Arachnophobia 2012: Heidi's house in California

I have been getting all hot and bothered (seriously, it was like 80 F out there today) about the spider sightings in my house. After seeing enough, I had a pretty good feeling I could identify these spiders if I saw them in a line up. Guess who stood out of the crowd. Little ol' Brown Recluse.

Brown Recluse Spider. http://www.brown-recluse.com/

Yes, I am horribly afraid of spiders. Yes, I know that I am SO much bigger than a spider. But I absolutely cannot handle knowing that this spider could take me out with a bite. Dramatic...of course I am. I grew up with grizzly bears and frostbite...not spiders that can deteriorate your flesh with their bite. But they can, and they will.

I know I'm giving them a bad wrap. Mainly because when I called housing maintenance to request a visit from pest control, I was told by 'Kim':

 "Oh Mrs Lean, we do not have brown recluse spiders in California! What you saw was a Wolf Spider".

I was silent on the other end. She had to be joking, I've heard so many stories about people getting bitten and their flesh rotting out from under them. Or was that when we lived in Missouri? No that was here in California...or was that when I lived in Florida? Either way...all three of said states have way more scary bugs than Alaska, so as far as I'm concerned, these deadly spiders live in all of them. And don't even get me started on a Wolf spider. I thought maybe it was a joke...a Twilight reference, people are getting so out of control trying to integrate vampire and wolf fantasies into reality...

But Kim was right. Brown Recluse spiders do not reside in California (Or Florida for those of you worried). Sorry Missouri, apparently you are where the 'Fiddle backs' hail. I'm sure we will meet again when we move back to Fort Leonard Wood for Andy's Captain's career course sometime down the road.

But in the mean time...

I was reassured by 'Kim' that we only have black widows, and that I shouldn't worry about them showing up in Clara's room or in my bathroom.  "The black widow is a fantastic creature...she never leaves her territory, not even if she's starving"... I am assuming Kim missed her calling as an aracnolologist (the very word makes my skin tingle) and instead works in the maintenance office at Fort Irwin.

I scheduled my pest control appointment regardless of her love for desert dwelling insects and spend the rest of my afternoon feeling a lot better about the big spider I had killed in Clara's room, in broad daylight. As well as the one I had killed my bathroom in the span of a week. I can handle the spideys in my room...but once they hit Clara's, they cross the line.

I noticed Clara had a little hard pimple on her upper cheek, below her eye. She still has that nice baby soft, smooth skin so I wondered where it came from. My mind flashed back to looking at photos of the brown recluse bites and my heart fell into the pit of my very large stomach. I had seen a picture of a br bite that looked exactly like that.

I REALIZE how out of control I was thinking. So I told no one and just watched her little cheek all day. I didn't notice any of the "bulls eye" coloring or swelling. But poor kid, I was staring her down the entire time she was awake. Once both her and Andy were sleeping, I crept into the office (which is my most cluttered room and I know there are about 12 spiders hiding in here. I can feel it) and began researching ONE more time...just to make myself feel better.

Kim said that we didn't have brown recluse spiders, so I could rule that one out.

BUT I CANNOT RULE OUT IT'S COUSIN THE DESERT RECLUSE SPIDER!!!

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!

This is the EXACT spider I have been killing. Several times. Ever since we moved in one year ago!

I just made this discovery ten minutes ago. So what did I go do before I even finished this blog?

yes, I crept into Clara's room and turned her lights on. Thankfully she was sleeping on her back and not with her baby bum in the air, and I peered over her crib to stare at her little bump on her cheek. Good news, I think we are okay. But first thing in the morning I'm going to go check again. I might even wake up and look one more time. I hope not...I honestly think I'm over reacting.

But come on. The Brown Recluse and the Desert Recluse? Give me a break Fort Irwin!!

Brown recluse

 My desert recluse research stated: Their bite is similar to the Brown Recluse and can have the same affect. Most bites may require no more than the general spider bite treatment. There may be some localized swelling and redness, but healing can occur without much intervention. However some bites may become necrotic. Rarely do these bites cause death. ((oh thanks)) Systemic effects, which are generalized effects, will usually occur within the first 3 days of the bite.

http://www.spiderzrule.com/dr.html

I know my research came from a " .com " but I as I shopped around, I found they were spot on. I just decided to give them the credit.

And now that I have successfully freaked out myself and the other Mojave desert residents stuck here...I am going to bid adieu to my readers laughing at how much time I wasted spouting my fears for an arachnid species. 

Just to let you know, this photo was taken by my friend Anna Toth in my neighborhood. Not even joking.

Featured:
(Clara, me, and the Desert Recluse)