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Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 18, 2023
514
2,422
Western NY
Only got bit by a black widow once. It's not a fun time. It basically is being super incredibly sick for about 8 days.
My wife got bit by a BW while moving a planter. It swelled up and she felt "warm" for a few days, then she was fine. I pinned the spider to a cork board in the garage.....she is still there. :)
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,825
31,566
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
My wife got bit by a BW while moving a planter. It swelled up and she felt "warm" for a few days, then she was fine. I pinned the spider to a cork board in the garage.....she is still there. :)
yeah it's not always going to be a full venom bite. Sometimes they aren't going to inject anything at all. But even if they do, it mostly is just very uncomfortable and painful not deadly.
 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
10,340
41,823
RTP, NC. USA
Had few diving into it, and ending their lives. But so far, I haven't seen one asking to be saved. Usually house flies when I'm out on deck.
 

MisterBadger

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 6, 2024
618
4,539
Ludlow, UK
Spiders, now... to add to what @BingBong said about tolerating them around the house, there's folklore around here that you should never sweep the cobwebs out of stables because if you do, the horses will go lame. It's not as silly as it sounds (as you'll know if you've ever been bitten by a horsefly): horseflies irritate the horse, he stamps, they keep biting, he keeps on stamping, he eventually gets a sprain. I hate horseflies, but spiders love 'em. :)
 

BingBong

Lifer
Apr 26, 2024
1,474
6,343
London UK
Back in the 70's my Mother was bitten by a horsefly on the back of her hand. It swelled up to almost twice the size and she said it was more painful than a bee sting.

Jay.
There was a period, when I was 7 - 10 years old, when I seemed to attract horseflies every summer and get at least one bite - there was a paddock where a couple of horses were often kept, not far from home, and we often stopped by to admire them.

Despite being told not to scratch at the bites, they itched like hell and I always scratched them, resulting in infection. Then my mother would have to boil up a kaolin poultice and strap it on, red hot, onto the wound and draw the poison from them. A large carbuncle of pus would form and, if it didn't burst of its own accord, would necessitate a visit to the cottage hospital, where a nurse would gleefully lance and clean out the mess, disinfect and dress it. It was a fascinating, if rather painful process, for a young boy. No medications involved.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,825
31,566
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Spiders, now... to add to what @BingBong said about tolerating them around the house, there's folklore around here that you should never sweep the cobwebs out of stables because if you do, the horses will go lame. It's not as silly as it sounds (as you'll know if you've ever been bitten by a horsefly): horseflies irritate the horse, he stamps, they keep biting, he keeps on stamping, he eventually gets a sprain. I hate horseflies, but spiders love 'em. :)
I hate horseflies. I will never forget the first one to bite me. One bug I will hunt down to kill.
 
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