Apparently not everyone reacts badly to them! (edited to add: I’m talking about brown recluses here) Just a small percentage. And I’ve read their jaws aren’t strong enough to bite you, so when you’re “bitten” by them, it’s bc you squished into them and their fangs broke your skin. The more I learn about them the less scary they seem. I grew up in Texas so I’ve heard all about their reputation…which seems to be unwarranted for the most part. Hope that makes you feel better lol.
Edit: okay I just noticed your screen name, are you a fan of spiders? If so, disregard my knowledge drop bc you already knew that lol
While we luckily don't have them where I live, from what I know you can get a good estimate on how dangerous they are but comparing their claws and tail/stinger size.
The bigger Thier tail is compared to the claws the more vemonous they are and vice versa.
Someone will surely correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe scorpions are one of the uncommon cases where if you’re stung or bitten by something, you’re better off if they’re on the larger end of their species. The reason is that an adult scorpion knows it only needs to deliver a modest jolt of venom to deter humans, while a “child” doesn’t know to regulate their venom and it would result in a much more painful sting.
I've never heard of different aged scorpions stinging with different venom amounts, but I know that the largest kinds of scorpions can usually hunt with their large front pincers and therefore don't need as strong venom. Smaller species that can't subdue prey the same size as them have to rely on more powerful venom to quickly kill their food.
Venomous snakes are the same way, juveniles don’t know how to use just enough venom for the job so they end up just using all of their venom every bite. So it’s better to get but by an adult then a juvenile
You know come to think of it I’m not even sure where I picked up my factoid either. Though where I live the air hurts my face for half the year AND i get the pleasure of watching for all sorts of venomous spiders and snakes, luckily no scorpions though.
I've seen em in person. And I've never heard of someone getting bitten and having side effects like the pics online show. I know people who have been bitten but yeah, they were fine.
I've seen black widows before, they're not as big as you'd think they would be, and are very easy to spot since they're black in color. Though they are still painful and can pierce the skin and cause nausea, so overall, still really fucking scary!
Black Widows can do a lot more than just cause nausea lol it is true that often people don't die but it has happened and can be a horrible experience.
Brown recluses can rot your skin off -- my ex has permanent nerve damage in her back from where she got bitten.
Scorpions... I have no idea, grew up in south east us and never saw one. Always thought they'd kill you but learned later they're usually just really painful.
I was told black widows and scorpions would kill you, but alas, just severe pain usually.
A black widow is far more dangerous than these scorpions. I was stung in the neck by one and it was no big deal. It was like a wasp sting, instant pain for up to a day, then dull pain for maybe a week. Red wasps are worse. The sting is about the same… but they’re super aggressive and can fly.
I mean, people also respond wayyy differently. That's why it's hard to know. Some people get bitten by a brown recluse and barely have a scar even without treating it, others treat it and end up with holes in their bite area.
I'm surprised it's compared to a red wasp though. I've been stung by red wasps, yellowjackets, honey bees, asian giant hornets (murder hornets but I have only seen them alone one at a time, not sure why they kill so many people in japan -- maybe a whole hive attack) and the hornet was so much worse, and the yellowjacket surprisingly wasnt far behind. But maybe I am just more sensitive to it, since we are all different. I don't know man.
I do know yellowjackets are evil bastards, and that black widows/brown recluses gave me my fear of spiders. Despite now living in central europe, I act like every spider could kill me, when I know that isn't true.
edit: also yeah, if similar to wasps/hornets you pissed off one scorpion then like 50+ scorpions ran to you to repeatedly sting you, it might also end up like people dying from hornets. My grandpa almost died from hornets like... shit. Many many decades ago. 75+ years ago I guess? Just cutting a tree and vroom stingers go brrrr
Yeah, definitely varies by person. Looking across averages, black widows and brown recluses have worse outcomes over these bark scorpions and that’s all I’m trying to say.
Not trying to generalize that every bite from a widow is worse than every sting. Hell, it even varies by individual insect. I’ve been stung a dozen times by a red was and it was no big deal. Then one time I was stung in the ankle and my whole foot blew up.
Where these buggies nest makes a difference. I honestly don’t think yellow jackets are that painful, but the species that nests in the ground can fuck right off. You can find yourself swarmed with no warning if you’re hanging around the wrong place.
I get you. Yellowjackets have always had bad strings for me and been absurdly aggressive, but that's my experience. I recently had two asian giant hornets (not on the same day) fly into my window on the 12th floor in central europe, and they are terrifying because of their size, but I managed to get them outside without getting attacked these two times. I feel a yellowjacket from back home would have just attacked me in my sleep because I existed.
So, bark scorpion you probably don't need a hospital after getting stung? or any scorpion for that matter? Assuming you aren't severely allergic, I mean.
There are definitely scorpions you have to be careful with. General rule is the larger the pincers, the safer the sting. The idea is the pincers do the killing since they are large and strong. Small pincers means they need more potent venom to kill.
As you can see, bark scorpions have pretty small pincers, hence the painful sting. It’s still a neurotoxin, so it can pose a risk that way. The good thing about neurotoxins is that if you can survive the effects after initial injection, you’re usually in good shape. For scorpions… that’s really easy to do. There is a risk of infection, but it’s nowhere near what you may get from a spider bite.
I grew up around an absurd amount of them, as I said above I've mainly only been stung by wasps and hornets, and a couple bees which were usually my fault stepping on them (the wasps/yellowjackets are just fuckers.)
My ex got bit 3 times basically down her spine in a southeastern state in the u.s. I'm pretty positive there's not brown recluses in europe, as I was saying earlier, I like not having venomous things here lol
Was bit like7 times by a black widow while I was sleeping. The bites became swollen like golf balls and I had a slight fever and headache for a day or two but eventually it went away.
I’m pretty sure the little white scorpions are dangerous because they’re young and don’t have complete control over their muscles, so they release all of their venom during bites rather than a little bit. I’m not sure if that’s true but that’s the lore around them where I was living.
It works that way for snakes at least. Mostly they have no interest in wasting their venom on you because you are too big to eat and will let you off with a warning, but juveniles can't control very good how much they inject
Thats a myth. Can't speak about scorpions, although I assume it is similar. But it is not true that baby venomous snakes are more dangerous because they can't control their venom. There was a whole thread about this recently.
I mean I am fascinated by everything that crawls on 6 or more legs and I also have years of experience in caring for and breeding various tarantulas, phasmids, bugs, roaches and so on, but sometimes I'm really glad I live in a country where the most dangerous thing that can sting you is probably a wasp....I think.
In central europe atm and it took me a long time to adjust to that reality. Asian giant hornet is the worst I have seen here, which I said above. Still, it's just a sting and the two I saw were alone (or maybe the same one on different days? Idk.)
Point is, I carry a knife because of peoples dogs, or a random boar, or some other random aggressive animal (or human -- methheads are basically the equivalent of a rabid animal, but even the methheads here are way less violent than the U.S.)
In america I was just scared to sit on a rock or lift an object up for fear of there being a venomous snake or a black widow or something. Also, I feared humans even more, used to carry a gun. I don't really fear walking somewhere here in central europe at all, again, I carry a knife due to animals that probably will never attack me.
I now am pretty anti-gun, or at least very pro-gun control. I'd also probably get a home defense gun if I move back to the U.S. After feeling "safe" here, the difference is staggering. It's like the atmosphere is different.
Went kinda off topic but yeah, all related. I just want those critters to live their own life away from me lol
Yeah I’m in the southeast and it’s the same with snakes. Everyone makes it sound like if you get bit you die. But really it’s like, just go to the ER and you’ll be fine, it’ll just hurt a ton. Now pets and children on the other hand can be way more dangerous
It depends though. A lot of those snakes will leave you with really severe lasting damage, assuming you mean southeastern U.S.
You may live but might be fucked over if you even survive. Tbh, a copperhead/rattlesnake bite isn't something that is overstated like black widows and brown recluses. Like, you actually might die, and if you don't you might have long term side effects.
Unless you have an allergy, death from a spider bite or scorpion sting from any species native to the US is very unlikely. The bark scorpion is the species of most medical concern in the Southwest, and even then the most common symptoms are shooting pain for 1-3 days like you said.
Good to know =) I also condemn all of the southern US because fuck those creepy crawlies, but I feel better knowing I probably won't die or have lasting damages from a scorpion.
Although brown recluses can and will leave lasting damage, I know a few people who have been through it. Usually from not being treated, same as not treating a staph infection, but even getting it treated can result in long term side effects.
Snakes are the worst about this though. If you see a Cottonmouth/copperhead/rattlesnake, calmly fucking leave. It's not like a scorpion or a black widow. You need to leave and just admit you lose. Have my whole house, rattlesnake, I'm gone. There's coffee making in the kitchen, have fun.
I got a black widow bite a few years back and did not even feel it when it occurred (I was helping to move some pumpkins around Halloween and one was on the bottom). Had some swelling around the bite, not a ton of pain, but definitely had that nausea bit for about a day which made me not want to eat, and what I can only describe as flu-like symptoms for about 2 days. Wouldn't recommend, certainly, but it was not as dire as I feared.
Always best to get evaluated by a medical professional though.
Not really afraid of black widows anymore since there are so many around here, they don’t act too aggressive. My brother put his foot in a boot, felt something and pulled out to see a fat b widow chilling on his toes (he had socks).
Clearly saw the hourglass when my dad smacked it off, I guess they just aren’t that aggressive.
They can get really big. I think it depends on environmental and genetic factors. I can imagine survival would favor the more compact ones in a busy city. 95% of the hundreds I've seen in California have been quite small, but twice I've seen females that were comically larger than any I'd ever seen before or imagined seeing. Of those 2: I killed one and carefully rescued the other.
I once got to take a blow torch to a nest of them.
Worked in a shipping yard. Got a call to expedite some parts. Drove over, cracked open a crate of the parts and saw spiders scatter. I didn’t know what they were, but there were hundreds. A coworker drove by to laugh at me, when he identified them as brown recluse and showed me on his phone.
I called the supervisor and asked for advise, we had like 20min to get these parts packed and on the dock. He brought over a welding torch and gas, adjusted them to be more like a flame thrower and then handed the torch to me. “Have fun”, he said.
So I did, I torched the entire crate for about 5 minutes and made sure to get any stragglers that tried to skitter away. Then I grabbed my parts and went about my business. The parts were steel tines for a ditch digger, so they were not damaged at all by the fire.
Whoops, I just realized I replied to the wrong comment. I meant to say that there jaws aren't strong enough to bite you unless they're squished into you isn't 100% true.
As far as spiders go they seem pretty tame. They tend to stay out of urban areas and even if they are near you will likely leave you alone. Seems like the times people get bit the most is when a spider falls on someone.
Having a spider infestation isn't fun lol I've seen dorms and apts in older areas of town that are literally coated in spiders. I don't know how people can stand that shit.
They just get so imbedded in walls and insulation that you can't reach them all, and, they'd likely just move in from next door if you did.
They're honestly not that bad. They're, well, reclusive. You just have to be smart about reaching into boxes in the attic and shake your shoes or clothes out before you put them on. You actually have to press them into your skin to get bit. We've been here for years and only my wife has been bit once. She had a small local reaction, but treated it and it healed fine.
Protip: if you're ever bit by a recluse, DO NOT PUT HEAT ON THE SITE. Even urgent care will tell you to and it's horrible advice. You'll cause venom to spread and potentially cause necrosis in a wider area. Use cold, get a steroid cream, and mix it with activated charcoal to rub on the site. Get some antibiotics as well, and be persistent. You can prevent necrotic damage if you catch it early.
They have them where I live in California, but they don't like to go into urban areas. The Mojave desert that surrounds Los Angeles is filled with scorpions and tarantulas
I'm one of those. It started off like a normal bite so I didn't worry about it. 3 days later it was the size of a softball and purple with a black epicenter where the skin went necrotic.
Went to the doc and she said if I waited one more day I would be in the ER. She had to cut me open to get all the fluid out then stuff like 2 feet of gauze up into my leg hole. Plus I had to take some meds for it for a few weeks.
I had one crawl up my shorts while sitting outside in GA. I didn’t see it, so I figured the irritation was a mosquito bite. Went to work that night, and a very large rash developed on my leg, went to the walk in, and they said “something “ bit me and I was having a bit of an allergic reaction. Gave me cortisone and sent me home. About three weeks later, a funny looking bruise-y spot developed around the site of the bite. Went back to the ER where they suddenly became VERY concerned, and informed me that they had to cut into my leg to excise the spot. With NO anesthetic, because it would “spread the poison”. So they did that, while I screamed profanity at them, and had to pack the wound with gauze more than two and a half inches deep into my thigh, about the diameter of a dime.
So yeah, brown recluses are why I’m arachnophobic.
I love spiders! I would like to add to this… first off, it is refreshing to see someone else say to learn about your fears so they don’t control you. When I bought my house(in Florida) my back porch had several brown widows(they are not all black, there is also red.) living there. I allowed them to live out their time as I had no pets or kids at the time. Now, most would be worried but let me explain why you wouldn’t need to be. In the window spider family only the females have venom and also they make a nest and will remain their for their entire lifespan. Unless encouraged to move. Also, widows are not aggressive. I have several times stuck my hand in one of their webs by accident, they retreat quickly. The male widows do not have venom, are much smaller and don’t create webs/nests. Spiders are fascinating creatures! The more you know! Also, it’s been a while since I’ve done this research so please be advised I may be mistaken or misremembering and I’m always willing to change my knowledge with new evidence.
This is exactly what happened—I have always been sketched out by bugs, but then I joined this group on fb called Antman’s Hill (highly recommend if any of you are still on fb) and I learned so much about them and they aren’t scary to me anymore. It makes me sad now when someone posts a pic of a spider and all the comments are “kill it with fire!” And “burn the whole house down!”
Funny addition to your brown recluse info dump. I scrolled down two pots in my feed from this and saw a post of someone’s brown recluse bite on their leg, the bad kind of reaction too lol
Those reactions get all the attention for sure, but for every one you see like that there are thousands of ppl who get bitten by them that don’t react like that. So the odds are in our favor but like you, I don’t wanna take my chances haha
they dont usually bite with jaws? they sting, and it hurts a lot. it very rarely kills ppl but I wouldn't say their reputation is "unwarranted" def wouldn't wanna find one of these in your bed
ohh, ig that's fair, still even if some ppl don't react badly to them, I've seen some ppl get thoroughly fucked up by those spiders so i will no be taking any chances
Yeah I live in illinois, amd they are quite common here, especially in the more rural parts.
I had a good friend who’s house somehow got infested with them (clean house, part of a newer subdivision) and the one time I was there to see for myself it was quite terrifying.
Like clockwork as soon as dusk would hit they would start appearing, like I viscerally remember seeing a bunch drop down from their garage awning as I was leaving.
They had two small children and to my knowledge none of them ever got bit.
Sadly I lost contact with them and have no idea what they did, but I do know they were trying to rectify the situation with an exterminator that was getting more and more expensive.
I’m not negating how serious some reactions can be. Just saying that’s not the norm. The vast majority of ppl who get bitten by a brown recluse don’t have their appendages turn black and fall off
I’ve let little jumping spiders crawl on me and long leg spiders, not saying that I’d consider letting a recluse crawl on me, just saying I’m not scared of spiders but the childhood memories just won’t let me rest
Jumping spiders are the most adorable little things. There is a photographer who takes really great pictures of them and they’ve got such a cute expression. His name is Kevin Weiner. This is one of my fave pics he’s taken of them.
Edit: not sure if that Instagram post is showing up.
I heard one to that long legs have really small mouths plus I always thought they were very wonky, but the jumping spider love actually came from somehow they got on my algorithm on Instagram and I’m like damn they really want me to get a pet jumping spider and bearded dragon. Saw one on top of my car and a buddy wanted to crush it and I was like nah watch this, and just held out my hand and he just climbed on and sat there, I felt like snow fucking white
Given that I've heard a few too many stories of bad reactions where people waited too long and had to have portions of fingers removed and/or chunks of flesh scooped out I'd rather not find out if I would react badly to being bit the hard way
Well yeah, those are the stories that are going to be passed along. Not the thousands of other people who get bitten by them where nothing happens to them. Those severe reactions are not the norm tho. Not to negate the severity of them of course.
I was wondering about them because I believe I was but not sure. The wound after I was bitten sunk in. Never had a spider bite do that until I found out that their venom can do that to a person. I just packed it with Neosporin (this was a long time ago) and monitored it. It went away but every so often when I'm stressed, the area becomes a very itchy welt that will spread if I itch it.
It's weird. I wondered if it was a different spider?
Someone on Reddit here had to move out of their house because of a brown recluse infestation. I think it was on r/mildlyinteresting
They were crawling out of the lights and crevices
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u/SirLucky Jul 25 '22
It’s pretty common to be stung while in bed. They like to hide in the sheets and cuddle.