STORM2K

I was wondering, I am terrified to death of bugs, and when thinking about places to live I came across the southern states. I'm not trying to gather information about living down there, I just want to know...

I have heard from my friend who grew up in Ocala, Florida that the spiders are big and nasty in Florida. She said that spider killings became a daily chore. So that got me thinking, what kind of spiders are in Florida, so I did some research and found out some big nasty looking ones resided in Florida. That also got me thinking, our friends in Louisiana said that the spiders are big and everywhere in southern Louisiana. All this grosses me out, I live in the "spider free" zone of Canada it seems, I see a spider every month or so. They are also not deadly like ones you'd find in the southern USA.

What is it like to live in these regions where spiders are big, everywhere and deadly? I looked into Brown Recluses and found out that there are steps one should take when house cleaning to avoid them . Also, how big are the mosquitos in the south?

I was bitten by a brown recluse when I lived in KY. It wasn't fun, so I took bite mitigation measures and moved, promising myself that I might go back to visit but I would never live there again.

Where you find Brown Recluses.

conestogo_flood wrote:Where you find Brown Recluses.

...and in tennis shoes. My bite was on my toe.

(I noticed the image was, from all places, UK. )

Being arachnaphobic, I can tell you - "they're everywhere!"
Thank goodness for Spectracide "Bug Stop" insect killer and
a fly-swat - zap 'em, swat 'em, and scoot 'em outside while squealing
"OOOOooooohhhh!!! UGH!!" I always check my shoes before
putting them on, and, every night (get this!), I always turn back
my sheets on the bed, look them over, and, fluff the pillows to
make sure that a spider doesn't fall out! I keep a clean house,
but, those little suckers can get inside it, and, they don't care
if it's clean or not!

We gots blak widders an' bron ree-kloosez ever'wair rown' heah.

conestogo_flood wrote:

Where you find Brown Recluses.

The shaded outline should be further east because the Carolinas have brown recluse and black widow ones, too.

Eric

We have Brown Recluses, Black Widows and Tarantulas. Also from the Arachnid family we have Scorpions of which one, the Bark Scorpion, is extremely dangerous. Ironically, the Bark Scorpion is the smallest of the lot that we have here. For nasty spiders though, try Australia-I understand that the Funnel Web is a terror.

Steve

Spiders don't really bother me in fact if I see a spider inside or near my apartment I will leave it be, same applies to lizards. Why, you'd ask, because they eat insects and I REALLY HATE insects, especially bees and wasps!!

I have a house Gecko which keeps the mosquitoes down inside the house-not a bad thing considering the West Nile Threat.

Steve

Spiders don't bother me, either. If so, I would definitely have to move. I live in Conroe, TX on 5 acres and spiders are constantly in my house, on the porch, in our yard and we always look before putting on our shoes. The other day, I was intrigued by a beautiful glow-green spider that I had never seen before. I see two or three spiders a day, but they certainly help with mosquito patrol. I've set them free from the house on many occasions. What I can't stand are the ants! You could saddle some up and ride away.

we have plenty of bugs here in Qatar... sometimes, they are quite annoying! I have so many bug bites on my legs it looks like I have chicken pox... red bumps, scabbing sites, and that darn itch! Just by walking outside to.from places around the compound, they love the sweet smell of blood.

we have those nasty looking banana spiders all around here.......uggg!!!

I can't understand how you guys can all do this, live in these areas! When we landed in Orlando in August at the airport, I saw a spider in the parking garage that was about 2 inches wide. That just about ruined the whole vacation for me, I was so paranoid. Is the secret to just not care? These things are deadly, doesn't that bother anyone?

I stepped on a spider one time while playing mini golf with a friend and he had a holy cow of calcutta when he saw me do that!!

Eric

These things are deadly, doesn't that bother anyone?

Well, actually, most of them are really not deadly. However, you can get incredibly sick if you don't get a bite treated right away. The brown recluse, I think, is the deadliest in my area. I think you're right, the secret is really just not to care - but not be careless. I mean, we also have snakes and wild coyotes (one night I woke up to the noisest racket by a pack of coyotes howling right outside my door - that was scary!), and I have to make sure the cats are in at night because of the raccoons (raccoons will eat cats - especially kittens), but I love it because the minimal risks is worth getting up in the morning with a hot cup of coffee and going out to your porch just in time to see a heard of deer nibbling at the dewey underbrush in your yard, or a baby jackrabbit playing near it's mother while she keeps guard, or an armidillo scrambling around trying to find its hole, or the many cardinals that find homage on our property during the winter, or all the butterflies that spring up with the flowers, and of course, I can't forget our funny little family of roadrunners that perch themselves on top of our cars and warn us when we get too close. I could go on and on. It's a beautiful piece of country that I've learned to enjoy and respect. And that's why the spiders don't bother me. Okay, I'll admit, they bother me when I find them in my bed.

GalvestonDuck wrote:

conestogo_flood wrote:Where you find Brown Recluses.

...and in tennis shoes. My bite was on my toe.

(I noticed the image was, from all places, UK. )

Actually, UKY is University of Kentucky. And you claim to be a native of that place!

(Live in Orlando) - We have had numerous Black Widows on the back porch, but keeping the porch clean, swept out, sprayed and ACTIVE has eliminated them. By active I mean that we go out there and use the space. This minimizes the presence and activity of the bugs the spiders eat, and also they really don't want to be around people. This is usually the case with virtually all spiders - the bite comes when someone gets one trapped in their clothing, shoes, etc - or when they accidentally touch the spider. Given the chance, spiders flee rather than bite. Haven't seen one in a long time now.

As a phone-guy in the local school district - just about every equipment room we would visit (the external "mechanical rooms") would have Black Widows. One was really loaded. These rooms were dark, very dirty and visited infrequently. The spiders took advantage of this. In these rooms, we never set our toolbags down, and even zipped them closed. That one room, I counted like fourteen BIG 'Widows. We immediately bailed and radioed in a ticket for the pest control boys.

Now the horror story: My brother bought a roughed up house down in an area around Ft Myers called Lehigh Acres. Talk about Wolf Spiders! This is a wooded area, busting with them. Myself, the web-spiders - even the Banana Spiders - just don't bother me too much. It's the ones that run-down or pounce their prey that make my brain go all "jello-jigglers". The darned thing is, that only a couple types of spiders are even poisonous. Still, I see a certain size and shape - WAA! I want my Mommy!

But I never harm them (other than the Widows - gotta take them out). In the house, I keep several of those "kids" bug nets and clear containers for capture missions. Here in Orlando - inside - we just see the occasional "little guys". I trap and release outside.

The main things are to remember that spiders don't want to be around us. We are "dangerous" to THEM. Their instinct is to run away, and to avoid well-lit, clean areas. They like dry, dim to dark places, more warm than cool or cold. This is why the Recluses are found in attics and closets so often. I haven't seen Brown Recluse here, but friends say they are around. Everyone seems to have a Recluse-bite story about someone they know. Urban myths? Maybe we've just been lucky.

It's wierd. You can KNOW that the spider is just another critter, and that the vast majority are really harmless. But you know -

I was bitten once by a brown recluse; I was about 13, and felt something on my neck.

I hit it...and within minutes, my hand and arm, to the elbow, was swollen so badly that I couldn't move my fingers OR elbow. Looking at it reminded me of a VERY fat sausage.

The MD told me that if the spider had bitten my neck instead, I wouldn't be here.

I understand that the Funnel Web Spider of Australia is actually aggressive and extremely dangerous besides being a rather largish spider. Spiders are not the only 8 legged critters around. There are Scorpions as well. The largest will be several inches long and some of them can pack a wallop in their stings-especially in Africa and the Tropics and the Tropical Tarantulas unlike their desert kin can be deadly. But here in AZ, it's a tiny almost invisible Scorpion that lives in trees that are the most dangerous as their sting venom is highly neurotoxic. This is the Bark Scorpion.

Steve