www.ditl.org

That makes more sense. It wouldn't require a normally-dangerous spider, and explains why an antihistamine has a positive effect.

Mikey wrote:That makes more sense. It wouldn't require a normally-dangerous spider, and explains why an antihistamine has a positive effect.

Yeah. If a wolf spider bites my hand, it looks like a balloon in an hour. There was one in Florida (don't know the species) that bit me on the knee as a kid. I couldn't walk for a day and had a tomato for a knee.

Yeesh, again. Normally, a wolf spider bite will cause a little swelling and a lot of itching.

This seems completely alien for some reason. Are spider bites a regular occurrence in the states?

Reliant121 wrote:This seems completely alien for some reason. Are spider bites a regular occurrence in the states?

For one thing, I expect we have a lot more spiders than you do, and more varieties. Spider bites aren't an everyday occurence, but neither are they a rarity. It's actually tough to say exactly how common they are, because a spider bite is so easily misdiagnosed. There are very few spiders that are really dangerous to a human in the 'States: the most common native ones being the brown recluse (whose bites only rarely cause more than minor problems) and the black widow. The Brazilian travelling spider can be found in ports worldwide due to its habit of hiding/nesting in bananas bound for export, and is both aggressive and fatal. This particular example notwithstanding, the native dangerous spiders are timid and non-aggressive - the brown recluse, even though it does hunt, is only known to bite a person when actually pressed against the skin. Because of this, and because of the placement of a spider's fangs and resultant bite marks, many spider bites are diagnosed as shingles or another manifestation of the chicken pox virus; or as a bite from a small non-venomous snake, or an insect bite. Conversely, because of the possibility of necrosis with a spider bite, many necrotic wounds are incorrectly diagnosed as spider bites.

Reliant121 wrote:...Are spider bites a regular occurrence in the states?

I don't know about the rest of the States, but the little b*stards seem to find me wherever I go.

The conspiracy theorist in me says they are out to get me... the realist in me says I must taste good.

I read a blog by an English woman who lives in OK. She is terrified of spiders and apparently there are a lot of taratulas where she lives. The local farmers/ranchers love them because of all the bugs they eat, she nearly has a heart attack every time she sees one.

They don't prey on humans, Stitch.

Haven't you ever seen "Attack of the Spider People"????

Mikey wrote:They don't prey on humans, Stitch.

Tell that to the spiders!

Mark wrote:Haven't you ever seen "Attack of the Spider People"????

I prefer Eight Legged Freaks

I don't think there's a single species of spider over here that will bite you. In fact, I've never seen a spider bigger than a few centimetres long.

Any spider can bite a human. Most - even the ones with venom that's dangerous to people - won't unless somehow pushed into threatening contact.

Last time I got bit by a spider I ended up with super powers........oh wait.....that was Peter Parker