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Giant Desert Centipede bite

That's one scary insect. The one I really fear is the Brown Recluse spider. My friend was bitten by one on his arm when he was going to bed, and he killed it. A short time later his wife had to rush him to the hospital. He was having all kinds of complications, and eventually lost complete use of his arm.
 
Did that brown recluse bite take place in Florida?
 
No, my friend drove his motor home from New Mexico to Michigan and was bitten in a Michigan park. He doesn't know if the spider came along for the ride or was in Michigan. The spider has been found in central counties of Florida, but bites reported were not all confirmed as Brown Recluse. I have seen anoles tackle large spiders on my lanai screens, so encourage them to eat all they want.
 
Brown Recluse spider bites react differently with different people. I myself was bitten by one 2 years ago on the inside of my right thigh just above the knee. My entire knee area turned black and blue for several days. It itched terribly, but was never what I would call painful. There is no "Anti Venom or cure" for Brown Recluse, you just try to keep it from getting infected. I took antibiotics for about 2 weeks. Sometimes with Brown Recluse bites, the skin will actually die and rot away leaving a gash or hole where the bite was. That did not happen with me. The bite healed up, and left no physical signs.

We have a lot of Brown Recluse spiders in my area. It's what everyone around here is scared of, (Central Tennessee Area.) Some people seem to be more allergic or susceptible to the bites than others are. And I've been told also, that sometimes the spider will not necessarily release all of its venom, but only deliver a small dose.

I personally hate spiders. I will pick up a snake (even if it bites) with no problem, but spiders give me the willies.
 
My friend was awoken by the spider bite. He thinks he rolled on it and was injected with a higher dose of venom than what was usual. The bad part was that he went to sleep and woke up in the morning and thought he was having a heart attack. He wears a pacemaker so was rushed to the hospital. Although he was on antibiotics for 6 weeks, according to him, the muscle tissue in his upper arm was eaten away. Yikes. I've seen wolf spiders as big as my hand here in Florida. One got in our bedroom and was on the wall. I attempted to swat it with a flyswatter and it jumped on me. That will get your adrenalin pumping for sure. They can bite but don't have the venom of the recluse.
 
I think that all spiders are venomous to a degree. But fortunately most are not of a type of venom, amount, and aggressive tendency to bite to be a big problem.

Except for the little jumping spiders, we don't tolerate any in the house for any reason. We used to find black widows on the porch and in the pool enclosure, but haven't see any for quite a while now.

And yeah, seem some pretty large wolf spiders around here too. I would imagine just from their size that the bite would be a bit painful.
 
Everyone says the Wolf spiders won't bother you, but I sure don't want one in the house. If I can disable one I set it outside the lanai and the anoles make short work of it. I laugh when a 3 or 4 inch anole tries to eat a spider larger than itself. Seems like they either eat the legs or tear them off to get at the more tender parts. I've heard there are now colonies of Tokay geckos down here, probably pets that were released. Wouldn't mind having a few patrolling my garage.
 
this is what I think of spiders......... all of them
 

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I love having jumping spiders in the house or the car. I can tolerate the huntsmen spiders (everyone calls them wolf spiders) in the house, because I imagine what they're eating. I get a black widow inside the door every once in a while, and I relocate them outside. I've never seen a scorpion in FL, but I found one inside a ceiling light globe, once! Dead. I don't like centipedes, but have a fondness for the big millipedes. Outside, I like the orb weavers. They don't hurt anyone, and are virtually helpless on the ground.
 
We find scorpions around here reasonably often, but they seem to stay hidden as much as possible. Even sometimes in the house. Fortunately never been stung by any. They are normally quite small.

When we were down in Sanibel we found two HUGE jet black scorpions down there on the island. One DOR and another upstairs at the top of the stairs in the house we were staying in.

We tend to have more centipedes than millipedes around here. Matter of fact I would consider the millipedes as being rather rare on our property.

Golden Orb Weavers we have aplenty. But of course, they are now history until Spring. I really don't like walking into a web face first, so I have often had to get them out of a pathway.

We also have a peculiar type of spider that is fair sized and stays pretty much hidden until nightfall when it quickly builds a web, and then takes it up in the morning. These prove to be a challenge when I have to go outside at night for any reason, as there is no telling where one of the webs might pop up without any prior warning.
 
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