Guest SW Utah: You sure those weren't Desert Recluse spiders? Because the Hurricane, UT, is part of the range of the Desert Recluse spiders (Loxosceles deserta; see http://bugguide.net/node/view/33527), but not part of the range of the Brown Recluse.

—Guest SW UT = Desert Recluse

Bites in Florida ER over 20 years

I am a Florida Licensed ARNP. I had been warned as ER legend that Florida was a prime state for the Brown Recluse Bite. One article I read released by the State of Florida said that from 1979 to the the year the article was written (about 2003) there had been only 7 documented bites in the State of Florida. I was witness to several bites in the 20 years I was in a modest sized ER in South Florida. One that really stands out in my mind was a young German camper who was walking through the state. He came to us after camping in the Florida Keys. He had what he said were two spider bites that were a week old They were now two painless open wounds about 2 inches across one on the back of his hand, the other on his hip. I was stunned. The other that was less obvious but was scary was a father brought his 4 year old daughter. She was in some sort of coma and could not be awakened. Then she began seizing. Only thing we saw was a small blister on a finger she had said was a spider bite. She lived. Editor's Note: There is no mention in any of these examples of how these wounds were determined to be the result of brown recluse bites. The writer does not suggest that a spider was captured and identified, nor that any tests were done to confirm the presence of Loxosceles venom. Brown recluse spider populations have never been confirmed in the Florida Keys.

—ronwohl

Bit in California

I was bite by a brown recluse about 15 years ago. I worked in a wrecking yard and was taking some dash parts off of a car that came from back east. The bite was on my right arm above my elbow, by morning I had a red line into my underarm area. I went to emergency and they gave me antibiotics and cream and said it was a brown recluse bite.

—Guest Jack

Treatment if caught in 24 hrs

I've had multiple spider bites. The first time I was bitten, I immediately, within 2 min. of the bite, ran cold running water on the bite. No problems developed. Yesterday, I was bitten by what appeared to be a brown recluse or hobo spider. I thought it was too small of a spider to worry about (the whole spider could have fit on the top of a pencil eraser). By that night, I could only move one toe on that foot, and there was a swollen area nearly the size of my palm. There was a knot in the center about the size of a quarter. After noticing this, I held my foot under cold running water for 30 min. I also washed the bite area thoroughly with soap and water, being careful not to aggravate the bite site (rubbing can make the bite spread quicker). I also applied a topical coat of antibiotic ointment. By the next morning (today), the swelling was the size of a beer can, the knot was the size of a dime, and I can wiggle the four affected toes just a little. I'll post changes.

—Guest Adam Lowe

Brown Recluse in Southeast Michigan

I was believe I was bitten by a brown recluse in southeastern Michigan. I initially went to the doctor's office when there was a small mark on my leg surrounded by a raised, red area. I simply thought I had gotten a mosquito bite that had gotten infected. He diagnosed a staph infection, gave me a shot of antibiotics and prescribed more oral antibiotics. However, about 3 days later, the small mark had turned into a 1/4" diameter oozing hole with black edges. I went to the ER as I was worried about the very clear necrosis of my shin (the black edges stretched another 1/4" around the perimeter of the hole). They again thought it was a staph infection and lanced (drained) it and sent me on my way. However, 2 days later I woke up in extreme pain and the hole in my leg was now the size of a quarter and 3/8" deep with black edges. I went again to the ER where they immediately diagnosed it as a brown recluse bite and said I was the 3rd patient that month with similar symptoms/diagnosis. Editor's Note: You don't mention how the last ER doctor determined it was a brown recluse bite. This is one of the most common misdiagnoses among ER visits. Without a confirmed identification of a spider - usually by an arachnologist - or some form of testing to confirm the presence of Loxosceles venom in your system, there is no way to say for sure that this was a brown recluse bite.

—MR_BO_6

Verified presence in southern Utah

My grandfather lost part of his hand b/c he was bit by a brown recluse and didn't notice right away. Also, my sister lived in a house that seemed to have an infestation. It was on the south side of Hurricane, UT. I personally saw several dead brown recluses and found a live one while folding laundry. Reading this sheds some insight - they were continually having the house sprayed so there were plenty of dead bugs around. Also, she found one in the dresser and then I found one folding laundry. SO - like others have said - the map is not correct. I'm sure they've moved with people all over the country. Editor's Note: You don't mention who verified that the spiders you found were brown recluse. Did you consult an arachnologist?

—Guest SW Utah

bit on top of foot

I woke up with a bite on my foot, a white central lesion surrounded by a 1 inch irregular dark red wine-colored flat stain, it didn't really hurt and it took 3 weeks before the center core broke open, after that the red tissue surrounding it began to disintegrate too. All the skin died in a quarter sized area and i was left with an ulcer that wouldn't heal, I had to get a skin graft, now it is 6 months later, I can almost walk normally. As small canal of skin didn't "take" so i have a dark wound that still is painful, i can,t swim yet. I never saw a spider till last week, when I went to change my sheets and saw a fast light brown spider running out of my sheets, I killed it before I could identify it. Unfortunately, I bug-bombed the attic and crawl spaces in my house and they apparently have lots of food to eat now. I am so traumatized I can hardly sleep, I guess I'll get the glue traps or move!

—Guest sharon elston

Brown Recluses invading Western NY

We are not in their distribution map, but I know 2 people personally in the last 4 months that have had to go to the hospital from brown recluse bites. This map is just wrong. These spiders are in the WNY area and the map needs to be updated to show their new habitat. Too many stories in the past few years I have found online in NYS to try and say they aren't in the area.

—Guest Matt