Question about the brown recluse spider?

Question

This may sound like a dumb quetion but anyways I just read about the brown recluse spider and where it lives in the mideastern and south west but still I wonder if it migrate up all the way here to Maine Im afraid to go near my bed to sleep now and I also have aracnaphobia very severly am I paranoid just becuse I read about the spider what are the chances if it migrating all the way up here

Answer 1

There is essentially no chance that the brown recluse would be
found in Maine, and no chance that, if it ever got there, it would survive a Maine winter outdoors. The danger from brown recluse bite is vastly over-rated, as is often the case with any
poisonous animal. The range of the brown recluse and its
near relatives is in south-central and southwestern United States. They occasionally turn up elsewhere, in the household goods of someone who has recently moved from somewhere
in their normal range, but they do not survive outdoors in the
northern states. See the reference below for more intormation
on their range, the bite, and other things that can be confused
with it.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Question about the brown recluse spider?
This may sound like a dumb quetion but anyways I just read about the brown recluse spider and where it lives in the mideastern and south west but still I wonder if it migrate up all the way here to Maine Im afraid to go near my bed to sleep now and I also have aracnaphobia very severly am I...

Answer 3

I"m as scarred of spiders as anyone, just keep your room picked up, change your sheets regularly and vacuum under the bed and keep clutter away. Maybe have an exterminator check your house out every 6 months or so like i do, and you should be safe.

I live in the pacific northwest and the books say brown recluse aren't up here but that's cr*p, we have both browns and the black widow and even tho my house had black widows when i bought it the exterminators have kept them out for the last 5 years. Haven't even seen the regular bugs some houses get up here. So don't worry just take the right steps and you should be fine.

Answer 4

Spider Bites In Maine

Answer 5

As indicated by its name, this spider is not aggressive and usually bites only when pressed against human skin, such as when tangled up within clothes, bath towels, or in bedding. In fact, many wounds that are necrotic and diagnosed as brown recluse bites can actually be Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Actual brown recluse bites are rare. Brown recluse bites may produce a range of symptoms known as loxoscelism. There are two types of loxoscelism: cutaneous (skin) and systemic (viscerocutaneous).

Most bites are minor with no necrosis. However, a small number of bites produce severe dermonecrotic lesions, and, sometimes, severe systemic symptoms, including organ damage. Rarely, the bite may also produce a systemic condition with occasional fatalities. Most fatalities are in children under 7 or those with a weaker than normal immune system. (For a comparison of the toxicity of several kinds of spider bites, see the list of spiders having medically significant venom.)

A minority of bites form a necrotizing ulcer that destroys soft tissue and may take months and possibly (very rarely) years to heal, leaving deep scars. There have been no known cases of actual brown recluse bite sites taking years to heal; those that do can usually be attributed to a systemic infection or disease such as diabetes. The damaged tissue will become gangrenous and eventually slough away. The initial bite frequently cannot be felt and there may be no pain, but over time the wound may grow to as large as 10 inches (25 cm) in extreme cases. Bites usually become painful and itchy within 2 to 8 hours, pain and other local effects worsen 12 to 36 hours after the bite with the necrosis developing over the next few days.

Serious systemic effects may occur before this time, as the venom spreads throughout the body in minutes. Mild symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever, rashes, and muscle and joint pain. Rarely more severe symptoms occur including hemolysis, thrombocytopenia, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Debilitated patients, the elderly, and children may be more susceptible to systemic loxoscelism. Deaths have been reported for both the brown recluse and the related South American species L. laeta and L. intermedia. Other recluse species such as the desert recluse (found in the desert southwestern United states) are reported to have caused necrotic bite wounds.

Numerous other spiders have been associated with necrotic bites in the medical literature. A partial list includes the hobo spider, the white-tailed spider, and the yellow sac spider. However, the bites from these spiders are not known to produce the severe symptoms that often follow from a recluse spider bite, and the level of danger posed by each has been called into question. So far, no known necrotoxins have been isolated from the venom of any of these spiders, and some arachnologists have disputed the accuracy of many spider identifications carried out by bite victims, family members, medical responders, and other non-experts in arachnology. There have been several studies questioning danger posed by some of these spiders. In these studies, scientists examined case studies of bites in which the spider in question was positively identified by an expert, and found that the incidence of necrotic injury diminished significantly when "questionable" identifications were excluded from the sample set.

Living with brown recluse (a letter from someone in the thick of brown recluse habitat)


Rick, I've corresponded with you in the past, and had a rather large collection of them (brown recluses) in alcohol, but it was thrown away by accident, (so she claims). I guess I had over 50 in that little jar. Anyway, I'm sorry I couldn't send them to you. If anyone has a problem with a B-R infestation in their home, I can strongly recommend getting a cat or two, as cats are often nocturnal hunters, and they love, (at least mine do), to kill any kind of tiny creatures. I was actually having a difficult time snapping these pictures, and keeping the cat at bay long enough to do it. We have lived here now for about three years now, and no one in our family, with the possible exception of my wife two years ago, (can't be sure of that one though), has EVER been bitten. Thank God these little critters aren't aggressive, or we'd have all been devoured by now. I've found them in our bed, our clothes drawers, our closet, our bathtub, (they seem to be attracted to the bathtub), and especially in our shoes. We always check our clothes before getting dressed, and check our beds before getting in them. I've had them crawl across me while sitting on the couch, and crawl up my leg occasionally while working at my computer, and have yet to be bitten. But I must confess, I wish I didn't have to contend with them. One question, We are moving soon, and I was wondering what the probability of accidentally packing a few up and taking them with us would be. Oh, in case you don't remember me, ( I'm sure you probably don't), My name is Steve G*****, I'm the father of three kids, and we live in Snead Alabama. A tiny little community about fifty miles north of Birmingham. Approx. two hours west of Atlanta.