This could go in the "What Spider is this?" thread but seems equally as appropriate here.
Last summer I tore down a small shed in our backyard that looked like it had been there for years. Underneath the plywood base of the shed I found a rather large, brown spider. About the size of a loonie or toonie, incl legspan.
Resisting the urge to immediately burn everything to the ground I took a few photos. Unfortunately, many were blurry (likely due to the terror induced trembling of my hand.. its eyes reflected the flash of the camera!) and these were the best two that came out, of it and its web:
Spoiler!
They have since migrated to the detached garage. Not looking at thousands of them like the poor people in this story, but there are at least a few of them still crawling around.
Obvious question being, could this also be a Brown Recluse? Based on what I can find online I'm thinking 50/50. I know the pictures a little blurry but it was definitely a dark, solid brown and looked like it had some sort of pattern on it's back.
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Last edited by FlamesAllTheWay; 10-12-2014 at 10:39 AM.
Brown Recluse bites are actually incredibly rare, even in areas where the brown recluse is known to inhabit. This article presents one of the reasons why, brown recluses do not usually occur singly, one usually finds dozens of these spiders. If your home isn't crawling with them, you probably didn't get bit by one.
They are fairly shy spiders, it is difficult, even with provocation, to convince them to bite.
Also, they are fairly small. The majority of recluse spiders are not large enough to cause envenomation.
Most scientists who work with recluses are of the opinion that the vast majority of "recluse bites" are caused by a number of other factors including insect stings and bites, infections, tick bites, and a myriad of necrotic conditions.
Finally, recluses would not be found in Calgary.
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Brown Recluse bites are actually incredibly rare, even in areas where the brown recluse is known to inhabit. This article presents one of the reasons why, brown recluses do not usually occur singly, one usually finds dozens of these spiders. If your home isn't crawling with them, you probably didn't get bit by one.
They are fairly shy spiders, it is difficult, even with provocation, to convince them to bite.
Also, they are fairly small. The majority of recluse spiders are not large enough to cause envenomation.
Most scientists who work with recluses are of the opinion that the vast majority of "recluse bites" are caused by a number of other factors including insect stings and bites, infections, tick bites, and a myriad of necrotic conditions.
Finally, recluses would not be found in Calgary.
They're here. That map is just for the United States and although it seems to still have relevance (making it appear as the though Brown Recluses aren't found in the northern states and therefore there'd be none in Canada), they actually are up here.
They're found in the Okanogan, and likely make their way to Alberta that way. And although they aren't common, they're here.
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This could go in the "What Spider is this?" thread but seems equally as appropriate here.
Last summer I tore down a small shed in our backyard that looked like it had been there for years. Underneath the plywood base of the shed I found a rather large, brown spider. About the size of a loonie or toonie, incl legspan.
Resisting the urge to immediately burn everything to the ground I took a few photos. Unfortunately, many were blurry (likely due to the terror induced trembling of my hand.. its eyes reflected the flash of the camera!) and these were the best two that came out, of it and its web:
Spoiler!
They have since migrated to the detached garage. Not looking at thousands of them like the poor people in this story, but there are at least a few of them still crawling around.
Obvious question being, could this also be a Brown Recluse? Based on what I can find online I'm thinking 50/50. I know the pictures a little blurry but it was definitely a dark, solid brown and looked like it had some sort of pattern on it's back.
Good question. I've been finding guys like these too around my condo in Chap. Definitely bigger and more 'spidery looking' than the usual critters that you find in Calgary. I don't have too big a problem with spiders but these just have the body shape that makes you immediately wanna step back.
They're here. That map is just for the United States and although it seems to still have relevance (making it appear as the though Brown Recluses aren't found in the northern states and therefore there'd be none in Canada), they actually are up here.
They're found in the Okanogan, and likely make their way to Alberta that way. And although they aren't common, they're here.
I call myth b.s. Maybe and that is a big maybe in SW Ontario near the end of summer but highly highly unlikely. There are no Recluse in Calgary. Or Southern Black Widows.
Location: Wondering when # became hashtag and not a number sign.
Exp:
Well if it's a myth then the Red Cross is perpetrating it, because they cover Brown Recluses in their first aid courses now...I did a refresher about a month ago and it was included which brought back not so fond memories.
I was actually bit by one of these MF'ers when I lived in NC, and let me tell you it was a goddamn nightmare for about 2 weeks afterwards. In fact I have lingering issues from it to this very day.
Its most horrifying to me that they now are found in Calgary.
Its most horrifying to me that they now are found in Calgary.
Prove it. Show me anything. Sure, you might get the odd hitchhiker coming back on a vehicle from down south but to think they are breeding and increasing their numbers in upper Canada is just not true. Sounds like the killer bee scare to me.
brown recluse spiders are not often found outside of their natural range in the south central United States and definitely do not occur anywhere in or near Canada.
Location: Wondering when # became hashtag and not a number sign.
Exp:
Im telling you...the Red Cross is covering how to treat the bites here in Calgary....how do I "prove" that? the RC is claiming it and that's good enough for me.
Im telling you...the Red Cross is covering how to treat the bites here in Calgary....how do I "prove" that? the RC is claiming it and that's good enough for me.
Oh, ok, the Red Cross knows more than entomologist. Sure. Thery can cover it all they want, it will be useful if you are ever down South maybe but it won't be useful in Canada.
Here's a 2007 article from the Strathmore Standard which quote Dr. Robin Leech, an Arachnologist and Executive Director of the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists: http://www.strathmorestandard.com/20...-tell-this-man
Quote:
?We do not have spiders in Canada that cause all the huge lesions and necrosis. Except for the black widows, we do not have really poisonous spiders in Canada.? (Note: necrosis is the dying of flesh.)
...?The brown recluse, Loxosceles reclusa, contrary to the opinion of many medical doctors, does not occur in Canada. It lives in Texas, north through Oklahoma and towards Arkansas. There has never been a brown recluse found in Canada.?
Last edited by driveway; 10-13-2014 at 05:18 AM.
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