Can the Brown Recluse spider be found in MN?

[blades]

the venom from Brown recluse spider bites is an enzyme that liqufies tissue. Get her to the ER asap as it spreads quickly, Have them call the CDC if they do not know how to handel it. This is not something to be messing around with home remedies ( although some do help). Even if it turns out that it is a tick bite, considering what some of them carry, this is your best move. A regimene of antibiotics is part of the perscription. Surgery is sometimes required to minimize the impact. Don't mean to be an alarmest but it can be very serious.

 

[maplemeister]

I concur with those who have suggested getting professional help asap. I was bitten about 10 years ago by a brown recluse in Vermont and they aren't supposed to be here but this one was. I had a bite on the back of the calf of my leg and within four days I had developed a deep vein thrombosis that almost killed me. I spent two weeks in the hospital and recovered but with a lot of permanent damage to the valves in my leg veins. The entire episode ran over $14,000.00 before I got to go home. If the bite starts looking like the flesh is just rotting away it may well be a Brown recluse. If the skin starts to develop what medical folks call a "Bulls-eye rash around the wound, it is probably a deer tick bite. Both deserve immediate diagnosis and proper
treatment. Remember the five most dangerous words, "MAYBE IT WILL GO AWAY".

maplemeister:

 

[blades]

quik note on deer tick bite, it does not always develop the bulls eye look.
If it bites stings sucks blood or whatever I most likley have the t-shirt. Fortunatly I am not one of those hyper alergic types to these types of incidents, but poisonous plants and all types of nuts do a real number on me.

 

[dingeryote]

tell you something that will help get rid of them too. Those sonic things you plug in will make them find another place but you need a few to put around the house. Also a mixture of vinegar and water sprayed in every corner will make them go elswhere. Now the vinegar will smell for a couple of hours. Don't mix it too strong either.

Used ta be that .05% Diazinon crystals cast around the sills of the house would keep the creepy crawlers out, but somebody in Kommiefornia did a study that found Diazinon when fed to pregnant women, makes people sick....so it's now banned for homeowners use and they stuff a pest company will put down is more hazzardous.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Gumnuts]

Interested in the post as was bitten by something , several years ago ,that nearly took me out.
I do hope further symptoms do not develop and your wifes fever settles down.
My doctor gave me a shot of anti-histamine , after my arm swelled up like a ballon.Fear was of thrombosis /developing blood clots.
Over here we have a similar spider bite to the brown recluse.The spider is
known as the White Tail .In severe reactions it causes necrosis like in the those radical pics .
We wish you and your wife well and hope the symptoms settle down ASAP.
yep ....keep an eye on her

 

[LumberjkChamp]

I concur with those who have suggested getting professional help asap. I was bitten about 10 years ago by a brown recluse in Vermont and they aren't supposed to be here but this one was. I had a bite on the back of the calf of my leg and within four days I had developed a deep vein thrombosis that almost killed me. I spent two weeks in the hospital and recovered but with a lot of permanent damage to the valves in my leg veins. The entire episode ran over $14,000.00 before I got to go home. If the bite starts looking like the flesh is just rotting away it may well be a Brown recluse. If the skin starts to develop what medical folks call a "Bulls-eye rash around the wound, it is probably a deer tick bite. Both deserve immediate diagnosis and proper
treatment. Remember the five most dangerous words, "MAYBE IT WILL GO AWAY".

maplemeister:

That is a misfortunate story that I'm sorry to read. Glad you pulled through it though.
If you don't mind me asking, what type of situation were you in that brought a Brown Recluse into contact with you? Were you handling wood?
It is a little unsettling to hear of Brown Recluses in VT. The possibility occured to me once in a while but I, like you, never thought their range extended this far north.

 

[Metals406]

Interested in the post as was bitten by something , several years ago ,that nearly took me out.
I do hope further symptoms do not develop and your wifes fever settles down.
My doctor gave me a shot of anti-histamine , after my arm swelled up like a ballon.Fear was of thrombosis /developing blood clots.
Over here we have a similar spider bite to the brown recluse.The spider is
known as the White Tail .In severe reactions it causes necrosis like in the those radical pics .
We wish you and your wife well and hope the symptoms settle down ASAP.
yep ....keep an eye on her

I watched some stuff on the White Tail... Bad little buggers!

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[maplemeister]

That is a misfortunate story that I'm sorry to read. Glad you pulled through it though.
If you don't mind me asking, what type of situation were you in that brought a Brown Recluse into contact with you? Were you handling wood?
It is a little unsettling to hear of Brown Recluses in VT. The possibility occured to me once in a while but I, like you, never thought their range extended this far north.

I was managing a shipping department at a local manufacturing plant. We made plastic bags and most of the resin came in via truck from the Southwestern part of the country. I could never prove it of course, but strongly suspect the spider came in on one of the trucks that we dealt with at the time. Part of the problem in my case was that none of the doctors up here even considered a Brown Recluse when I was initially diagnosed and by the time they figured it out, a lot of damage had occured. I had three blood clots in my leg in one year about two years ago and have to stay on blood thinners now for the long haul to keep things under control. Since I had this problem, I am aware of several others in Northern tier states that have also been bitten by the Recluse. They definitely are showing up in areas where they have not historically been found but not in large numbers by any means to date. Just one more thing to be aware of.

Maple:

 

[LumberjkChamp]

I was managing a shipping department at a local manufacturing plant. We made plastic bags and most of the resin came in via truck from the Southwestern part of the country. I could never prove it of course, but strongly suspect the spider came in on one of the trucks that we dealt with at the time. Part of the problem in my case was that none of the doctors up here even considered a Brown Recluse when I was initially diagnosed and by the time they figured it out, a lot of damage had occured. I had three blood clots in my leg in one year about two years ago and have to stay on blood thinners now for the long haul to keep things under control. Since I had this problem, I am aware of several others in Northern tier states that have also been bitten by the Recluse. They definitely are showing up in areas where they have not historically been found but not in large numbers by any means to date. Just one more thing to be aware of.

Maple:

Yes, being aware of possible threats to one's well being is always good. The Brown Recluse in VT still sounds impossible but as you and others have stated you cannot preclude the possibility of them being shipped in with other things from more southern areas.
Thanks for the reply and happy and safe woodcutting.

 

[JAM]

The old woman across the street lost her leg to a bite from a brown spider that the other neighbors brought back from Texas in their luggage. Pretty ugly.

 

[OhioGregg]

About 25 years ago, when I was living back east in Conn. A girl where I worked got bit by a Brown Recluse spider, Had come in a bag of pine bark mulch, from down south. So they can travel to most any region I guess, in many ways.

Gregg,

 

[ropensaddle]

About 25 years ago, when I was living back east in Conn. A girl where I worked got bit by a Brown Recluse spider, Had come in a bag of pine bark mulch, from down south. So they can travel to most any region I guess, in many ways.

Gregg,

I am looking at one in my window sill now spiders don't bother me I have ten or twenty on me each week. I have been bitten by a recluse on my ribcage climbing in a white oak but did not react nothing like the pics ss showed thank God. It did look like someone took a blow torch to my side though but was over it in a week or at least scabbed, had a scar for a year. We have a spider that is not supposed to be in our country, it is supposed to be an Aussie spider, looks exactly like a black widow except instead of the hour glass on the stomach it has a red dot on its back and I have even seen one with both so they may be breeding a new species.

 

[stihl sawing]

This is the stages of the thumb i posted.

 

[ropensaddle]

This is the stages of the thumb i posted.

Mine stayed between day 5 and 6 never got too bad but did get antibiotics prescribed early!

 

[stihl sawing]

I think MishMouse needs to give us an update. Hope she is better.

 

[ropensaddle]

I think MishMouse needs to give us an update. Hope she is better.

Hate to see a lady go through it.

 

[logbutcher]

the venom from Brown recluse spider bites is an enzyme that liqufies tissue. Get her to the ER asap as it spreads quickly, Have them call the CDC if they do not know how to handel it. This is not something to be messing around with home remedies ( although some do help). Even if it turns out that it is a tick bite, considering what some of them carry, this is your best move. A regimene of antibiotics is part of the perscription. Surgery is sometimes required to minimize the impact. Don't mean to be an alarmest but it can be very serious.

I concur with those who have suggested getting professional help asap. I was bitten about 10 years ago by a brown recluse in Vermont and they aren't supposed to be here but this one was. I had a bite on the back of the calf of my leg and within four days I had developed a deep vein thrombosis that almost killed me. I spent two weeks in the hospital and recovered but with a lot of permanent damage to the valves in my leg veins. The entire episode ran over $14,000.00 before I got to go home. If the bite starts looking like the flesh is just rotting away it may well be a Brown recluse. If the skin starts to develop what medical folks call a "Bulls-eye rash around the wound, it is probably a deer tick bite. Both deserve immediate diagnosis and proper
treatment. Remember the five most dangerous words, "MAYBE IT WILL GO AWAY".

maplemeister:

The old woman across the street lost her leg to a bite from a brown spider that the other neighbors brought back from Texas in their luggage. Pretty ugly.

This is the stages of the thumb i posted.

:agree2::agree2:
Nothing to fool around with: the necrosis from the Recluse Spider bite not "can", but without serious medical attention, WILL kill.
In my recent Wilderness Medicine Recertification course, bites from the Brown Recluse Spider were among the more deadly wilderness injuries to treat immediately in a professional medical facility.
For us working the woods, they're in green wood, woodpiles, rotten wood, live wood, forest litter almost universally found in North America.

 

[ropensaddle]

:agree2::agree2:
Nothing to fool around with: the necrosis from the Recluse Spider bite not "can", but without serious medical attention, WILL kill.
In my recent Wilderness Medicine Recertification course, bites from the Brown Recluse Spider were among the more deadly wilderness injuries to treat immediately in a professional medical facility.
For us working the woods, they're in green wood, woodpiles, rotten wood, live wood, forest litter almost universally found in North America.

Personal genetics comes in to play, I agree you may be unlucky and have severe reaction to venom but as I said I did not get no where near as bad as that pic or sick. I scabbed over after looking like in between day 5 and 6 still stunk though.

 

[Kansas]

I agree the reaction will be different in each person I didnt have anything like what these pics show either, possibly someone who had allergies would suffer worse their immune system would be more sensitive.

I had what looked and felt like someone had hit me in the chest with a fast ball more like a serious bruse with a small crater in the center that wouldnt heal for a couple weeks then it started to close up.

I wonder how MM's wife is he hasnt been here with an update?

Kansas

 

[logbutcher]

Personal genetics comes in to play, I agree you may be unlucky and have severe reaction to venom but as I said I did not get no where near as bad as that pic or sick. I scabbed over after looking like in between day 5 and 6 still stunk though.

Partly right, but this baby is dangerous to anyone, genetics or not. Nothing macho about it Rope. The bite is like being blind-sided. :censored:

Hey, it's why we live way the H up north--no G.D. hordes of venomous reptiles ( yes, yes, there are pockets of Rattlers ). Give me snow and below zero cutting in a NW Montreal Express any day rather than 10 months of wet crotch.

And Ireland BTW had St Patrick........