I just killed a minimum of 2 Brown Recluse spiders in my shed. The reason I bring this up is because I'd never seen them this far north. I've seen them in Southern VA. I've seen them in NC and SC but I have never seen one this far north before.

So my question is have we always had Brown Recluse here in Fairfax and I simply never stumbled across one before or is this unusual.

I'm absolutely certain about identification of the spider(s) I'm just surprised to find them in my shed.

For those of you who don't know, a Brown Recluse spider can cause terrible damage to flesh at the least and can kill those with compromised immune systems. These things are far worse than Black Widow spiders which I have seen plenty of here in Fairfax.

It bears mentioning that I don't live in an especially wooded area, I'm located about a mile from GMU in a typical neighborhood.

Some copypasta from an informational website about Brown Recluse:

"The Fiddle Back or Brown Recluse spider can inflict a large amount of damage. The venom enters the skin and then the muscle often leaving a gaping hole. Skin grafts are often needed to help the healing process. The healing process can take 6 to 8 weeks. Seeking immediate medical attention can speed up the healing process and reduce scarring.

The Fiddle Back or Brown Recluse spider is normally identified by the shape of a fiddle on the head/back of the spider.

The Fiddle Back or Brown Recluse spider will try to avoid human contact but when pressured it will bite. The spider will often hide in clothing, closets, shoes, bedding. This means they are not normally out in the open visible to sight.

Since the Fiddle Back or Brown Recluse spider likes to hide, before spraying, furniture and items should be moved away from the wall. Monthly or quarterly spray cycles should be set up."

I think it's important to mention this in bold letters. If you come across this spider you should either kill it or get away from it. These things HAVE KILLED people and severely scarred others!
I don't want to freak anyone out but this is the result from another website that shows the results, on one victim, of a bite from a Brown Recluse.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2011 03:44PM by Ogien.

Ogien Wrote:
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> The spider will often hide in clothing,
> closets, shoes, bedding.

This has always freaked me out. I always inspect my shoes before inserting my foots.

I was bit by one of those fuckers at Ft. Benning. Awful. Terrible. Miserable experience.

JBass Wrote:
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> I was bit by one of those fuckers at Ft. Benning.
> Awful. Terrible. Miserable experience.


Yeah I can well imagine, those fuckers have a very nasty and well deserved reputation. Luckily I've never had the displeasure of being bit by one and I hope I can keep it that way.

Ogien Wrote:
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The reason I bring this up is because
> I'd never seen them this far north. I've seen them
> in Southern VA. I've seen them in NC and SC but I
> have never seen one this far north before.




Just more evidence to proof that NOVA is southern!

robert e lee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Just more evidence to proof that NOVA is southern!


Sure would seem that way. Not exactly the southern tradition I was hoping for though.

They've always been here. I was bitten by two in the late 90s. We had a problem with them in the basement.

vgnlinfxn Wrote:
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> They've always been here. I was bitten by two in
> the late 90s. We had a problem with them in the
> basement.

Wow, I'm honestly surprised, I had never stumbled across them in Fairfax before. Other states further south, yes. Here in Washington DC area, never. Guess I just learned something new.

Oh no, JBass, are you 82ND? Ranger? Spec Ops? ODA? Please no. If so, we have some solidarity

Yeah, on the other thread about spiders it says the recluse is pretty much only in the southwestern tip of Virginia...not good if they're here!

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/615384/615388.html#msg-615388

I better start checking my "lawn mowing" shoes out in the garage before wearing them, huh?

Olde Farte Wrote:
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> Yeah, on the other thread about spiders it says
> the recluse is pretty much only in the
> southwestern tip of Virginia...not good if they're
> here!
>
> http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/61
> 5384/615388.html#msg-615388
>
> I better start checking my "lawn mowing" shoes out
> in the garage before wearing them, huh?

Yeah, I don't want to get everyone worked up or anything but you might want to check your property and see if you see anything that looks like the Picture I posted in the OP.

Brown Recluse spiders are a little bit larger than a Quarter ($0.25) but what they lack in size they make up for in venom.

I know I'm not going to leave shoes or gloves outside and especially not in my shed.

You can get a similar skin infection from injecting heroin or other drugs.

Spiders eat stinkbugs.

Enough with hysteria. How many people in Virginia have died from this Brown Recluse Spider?

How many things can we be scared of. I hate the Metro too. Now if the Metro was filled with brown oh no..

JBass Wrote:
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> I was bit by one of those fuckers at Ft. Benning.
> Awful. Terrible. Miserable experience.


Shame it didn't kill you. Or jump school for that matter.

Entomoligist's still disagree on Northern habitat of Brown Recluse/Violin Spider/ Fiddle Back in No. Virginia. Bite-incidence's for this arachnid are on the up-swing over past decade. Could be due to global warming and their habitat heading further North? Antivenom supply has recently (in last 2 yrs) become available for quick delivery to No. Va. from hospitals in GA,TN and SC. We are all far more likely in FFX to get hit by a bus rather than being bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider.

jabASS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JBass Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I was bit by one of those fuckers at Ft.
> Benning.
> > Awful. Terrible. Miserable experience.
>
>
> Shame it didn't kill you. Or jump school for that
> matter.

Spider bites were least of that fuckwit's worries. Having his rectum ripped apart by horny soldiers for $50 a pop was the real bullet that fuckwit dodged.

I live in a wooded area. I can take the deer,rabbits,frogs,mice and maybe a snake.

Spiders scare me. I think it may be because I am a girl and we are made to protect our young.

Please leave me in the dark. I care not to care.

> We are all
> far more likely in FFX to get hit by a bus rather
> than being bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider.

Pretty likely considering how bad Metro Bus drivers drive.

So Friday found one of these in my laundry room. Not knowing about it on here I decided to pick it up in a container and take it out side so it could be free. I'm sure it won't come back to my house you all should be careful.

the brown recluse spider is the real deal..DO NOT take it as a joke. They will cause major harm...Take it serious. I had to have skin graphs, and went thru months of hell because of this c-sucking spider.

Hi,

If you want to see more photos of wounds and scars from recluse bites, the site: http://www.brownreclusespider.biz/woundsandscars.htm has some really unpleasant bite photos.

...there's this info from another br spider website, http://brownreclusespider.com/info.htm:

Email Photos of Spider Bites - Are they Real?

Many people have been circulating a series of images showing a terrible bite with the skin deteriorating to the bone claiming the injury to be a brown recluse spider bite. An expert offers the following:

It is possible that the wound did result from a recluse bite. However, a number of aspects of this story are pretty suspicious, and have the classic symptoms of a hoax.

No one can seem to verify where the alleged bite occurred, whether a spider was caught in the act of biting or at the scene of the crime, whether the victim was tested for additional etiologic agents of necrosis such as bacterial infection, if a doctor actually made the diagnosis or it was a self-diagnosis from the victim, if the diagnosis came from an area of the country that actually has brown recluses, etc.

Some versions of this have included a picture of a spider that was supposed THE spider that caused the wound. Not so. It is a stock photo from an Ohio university website. This image was used last year in a very hyperbolic news story in Long Island.

The final summary on this is that if it indeed is a brown recluse bite, then it is truly one of the rare, horrific ones however, there is not sufficient information provided with this image to ascertain whether it is credible or not.

Rick Vetter Entomology Univ. Calif. Riverside Riverside, CA 92521

Please do not refer to the spiders as Brown. They are spiders of color.

then again... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...there's this info from another br spider
> website, http://brownreclusespider.com/info.htm:
>
> Email Photos of Spider Bites - Are they Real?
>
> Many people have been circulating a series of
> images showing a terrible bite with the skin
> deteriorating to the bone claiming the injury to
> be a brown recluse spider bite. An expert offers
> the following:
>
> It is possible that the wound did result from a
> recluse bite. However, a number of aspects of this
> story are pretty suspicious, and have the classic
> symptoms of a hoax.
>
> No one can seem to verify where the alleged bite
> occurred, whether a spider was caught in the act
> of biting or at the scene of the crime, whether
> the victim was tested for additional etiologic
> agents of necrosis such as bacterial infection, if
> a doctor actually made the diagnosis or it was a
> self-diagnosis from the victim, if the diagnosis
> came from an area of the country that actually has
> brown recluses, etc.
>
> Some versions of this have included a picture of a
> spider that was supposed THE spider that caused
> the wound. Not so. It is a stock photo from an
> Ohio university website. This image was used last
> year in a very hyperbolic news story in Long
> Island.
>
> The final summary on this is that if it indeed is
> a brown recluse bite, then it is truly one of the
> rare, horrific ones however, there is not
> sufficient information provided with this image to
> ascertain whether it is credible or not.
>
> Rick Vetter Entomology Univ. Calif. Riverside
> Riverside, CA 92521


The point wasn't about the wounds, at least that wasn't my intent in starting this thread.

My point was that I was rather surprised to find Brown Recluse Spiders in my shed as I had NEVER seen them this far north. Like I said, Southern VA, NC and SC are places I've seen them but never in Fairfax VA near GMU...

I used a bug bomb in my shed and assume that pretty much everything in the shed is now dead.

Arent their webs in bushes, in ground and wood pile type places and funnel shaped? They do not just build a web on your front porch over night. Either way I try and kill any spider in my house! It is now time for the invasion of wolf spiders too....ugh

I live just south of Richmond and I just killed a quarter sized light brown spider with a fiddle on its back in my childrens bathroom! After killing it I looked it up in fear that it was indeed a brown recluse, never seeing one in real life before. Ewwww, I'm so creeped out, are there more? I'm so scared for my children's safety! I'm pregnant and due in one week! I can't bomb the house! What should I do?! Btw Ive noticed on this and other sites most sightings occurs in September!

Most people confuse wolf spiders for brown recluse spiders. Wolf spiders are very common in sheds, garages and basements and is most likely what you found.

The poster that mentioned he had brown recluse spiders in his basement better hope he didn't. If he did, using a bug bomb will only make the problem worse. Bug bombs typically do not work on brown recluse spiders. What it will do, however is create an ideal feeding environment as it is one the only spiders to prey on dead insects. Congrats!!!

Also, they are not more powerful than the black widow. A black widow's venom is 15 times the strength of a rattle snake. We have many black widow spiders here. Enjoy.

WidowMeThis Wrote:
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> Most people confuse wolf spiders for brown recluse
> spiders.

Yeah, a wolf spider was jumping across our garage floor the other day - I started jumpin', too!

Brown Recluse spiders apparently have a very prominent "violin" mark visible starting from their head backward if Google Image Search is to be believed. Wolf spiders are thicker all around, including legs.

I can't wait till we have alligators in the Potomac.

Look out for Brown Widows as well. They are an Afican import, they don't have the distinctive black nor do they always have a well defined red hourglass. Plus they are more toxic than black widows.

Atom Wrote:
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> I can't wait till we have alligators in the
> Potomac.
>
> Look out for Brown Widows as well. They are an
> Afican import, they don't have the distinctive
> black nor do they always have a well defined red
> hourglass. Plus they are more toxic than black
> widows.

We have the black version in our garage, too - and this is not a boonies garage, but a deep-suburban garage.

I live less than 1 mile from the DC border and I've seen two copper heads this summer.

Can you post pics on here from an iPhone?

I am in South Riding and have found a couple black widows in my garage. I had a good friend bitten by a brown recluse on Twin Lakes Golf Course a few years ago. He was in bad shape for a few days. I told him to not hit his ball in the woods, but a spider bite that put him in the hospital for a few days really taught him a lesson.

Thank you! that was a funny post and actually worth reading.

I just bought a condo in Newport News va that was vacant for two years. I found a brown racluse in a bathroom. I sprayed the complet home with a spray I purchased in a hardware store that states it kills racluses. In the process I while spraying the baseboards I killed two in my first floor and two in my second floor. I'm worried about having an infestation. Can anyone tell me how to determine what constitutes an infestation. Should I be worried or is this normal. I was told by a friend that this year lots of racluses have been sighted more than recent years. What should I do?

We were seeing a steady increase in black widows, even found one inside, until the last two winters. I haven't seen a single one now. I wonder if the brown recluse had a similar fate. Have never seen them here (central ffx county).

Larry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just bought a condo in Newport News va that was
> vacant for two years. I found a brown racluse in a
> bathroom. I sprayed the complet home with a spray
> I purchased in a hardware store that states it
> kills racluses. In the process I while spraying
> the baseboards I killed two in my first floor and
> two in my second floor. I'm worried about having
> an infestation. Can anyone tell me how to
> determine what constitutes an infestation. Should
> I be worried or is this normal. I was told by a
> friend that this year lots of racluses have been
> sighted more than recent years. What should I do?

I'd recommend burning the place down and collecting the insurance. You should, however, check the local statutes, as this may be illegal in some places.

Someone told me that type of spider gets on your eyes while you're sleeping and sucks the fluid out. I don't know if it's true but I wonder.

It's sometimes confused with other spiders.
I doubt it was the recluse.

I have had many wolf spiders I've killed in my home, however.
Been bit, but it just itches a few days and heals up without medical treatment.