Watch Out For Spiders In Your Crickets

OMG, I am so happy that brown recluse don't live in Pa.

Although I did live in Florida for 13 years and I have seen thousands of those orb spiders with the lightning bolts on their backs. We called them banana spiders cause they always had their webs in the banana trees. When I was younger and not as afraid as I am now, we used to catch moths and grasshoppers and have someone throw them into the webs and watch the spiders mummify them. Of course I never got closer than 5 feet cause I know deep down in my gut those suckers can jump!!!! And yes 5 feet distance was when I was not afraid. Lol

lol webslave. You see, I'm cool with photos, and they are in cages, but out in the open....noooooo, I'll just avoid that area like the plague.

How are we suppose to convince non-reptile lovers that reptiles are cool, non slimey, make great pets, etc. and that their fear of snakes is irrational, when we have a bunch of sissies in our midsts

I can live with sissy comments when it comes to spiders.

But other than spiders thems fightin words.............

I just read Wes's "contribution" many thanks bud.. now I know what that funny taste is when I wake up sometimes...
7 whole spiders...in my mouth ...no way that is not cool...where's the duct tape!!!!!

If I am not mistaken, the Brown Recluse lives in ALL of the States. They like the warm south, but get transported to ALL of the States in moving vans, etc.
I had two of them in my pool filter a few days ago here in Southern California.

I think the originator of this thread was very confrontational in the emails, and should not have been surprised to get the comments he did, back. I am surprised the replies were not harsher, based on his emails.

Dave

Originally Posted by David Reid

If I am not mistaken, the Brown Recluse lives in ALL of the States. They like the warm south, but get transported to ALL of the States in moving vans, etc.
I had two of them in my pool filter a few days ago here in Southern California.

Maybe it was a different recluse? Seems the range is more in the midwest. Here's the "alleged" range of the Brown Recluse and related spiders, from the University of Florida (http://okaloosa.ifas.ufl.edu/Horticu..._challenge.htm):

From what I have heard, the Brown Recluse has a "natural" range, and then a new range, from unnatural transportation. My understanding is they have been seen in every state, usually indoors. These sightings have been attributed to moving/people relocating from a Recluse area, to a non Recluse area and taking them with them in "junk from the garage", clothes that they have not worn in a long time, etc. The picture in an earlier post of the Brown Recluse was exactly what I pulled out of my filter, so they are definately here, if that was indeed a picture of a Brown Recluse. I will check out the filter basket again today, and see what I find

I lived in Olympia, WA for about 8 yrs. When I catch a cold, it usually, if not always progresses the same way. Aching head, hard to get my equalibrium, fever, cold sweat, etc. It usually lasted for 4-8 days, never less. Luckily, I only really got sick about once every 2 or 3 yrs. WELL, I wake up, and feel sick, first day of the cold. I call in sick to work, tell em not to expect me the next day either, and go to bed. I sleep all day, about 1 in the morning, I feel a tingle on my back, think I was dreaming, and go back to sleep. About an hour later, I wake up and feel like I have a fat lip, you know, like I got a shot of novacaine. So I go in the bathroom and look at my lip, does not look really big, just FEELs big, and tingles/knumb. So I remember my back, and look at it, and see a red welt about 3 inches in diameter, look inside my lip, and see a couple of red spots. My girlfriend walks in (now my wife and we sumize the following: spider bites me on the back, then crawls onto my face, I breathe in, and it shoots into my mouth, bites my lip, and I swallow it NOW, for the cool part, I feel great, no fever, no coughing, no headache, I feel great. Went to work the next day. So, could the spider venom have helped my cold or what? Like I said, I am NEVER just sick for one day, and at 1 when I woke up, I was still sick. Anyway, lame story but true...

Words can't describe what I would do if I felt anything crawling on me in my bed. I would wake the city with my screams. My spider web dance is bad enough, I can just imagine what I would look like thinking I had a spider on me in the middle of the night. I am not ashamed to admit it. I would probably pee myself and then passout.