Poisonious Spiders

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icandoit

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I guess this a question for the Texas or better yet Central Texas folks. Three days ago I got bit/stung by something while I was picking pecans from our tree. Wasn't a snake, I know that because I was holding down a branch so I could get the pecans. At first I thought it was a wasp but that got ruled out pretty fast as the pain was a lot worse than a sting and very immediate. Got me between my thumb and forefinger. Thought it might be a brown scorpion but I've been bit by them and this didn't feel like any of those stings. About 2 seconds after I got stung, the pain felt like my hand was on fire. At about the 2 minute time frame, my whole hand felt like it was burning.
After a bit, and a lot dancing around, I felt a twinge in my throat and decided to get up to the house and take some Benedryl. Worked on my throat but now my hand felt like it was in a vise and someone kept tightning the vise. My hand started to swell up and all my knuckle joints were hurting so bad it just about brought tears to my eyes.
My question is: Besides Black Widows, what other kind of poisonious spiders do we have in Texas? Can scorpions climb and get onto branches of trees? Seems I heard somewhere that scorpions don't climb trees. Could be wrong about that though. Any Thoughts?

Thanks in Advance
Dick
 
There are several spiders that can cause some very nasty bites that should not be ignored! Be very careful and you really should go get medical attention, you can end up with a necrotic wound. This happened to me, ended up with surgery.
 
Could have been as siple as a bee sting. Over time some people get sensitized to venom from one critter/plant or another.
But, get to the doc ASAP
 
It doesn't sound like a recluse. My sister was bitten once. The bite itslelf was not painful. About like a pinprick. Problem is your hand is going to swell up like nobody's business and there will be a dimple at the bite site. This will take a few hours. The the outside is going to be red with the inside bluish to white. This area is going to rot and you may have to have it drained every other day or so - at least my sister had to.

Recluses also normally hang out in dark undisturbed areas and crawl around at night. Not likely to be in a pecan tree - but again, anything is possible in nature.

I've been stung by a bunch of stuff but one of the most painful stings I had was a little tiny caterpillar. Somebody told me its name but I can't remember it. It hurt upon touch -felt like fire- and got worse for the first half hour then the pain subsided and swelling went down.
 
You are right Jogeephus, I have been bitten by the brown recluse, No pain, but you can stop the swelling and the rotting of flesh by shocking it with a chainsaw, or lawnmower sparkplug wire, I think I have told on here before. but it was no pain.


tryinhard
 
I decided to go to the doctor about 4:30 yesterday afternoon. He said the bite looked more like an ASP bite than a brown recluse. I gotta tell ya though, that thing hurts like HE*&. Doc told me to keep taking benedryl and gave me some Vicodin for the pain.Got a couple in me last night and everything was good then. What scared me was the posts that said it might be a brown recluse. I guess theres not much else they can do for an ASP bite except try to control the pain. I'll get a bite to eat in a bit and take some more Vicodin. Don't want to go throwing up. I guess it depends on the severity of the bite as to how long the pain lasts. According to the looks of the bites/stings, I got nailed quite a few times. That'll teach me to NOT wear gloves. I usually wear gloves when I'm doing anythin around the place but not this time.

Thanks to everyone that posted
Dick
 
Jogeephus":y2a9xhwu said:
It doesn't sound like a recluse. My sister was bitten once. The bite itslelf was not painful. About like a pinprick. Problem is your hand is going to swell up like nobody's business and there will be a dimple at the bite site. This will take a few hours. The the outside is going to be red with the inside bluish to white. This area is going to rot and you may have to have it drained every other day or so - at least my sister had to.

Recluses also normally hang out in dark undisturbed areas and crawl around at night. Not likely to be in a pecan tree - but again, anything is possible in nature.

I've been stung by a bunch of stuff but one of the most painful stings I had was a little tiny caterpillar. Somebody told me its name but I can't remember it. It hurt upon touch -felt like fire- and got worse for the first half hour then the pain subsided and swelling went down.
Click to expand...

I think Jogeephus is right. A friend of mine worked in a saw mill and got bit on the privates by a recluse. He thought it was a tick bite and thought nothing of it. He swelled to the size of a grapefruit. It almost killed him and he was in the hospital for weeks.

Those caterpillars bites have symptoms that sound like what you are experiencing. I stepped on one barefoot as a kid and it stung me. Burned like fire and swelled up and throbbed like a horse was standing on my foot. My grandmother put my foot in a pan of warm water and epson salt. Seemed to help the pain and swelling.
 
Sorry for your pain,I know how it hurts. Got stung by an asp a couple of years ago.
Asp are out everywhere down here. We were working on a fence line sunday morning. There was a 2ft oak tree that I was going to cut out. I got to looking on the leaves and I found 6 asp . I decided to leave it alone.
 
I did a little looking around and found something called a "Puss Caterpillar" that hangs out in pecan (among other) trees, and delivers a sting which bears a striking resemblance to the effects you described..

I almost posted about it until I read that the Puss Caterpillar was also called an Asp.. :lol:

I'd never seen nor heard of either..

I did get stung on the back of the neck by a packsaddle when I was a kid.. We were cutting dried corn stalks for fodder shocks when it got me.. Still remember it like it was yesterday, and packsaddles are considered to be mild as compared to Asps.. :shock:

Ouch..
 
Not a recluse and not a Texas scorpion I've been hit by both of them, scorpions many times, and it is not like that. Sounds like an asp to me as well. It could have been on the bottom side of the leaf. PM Lammie. She's been stung by an asp.
 
Its a wasp. Theres a ton of different species of wasp in Texas that can mess anyone up, badly.

Pesis wasp, with its natural prey the tarantula for a size comparison:

Tarantula%20Hawk%20Wasp%20(New%20Mexico%20State%20Insect)%20-%20Pepsis%20formosa%20and%20Tarantula%20-%20Aphonopelma%20chalcodes.jpg


People compare its sting to being shot with a .22.

Sphecius wasp, or cicada killer, in a child's hand:

more_killers_hand_35.jpg


Also increadably painful, and I can tell you that one from experience.

Spider bites are very very uncommon, but you should have whatever it was looked at. If youre having nerve issues (shortness of breath, twitching, issues focusing your eyes, etc) it might be a black widow. If it doesnt hurt but swells like a mother, or you have darkening skin around the bite, it might be a recluse. Those are both big mights, though.

Probably a wasp.
 

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