The Recluse Spider. OMG, forget Lions, Tigers and Bears - this little bitch will kill you. I'm not lying, it will. This little brown spider has been know to paralyze and cause the skin to die. I have a couple of friends who have been bitten by one of these, and they went through horrendous weeks of pain and torture. They eventually recovered with treatment and surgery, but the adverse events are what sound problematic. Along with their physical pain, they developed arachnophobia.
According to recent research, the recluse spider may be making a migration to the United States in large numbers, because climate change is threatening their existence. But little do people know these spiders already occupy most of the country.
"They tend to live under bark or logs in dry areas or underneath hanging rocks. But humans also create a good habitat for them in cellars, attics and garages," according to Rick Vetter, a research associate at the University of California, Riverside. Their venom contains a toxin that causes skin to die, resulting in what are known as necrotic lesions. In about 90 percent of cases, the bite of a brown recluse has virtually no effect. The other 10 percent cause severe symptoms with potentially life-threatening complications. There are no solid statistics available, but Vetter estimates that one or two bite-induced deaths occur each year, typically in small children.
