# Brown Recluse Spider: Wonder Why You Fear Spiders?



## Matt308 (Apr 17, 2008)

These little pricks live around my house. Though less prevalent than on the other side of the Cascade Mtns.


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## Matt308 (Apr 17, 2008)

.


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## Matt308 (Apr 17, 2008)

Ahh c'mon!!! Not that scary, huh?


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## Matt308 (Apr 17, 2008)

Oh really...


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## Marcel (Apr 17, 2008)

Once again, I'm glad I live in northern Europe


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## Matt308 (Apr 17, 2008)

10m below sea level


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## comiso90 (Apr 17, 2008)

Matt308 said:


> 10m below sea level



DON'T JINX THEM


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## Marcel (Apr 17, 2008)

Matt308 said:


> 10m below sea level



 That's just healthy, the lower you get, the more oxygen in the air. It gets worse if the sea decides to join us here, though.


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## Matt308 (Apr 17, 2008)




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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 17, 2008)

I hate ****ing spiders!


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## comiso90 (Apr 17, 2008)

Marcel said:


> That's just healthy, the lower you get, the more oxygen in the air. It gets worse if the sea decides to join us here, though.



as long as u have scuba gear


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## Matt308 (Apr 17, 2008)

Don't jinx those poor bastards either. Once is enough!!


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## R-2800 (Apr 17, 2008)

What the F is up with that one guys hand???? it's like split wide open!


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## comiso90 (Apr 17, 2008)

R-2800 said:


> What the F is up with that one guys hand???? it's like split wide open!



like a hotdog in a microwave!

.. pretty heinous tissue damage.

.


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## ToughOmbre (Apr 17, 2008)

Hate spiders too, especially that one!

TO


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## Njaco (Apr 17, 2008)

Just as dangerous as a Black Widow. Can cause death sometimes. Nasty things. Similar to the liberals in the Northeast.


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## ToughOmbre (Apr 17, 2008)

Njaco said:


> Just as dangerous as a Black Widow. Can cause death sometimes. Nasty things. Similar to the liberals in the Northeast.



As nasty as the 'Frisco libs? Probably  

TO


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## Njaco (Apr 17, 2008)




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## parsifal (Apr 17, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> I hate ****ing spiders!



Suggest you never visit Australia then...look up the Funnel web redback and trapdoor spiders.

These are all mortally venomous.

However, I am more scareed of the white tips and such. They dont kill you, they just give you a bite that virtually never heals. My brother almost lost his eye because one bit him whilst he was sleeping.

To be honest, the hype is much worse than the relaity. hardly anyone gets bitten


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## SoD Stitch (Apr 18, 2008)

R-2800 said:


> What the F is up with that one guys hand???? it's like split wide open!



The venom from the Brown Recluse has killed all of the tissue surrounding the area it bit. The flesh (and muscle) dies and, eventually, falls off, leaving the healthy tissue behind. Whoever that is, he's going to have a pretty nasty scar on his hand for the rest of his life.

Where I live, we pretty much just have Black Widows; not as deadly, but you can still get pretty sick if you get bitten by one. I usually find two or three of them around my house every year.


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## Heinz (Apr 18, 2008)

parsifal said:


> Suggest you never visit Australia then...look up the Funnel web redback and trapdoor spiders.
> 
> These are all mortally venomous.
> 
> ...



Yup. We get tonnes of white tails, found 9 one night in the kitchen!

Luckily the Funnel webs are generally found further up the coast ( female is more venemous than the black widow ) but again lots of Redbacks crusing around my house. Plus others and then theres the snakes..........


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## Wildcat (Apr 18, 2008)

Yeah, I have tons of redbacks around my house, found my son playing with one once


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## Screaming Eagle (Apr 18, 2008)

over a 3 day stretch at work we found a king brown snake, a huge red back spider and a decent sized scorpion!


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## Njaco (Apr 18, 2008)

I've read about the friggin' freaks of nature you guys have Down Under. Thank god I'm in animal control here and not there!


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## evangilder (Apr 18, 2008)

For those that understand medical terms:

_Brown recluse venom, like many of the other brown spider venoms, is cytotoxic and hemolytic. It contains at least 8 components, including enzymes such as hyaluronidase, deoxyribonuclease, ribonuclease, alkaline phosphatase, and lipase. Sphingomyelinase D is thought to be the protein component responsible for most of the tissue destruction and hemolysis caused by brown recluse spider envenomation. The intense inflammatory response mediated by arachidonic acid, prostaglandins, and chemotactic infiltration of neutrophils is amplified further by an intrinsic vascular cascade involving the mediator C-reactive protein and complement activation. These and other factors contribute to the local and systemic reactions of necrotic arachnidism.

Although numerous cases of cutaneous and viscerocutaneous reactions have been attributed to spiders of the genus Loxosceles, confirming the identity of the envenomating arachnid is difficult and rarely accomplished._
eMedicine - Spider Envenomations, Brown Recluse : Article by Thomas Arnold

For those who aren't of the medical mind, cytotoxic is basically poison that kills tissue, like the above. Hemolytic refers to the blood, and a poisoning of in this case. So what you have in Brown Recluse venom is a poison cocktail that note only kills tissue cells, but also effect healthy red blood cells. 

The bad new is that it can lead to some pretty bad discomfort and in rare cases, death. The good news is that cases like those pictured above are not common.

There are Brown Recluse Spiders in South America that have more potent venom kill a few people a year there.


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## evangilder (Apr 18, 2008)

One more thing. Black Widow venom is not as potent as that found in the Recluse and no one has died from a Black Widow bite in over 10 years in the US. I still don't take chances with widows. See, kill. I wear work gloves while working in the garage and garden for a reason. I remember grabbing a box from my garage once, moving it to the other side. As I went to wipe my brow with the back of my hand, there was a good sized black widow. The glove came off like a goon at a hockey game!


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## parsifal (Apr 18, 2008)

Aussies love to scare the euros with their stories of snakes spiders and scorpions. You can almost see their eyes go wide and the sweat beads on their foreheads


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## mkloby (Apr 18, 2008)

Was that bite untreated?


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## evangilder (Apr 18, 2008)

It sure looks that way. Not only left untreated, but untreated for a while.


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## Heinz (Apr 18, 2008)

Wildcat said:


> Yeah, I have tons of redbacks around my house, found my son playing with one once



 I hope it all ended well!

I had an affinity for bullants and decided to play a few nests when I was very young.


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## Karl Sitts (Apr 18, 2008)

Mat308, I have them around my house in New Mexico.Got bit by one last summer while sitting on the front pourch one evening. I had just finished ten days of antibiotics for a sinus infection. I got a red bump with a blister, popped the blister,put on First Aid creme. Except for a scar, it was gone within about two weeks. -Karl


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 18, 2008)

My wife is actually in the process of doing some research on arachnids as part of her studies.

We were discussing the Brown Recluse because I was bitten by a spider when I was 14 in N. Carolina and the Doctors said it was a Brown Recluse but it never really did anything but swell up and hurt.

Anyhow back to what I was saying my wife tells me that the majority of Brown Recluse bites never get worse than a painfull swelling. The crazy stuff you see up there is called *necrosis* and actually are very very rare.


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## comiso90 (Apr 18, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> *necrosis*



necrosis..

Great name for a band!

.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 18, 2008)

comiso90 said:


> necrosis..
> 
> Great name for a band!
> 
> .




 
You are right! If it was not for the fact that I allready have several names picked out for my next band I would consider it.


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## Freebird (Apr 18, 2008)

Hey Matt what county are you in? I've sometimes gone out to various parks in Whatcom San Juan, or Skagit, and been up to Moses Lake many times. Am I likely to find one of these nasties?


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## Matt308 (Apr 18, 2008)

Yep. More so in Moses Lake. I'm in King County, just north of Pierce County. 

And Adler, my favorite unused band name... StuntFish. As an aspirer for Alaska living, you should know the origin.


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## Matt308 (Apr 18, 2008)

Oh, and for those who keep their boots in the garage like me, I beat the hell out of them before I put them on. I remember as a kid in California going to drink out of a garden faucet and the first thing that came out was a Black Widow. Never have forgotten. [does the Willie Dance]


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## wilbur1 (Apr 19, 2008)

Couple years back i was cuttin wood for my mom in the back, pretty hot and sunny so took my shirt off and was cutting through a 3 foot log and finished ,brushing my self off couldnt figure out why my stomach still felt like woodchips............apparently i hit a nest of B/W found no less than 5 crawlin up my chest


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## Clave (Apr 19, 2008)

I'm just happy to live thousands of miles away from Brown Recluse or Black Widow spiders. 

I'm pretty sure that we only have _one_ species poisonous snake, the Adder, and that avoids humans anyway...

Living somewhere safe outweighs the drawbacks of the dreary weather imo..


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 19, 2008)

Matt308 said:


> Oh, and for those who keep their boots in the garage like me, I beat the hell out of them before I put them on. I remember as a kid in California going to drink out of a garden faucet and the first thing that came out was a Black Widow. Never have forgotten. [does the Willie Dance]



Back about 1986 we were living in South Carolina and my sister went to take a shower. She came back downstairs screaming saying a black spider had come out of the ventilation above the shower. My mom went up there and found a black widow clinging to the shower head.

Later that day my mom went up into the attic and found a nest of them right above the ventilation shaft. 

We had to have pest control come out and kill them all.



Matt308 said:


> As an aspirer for Alaska living, you should know the origin.



Actually no...


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## Matt308 (Apr 19, 2008)

A "fish on" that leaps and runs!


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## Njaco (Apr 19, 2008)

I'm with Clave, I am sooooo glad we don't have any dangerous creatures around here in South Jersey except for a few politicians. Or I would be a gas station attendant by now!


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## Graeme (Apr 24, 2008)

Redback spiders invade outback Queensland hospital | NEWS.com.au


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## Lucky13 (Apr 24, 2008)

Sweden doesn't seem so bad after all.... On a side note though, since I have relatives in Virginia and British Columbia, what kinda nasties can you find there?


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## Soren (Apr 24, 2008)

I loath Spiders! Nasty little critters!

Blackwidows I've seen plenty of times, as-well as various birdspiders, but the Recluse I have luckily never come close to, atleast as far as I know


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## lesofprimus (Apr 24, 2008)

We have all sorts of nasties here in south Mississippi.... Ive killed a few Browne Recluse, as well as a couple dozen black and red widows....

My old next door neighbor, Henry, got tagged by one in his garage, on his thigh.... He lost a chunk of flesh larger than a golf ball.... The dug out the rotting, decomposing flesh....

Nasty fu*kin bite gents....

Those first shots of the thumb are old shots.... I know the story behind them.... The guy ended up getting the entire thumb area amputated...

Spiders are something Ive had to deal with my entire life, so I have no problems with them... My son Ryan on the other hand, is scared sh!tless of them.... While running some patch cords to a ladys computer, he crawled out from under the desk with this white, ashen face, and asked me to get under there and kill it for him....

Know what I said to my son???

"U pus*y......"


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## evangilder (Apr 24, 2008)

lesofprimus said:


> Know what I said to my son???
> 
> "U pus*y......"



ROFL!


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## Freebird (Apr 24, 2008)

Lucky13 said:


> Sweden doesn't seem so bad after all.... On a side note though, since I have relatives in Virginia and British Columbia, what kinda nasties can you find there?


Well I don't know about Virginia, but in B.C. we don't have poison snakes or scorpions, poison spiders are rare, no man eating sharks or those nasty box jellyfish that our Aussie friends do. 

We do have a some "Darwin Candidates" that go into the woods and try to cuddle a cute little baby bear, but there is usually one of *these* not far away......


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## Lucky13 (Apr 24, 2008)

Yikes! 



lesofprimus said:


> We have all sorts of nasties here in south Mississippi.... Ive killed a few Browne Recluse, as well as a couple dozen black and red widows....


I've heard and seen Black Widows, but never heard about the Red Widow, is that one just as bad or worse than the black??


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## Soren (Apr 24, 2008)

I'm not scared of Spiders, but I sincerely don't like them, at ALL! 

Once had a big hunting spider (which isn't venomous) sit on my head while I was sleeping, I woke up seeing it sit on my nose, this big monster of a Spider - My eyes were wide open I tell ya and it didn't take a second before that thing was off of there ! Guess it was attracted to the air ventilating from my nose or something ??

Freakin nasty critters Spiders are, yack!! But still we can't live without them.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 24, 2008)

Soren said:


> Once had a big hunting spider (which isn't venomous)



That is not true. *All spiders are venomous*, with the exception of the 2 spider families _Uloboridae_ and _Holarchaeidae_.

That is how spiders kill there prey. They bite and inject venom which causes paralysis or kills them.

98-99% of spiders contain venom though that is not dangerous to humans.


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## Marcel (Apr 24, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Only 98-99% of spiders contain venom though that is dangerous to humans.


Only 98 to 99%  You sure mean 1-2%  Otherwise I'll start to kill the little [email protected]#! right now.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 24, 2008)

Ooops that was wrong. It was supposed to say that 98 to 99 percent of spiders have venom that is not dangerous to humans.

Sorry for the typo...


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## Erich (Apr 24, 2008)

I know all about these clowns hiding in cooler spots waiting to p[ounce on the unsuspecting. been tagged twice by Black widows.

brown recluse usually are a safe bet on the east side of the Cascade range but they have been known to pop their webs and fly over here on the west side to make a home

even the silly non spider :daddy long legs: has a cruel bite


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## syscom3 (Apr 24, 2008)

Soren said:


> ..... - My eyes were wide open I tell ya and it didn't take a second before that thing was off of there ! .....



Did you smack yourself on the nose to kill it?


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## Watanbe (Apr 25, 2008)

Ive had a massive night recovering atm and that almost made be throw up hahaha. We have stacks of red backs, but really they aren't dangerous. They are pretty unagressive and nobody has died from a bite in years and years. You can often be fine if you go untreated from a red-back bite. However having said that, they do give a very nasty bite and you can get quick sick. 

As for the Bear....I raise you a saltwater crocodile


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## Watanbe (Apr 25, 2008)




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## Lucky13 (Apr 25, 2008)

These are rather nice too aren't they...?


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## Soren (Apr 25, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> That is not true. *All spiders are venomous*, with the exception of the 2 spider families _Uloboridae_ and _Holarchaeidae_.
> 
> That is how spiders kill there prey. They bite and inject venom which causes paralysis or kills them.
> 
> 98-99% of spiders contain venom though that is not dangerous to humans.



Ofcourse you're right about that, what I meant was it isn't deadly to us humans.

Been bit by a daddy long legs once, itched like a bitch..



> Did you smack yourself on the nose to kill it?



*Splat!*

No, I smacked it from the side to get it off, not kill it. But I obviously did hit my nose, but I was just happy to see that monster off of there!

So did I kill it afterwards ??? Nope, I trapped it with a tupperware dish and threw it out into the forrest. Why ? Cause I hate mosquitos even more! 

Now as to the size of the thing, it was probably 7.5 to 8cm with its legs spread out, so it wasn't like it was a freaking birdspider thank god! Freaked me out nontheless though.


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## Soren (Apr 25, 2008)

Lucky13 said:


> These are rather nice too aren't they...?



As long as it stays away from me, sure..


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## Emac44 (Apr 25, 2008)

Ah the poor old spider. The most misunderstood and the most feared creature on God's Planet. Soren you story about waking up with a spider on your nose reminds me of a mate of mine who has a serious Phobia about spiders. He was over at his girlfriends place at the time. He was having a nice warm shower and after the shower my friend decided to dry his face with a lovely clean fluffy towel his girlfriend had set out for him.So upon drying his face he couldn't quiet understand why the clean fluffy towel was rough in areas across his face. Upon further inspection he found this huge Huntsman Spider inside the folds of the towel. He not only had used the Spiders backside to dry his face but as I said to him later on him relating the story to me, my friend had given this Spider a type of possible sexual gratification.

As for spiders I don't fear them I treat them as I would a snake. RESPECT. But unlike a snake I just go and get the Surface Spray and kill the spider its eggs and web. Its bloody European Paper Wasps I despise and thank you Soren for sharing those little bastards with us from Europe. For your utmost considering for sharing the European Paper Wasp with Australia Soren count on a several large boxes containing Funnel Webs from Sydney Red Back Spiders who love dwelling around the toilet seat and a box of female Grey Back Mosquitos which are so large you could enter the English Derby on and guaranted to win a poll position on by riding the Mosquito as you would ride a race horse


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## Erich (Apr 25, 2008)

spiders are not a prob for me or ants but you mention wasps, I just knocked off a Bald face hornet ( Black yellowjacket) nest off my carport roof just inches from our back door. the thing had a couple building the typical grey paper like rounded nest with hole at the bottom it was about 3x3 inches so just in the immature stages but so what..................womp !! gone in a flash the poor suckas, now to check the eaves of the house on the morrow after the long ride


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## Emac44 (Apr 25, 2008)

Didn't say I feared the Wasps Erich. Just don't bloody like them around the house or in the garden. Wasps and their nests get a similar treatment from me. Sprayed with a good Surface Spray then the nest is removed promptly. Annoying little bastards they are


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## Erich (Apr 25, 2008)

just hit em at night when everyone is at home ........... I've stepped in and slapped my face into too many of them in the wild


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## Njaco (Apr 26, 2008)

Be careful with that night attack, Erich. When I was about 13 my dad took me out at night to get rid of a few nests. He use to hit them with freon that he would bring home from work (he was PC tech at Sperry-Rand and this was the 70s - no freon regs then). Well, I'm holding the flashlight and he's off to the side in the dark, hits them and the buggers that lived came right up the beam of the light. Must have been hit about 30 times. Never forget that!

And Emac, I thought Rule #2 for being an Aussie was to Respect The Snakes!


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## Lucky13 (Apr 26, 2008)

Depends on what snakes they're talking about, real snakes or politicians....one of the two deserves respect the other not so much....


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## Matt308 (Apr 26, 2008)

Geez I never would have thought this thread would have received so much traffic. I guess spiders are not just my nemesis only.

What is it about the reptilian part of the human brain that makes us so afraid of little creatures like the spider. Makes me think that long ago the humble spider might have been even more venemous than they are now.

Thoughts??


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## Catch22 (Apr 26, 2008)

That could be it. We have a lot of stuff that carried over from our ancestors (like non-sapien), so anything's possible. I'm not expert on prehistoric spiders though lol.


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## Emac44 (Apr 26, 2008)

Not so Catch most of our fears of small creatures isn't so much of a Biological reason as to a phobia based partially on quasi religious ideas of creatures like snakes reptiles and spiders. They represent a blackness or an evilness in the human mind which we can relate back to religious ideology or a basis to semi religious stories and legends. 1 example of Reptilian or snake like creature comes to mind. The Serpent from the Garden of Eden representing Evil or Satan. And snakes reptiles insect and acracnids have been used in symbols in ceremonies in many civilization through out the history of man kind and mostly it was an ceremony to ward of evil. But of course not all such civilizations saw the Snake as evil. For example the Ancient Eygptians venerated the Cobra, But other civilizations have stories and legends involving Reptiles like Dragons and Griffins. St George battling the Dragon of legend and the Griffin the symbol of Wales. Saint Patrick of Ireland banishing evil from Ireland by banishing all snakes from Ireland etc. So not every thing can be related phobia wise to evolution of man but more to the ways of religious phobias and ceremonies that are entrenched in our minds on grounds based on religion based fears


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## Catch22 (Apr 26, 2008)

Ah, that makes a lot more sense.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 27, 2008)

I have arachnaphobia and I contracted mine through a bad experience. When I was a kid I was bitten by a spider. My arm swelled up pretty bad and started turning purple. The doctors said it was a brown recluse. Fortunatly my bite did not develop into necrosis and I have no major scars or defects because of the bite.

Ever since then I have been frighted of spiders. I am getting better however, because I am forcing myself to interact with spiders. I understand that 99% of them can not do anything to you and with that knowledge I am forcing myself into situations where spiders are.

Eventually I either want to do one of 2 things. 1.) My wifes university offers programs for people with arachnaphobia, where they put you through "therapy" with spiders and cure you of your phobia. 2.) Buy myself a tarantula or bird spider and force myself to feed and interact with it until my fear is gone.


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## Njaco (Apr 27, 2008)

Well, guess I should confess.

In my job I have tackled wallabees, buffalo, alligators, 10+ ft snakes, and vicious 100+ lb dogs, etc, etc.

But there is one thing that takes me out. I go into seizures and spasms, have had ambulances called for me, even just pictures can get me going. Its a true phobia. Good enough for the Maury Povich show.


I have a phobia for catepillars.

(_waits for laughing to subside and screens to be wiped off_)

A few things happened as a child and its a mental thing. I laugh about it because it is soooo ridiculus and besides its nice entertainment for my friends. This probably should be in the Bio thread but WTH.


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## Freebird (Apr 27, 2008)

Watanbe said:


> Ive had a massive night recovering atm and that almost made be throw up hahaha. We have stacks of red backs, but really they aren't dangerous. They are pretty unagressive and nobody has died from a bite in years and years. You can often be fine if you go untreated from a red-back bite. However having said that, they do give a very nasty bite and you can get quick sick.
> 
> *As for the Bear....I raise you a saltwater crocodile*



 Can't say I'd like to meet either one hungry....  

I've been to a Croc farm in Queensland and when those fellas see food they move *damn fast*


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## Soren (Apr 27, 2008)

Emac44 said:


> Its bloody European Paper Wasps I despise and thank you Soren for sharing those little bastards with us from Europe. For your utmost considering for sharing the European Paper Wasp with Australia Soren count on a several large boxes containing Funnel Webs from Sydney Red Back Spiders who love dwelling around the toilet seat and a box of female Grey Back Mosquitos which are so large you could enter the English Derby on and guaranted to win a poll position on by riding the Mosquito as you would ride a race horse




Hey, take it easy, it's all one big misunderstanding, the wasps took us hostages you see, we were forced to bring them along.. now take that grey back mosquito back out of that box, for gods sake don't send it!


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## Matt308 (Apr 27, 2008)

Emac44 said:


> Not so Catch most of our fears of small creatures isn't so much of a Biological reason as to a phobia based partially on quasi religious ideas of creatures like snakes reptiles and spiders. They represent a blackness or an evilness in the human mind which we can relate back to religious ideology or a basis to semi religious stories and legends.



Emac, I don't think that is accurate. If you put a fuzzy object or anything resembling a spider on a small child (baby), they come unglued. This is a brain stem (reptilian brain) reaction. Why? Who knows, probably lost in the eons past. But I would suspect that our history has been shaped by black crawlies killing our sickening our young.

Religious reasons? Naw. That's bogus.


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## wilbur1 (Apr 28, 2008)

reptilian brain..........maybe lucky?


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## Maestro (Apr 28, 2008)

God, I hate spiders ! I would rather deal with a scorpion than with a Black Widow or any other deadly spiders... At least they are easier to manipulate... Lift it by its tail and nothing bad will happen.

I saw in a documentary that there is a race of spider that has such good "teeth" that they could bite through a boot... Holy sh*t !

I'm lucky there is no deadly spiders in Canada...

**Note to self** If ever I go in Autralia, make sure to bring a .45cal with me.


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## Njaco (Apr 28, 2008)

Can't believe I just got an email from a buddy telling me to watch out for these things. Here's a pic for comparative size.


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## Soren (Apr 28, 2008)

Matt308 said:


> Emac, I don't think that is accurate. If you put a fuzzy object or anything resembling a spider on a small child (baby), they come unglued. This is a brain stem (reptilian brain) reaction. Why? Who knows, probably lost in the eons past. But I would suspect that our history has been shaped by black crawlies killing our sickening our young.
> 
> Religious reasons? Naw. That's bogus.



That is somewhat true Matt, but about the baby:

Show a spider to a baby and they usually don't get afraid, instead they will try to touch and manipulate it, or explore it so to say, maybe even try to put it in their mouth. Its if they see a parent or other grownup react violently and scared towards a spider/scorpian/mouse what'ever that they start to develop a fear for the thing, either that or they get bit and develop their fear that way. A Fear or phobia is a learned thing.

Another example is to put a nasty bug, like a roasted cockroach in a glass of water and show it to a two year old, then watch his reaction. At first he will look abit at it and then look at you, knowing that the bug isn't supposed to be in the glass, so you remove it for him, and guess what he drinks it. Try this with a 5 year old and he won't drink it after you remove the bug, cause he unlike the 2 year old has learned about contamination.


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## Soren (Apr 28, 2008)

Njaco said:


> Can't believe I just got an email from a buddy telling me to watch out for these things. Here's a pic for comparative size.



What type is that Njaco?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 28, 2008)

Soren said:


> What type is that Njaco?



That is a Brown Recluse, aka Fiddle Back Spider.


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## SoD Stitch (Apr 28, 2008)

Maestro said:


> I saw in a documentary that there is a race of spider that has such good "teeth" that they could bite through a boot... Holy sh*t !
> 
> **Note to self** If ever I go in Autralia, make sure to bring a .45cal with me.



That would be the Australian funnel-web spider and, yes, they are also from Australia. This is from good ole' Wikipedia:

"Like other Mygalomorphae, (also called the Orthognatha an infraorder of spiders that includes the true tarantulas), these spiders have fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other (cf Araneomorphae). They have ample venom glands that lie entirely within their chelicerae. Their chelicerae and fangs are large and powerful. Although they are rather small compared to the true tarantulas, they should not be handled without taking substantial precautions, _because their fangs have been known to penetrate fingernails and soft shoes_, resulting in dangerous bites."


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 28, 2008)

Here is some Trivia for you all (Like I said my wife has been working with Spiders lately so I am getting all this stuff at home right now):

Q: What is the most venemous spider in the world?


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## Njaco (Apr 28, 2008)

Hillary Clinton? 

No, wait. Googled - Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer). 

"This spider is believed to have the most active neurotoxic venom of any living spider. Its venom is so potent that only 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) is sufficient to kill a mouse."

What is the Most Venomous Spider in the World?

yes?


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## Lucky13 (Apr 28, 2008)

Aaaaand I'm getting the h*ll outa here...!


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## Erich (Apr 28, 2008)

the most venomous and you will not believe it is the daddy long leg. pound for pound.................wha ? you get my drift the thing seems worthless but yes scientists have proven this some 25 years ago

doesn't really matter they all deserve a squash under a heavy boot


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 28, 2008)

Njaco said:


> "This spider is believed to have the most active neurotoxic venom of any living spider. Its venom is so potent that only 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) is sufficient to kill a mouse."
> 
> What is the Most Venomous Spider in the World?
> 
> yes?



Nope that has been proven wrong now.... 

Very good guess and that is what most people think.

My wifes professor is one of the people who has been researching the paricular spider I am talking about and he has one at the university.





Erich said:


> the most venomous and you will not believe it is the daddy long leg. pound for pound.................wha ? you get my drift the thing seems worthless but yes scientists have proven this some 25 years ago



Nope just a myth. This was officially disproven in 2004 and the venom has been proven to be very very weak.

I will let this go for another day or two or until someone names the most venemous spider.


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## Lucky13 (Apr 28, 2008)

funnel-web spider or red back then Adler?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 28, 2008)

Nope but a good guess.


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## Lucky13 (Apr 28, 2008)

I get the feeling it's something that you've never or rarely heard of....


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## Soren (Apr 28, 2008)

Adler,

Could it be those tiny little red bastards I can't remember the name of ??

They're real tiny but I've heard their venom is amongst the most powerful in the world, luckily their fangs are too short to puncture our skin.


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## Soren (Apr 28, 2008)

It's not the Funnel web spider is it ?


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## Maestro (Apr 28, 2008)

Well, I would say the Black Widow, but I'm sure I'm wrong.


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## lesofprimus (Apr 28, 2008)

The Sydney Funnel Web Spider (Atrax robustus) is considered to be the most venomous spider in the world. It is found in the NSW coastal zone from Nelson’s Bay to Nowra. Its habitat is under rocks and houses, in a web-lined burrow. The spider is very aggressive and will attack at the slightest provocation. 
Despite its fearsome reputation, there are only 14 recorded deaths due to funnel web spider bite. However, when the spider does inject a dangerous quantity of venom, the effects can be rapid and severe, and death within an hour may occur.






What is the most poisonous spider in the world?

Did you know that out of the 35,000 or so species of spiders only 27 have been documented to have caused death in humans?

Still that's 27 species too many.

Now, if you're like us you thought the Sydney Funnel Web Spider is the world's most poisonous spider and although it can kill a person in as little as 15 minutes, it's #2 on the list.

Ranking #1 is the Brazilian Wandering Spider, also known as the Banana Spider as it's been found in clumps of bananas shipped to all parts of the world.

*Its gotta be one of the two... If it aint Chris, then someone has discovered something new....*


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## Soren (Apr 28, 2008)

I say the Funnel Web or the Brazilian Wandering Spider then.

The Funnel web spider is amongst the freaking scariest I've ever seen!


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 29, 2008)

Soren said:


> Adler,
> 
> Could it be those tiny little red bastards I can't remember the name of ??
> 
> They're real tiny but I've heard their venom is amongst the most powerful in the world, luckily their fangs are too short to puncture our skin.



Nope you are talking about the Daddy Long Legs and that is just a myth anyhow and was disproven in 2004.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 29, 2008)

lesofprimus said:


> The Sydney Funnel Web Spider (Atrax robustus) is considered to be the most venomous spider in the world. It is found in the NSW coastal zone from Nelson’s Bay to Nowra. Its habitat is under rocks and houses, in a web-lined burrow. The spider is very aggressive and will attack at the slightest provocation.
> Despite its fearsome reputation, there are only 14 recorded deaths due to funnel web spider bite. However, when the spider does inject a dangerous quantity of venom, the effects can be rapid and severe, and death within an hour may occur.
> 
> 
> ...



Nope the Funnel Web is considered the most dangerous because it actually comes into contact with humans.

Allright everyone I will tell you now:

The most venemous spider in the world is the *6 Eyed Sand Spider*, found in in deserts and other sandy places in southern Africa.

The venom has been found to be more toxic than that of the Funnel Web Spider and the Brazilian Wandering Spider. It would take only half the amount of the venom from a Funnel Web Spider to kill a human. The venom has a combined hemolytic and necrotoxic effect. It causes the massive breakdown of blood cells and causes bleeding as well as necrosis (what the Brown Recluse causes) as well as the breakdown of multiple organs (litterally eating the organs away).

*The thing that makes this spider really scary is that there is no anti-venom for it.*

Fortunatly it rarely comes into contact with humans and is very very shy.

My wifes Professor actually has a living specimen and he showed it to them in class on Monday.

You are correct though Dan in that until now the Funnel Web spider was considered the most venomous spider.


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## lesofprimus (Apr 29, 2008)

Very interesting.... What scientific proof/research does this come from???

Better call Guinness World Book...


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## Lucky13 (Apr 29, 2008)

It just look nasty....and only six eyes as well you say...?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 29, 2008)

lesofprimus said:


> Very interesting.... What scientific proof/research does this come from???
> 
> Better call Guinness World Book...



It is still being researched at this moment. I am sure once all the findings have been documented and they are sure of everything it will be reflected in books and teachings. One of my wifes Professors is researching this spider at the moment. I wish my wife had taken the camera to school on Monday and then I could have posted some self taken pics on this thread.


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## Soren (Apr 29, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Nope you are talking about the Daddy Long Legs and that is just a myth anyhow and was disproven in 2004.



No no, not the daddy long legs, know that all too well and not only because I was bit by one once.

They look like spider mites, very small and in your face red.

But I guess it's just another myth as-well, can't see what such a small spider would use such toxic venom for.

About the sand spider, well how common is it ?


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## Maestro (Apr 29, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> The most venemous spider in the world is the *6 Eyed Sand Spider*, found in in deserts and other sandy places in southern Africa.



Fawk ! That thing must be the size of my fist ! I'm happy they only live in desert.


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## syscom3 (Apr 29, 2008)

Soren said:


> such a small spider would use such toxic venom for.



Its an evolutionary advantage to be able to kill your prey immediately and on the spot.

Thats why many of the Aussie snakes that live in the outback have such lethal bites. Powerfull toxins in a large dose will ensure their food does not escape or fight back.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 30, 2008)

Soren said:


> About the sand spider, well how common is it ?



I honestly do not know. I can ask my wife tonight when she gets home from the University. I am going to ask her to go and actually take a pic of the damn thing using our camera.


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## Lucky13 (Apr 30, 2008)

Still, so much venom, enough to kill a human, when everything they kill is sooo much smaller...don't see them drag away a human... 
Not afraid of the wee critters, but I do have an HEALTHY respect for the f*ckers...


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## Emac44 (Apr 30, 2008)

Its ok Lucky we won't send you any spiders or snakes from Australia. We will just send you a nice little octopus to play with called the Blue Ringed Octopus. This little bugger is mostly found around the Sea Edge in rock pools and is found in most parts of Australia. Oh did I forget to menion it is also venemous

Blue Ringed Octopus


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