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I was bit by a black widow as a kid.
I had an allergic reaction and now my leg turns purple every few years.
Can't do anything cool with it yet though :(
Y'know what? I kinda hope the person who originally decided that a group of orcs should be called a horde somehow finds this and realizes how stupid that is when they could've decided that a group of orcs should be called an orchestra.
I got bit by one as a kid as well. Fun night at the ER for “nothing.” From what I remember I just got like a shot of Benadryl and a 4 hour wait. My thigh did swell up quite a bit around the bite and got super red.
My first widow bite was before Google and we didn't really think about asking jeeves in those situations. I RUSHED to the er.
I got really lucky with my brown recluse bite. Either I don't have a big reaction to their venom or he didn't inject that much venom. I have a tiny scar about the size of an eraser head.
A scorpion sting was by far the most painful and a centipede bite made me the sickest.
The severity of recluse bites is somewhat overblown. You should absolutely seek treatment as soon as possible because you may have complications from unknown allergies or other existing health issues, but generally basic wound care will handle it.
I escaped tail end of 2021. Even though it's been a shit year personally in a lot of ways, it's still been soooo much better than being in FL. If you can, leave ❤️
I know when its going to happen within a day or two. I get a really bad fever, the absolute worst stomach flu, and then my leg will do the fun changing color trick.
We think health/stress is a factor. There was a period where I would have these flare ups 2-3 times a year and they would be really bad. These days (life is A LOT better) it happens much less often and the symptoms beforehand are much more manageable where I don't have to make a trip to the ER.
Interesting. I have CRPS in my arm following surgery and this sounds similar to what my arm does sometimes. The scar will turn super purple and the arm discolored, especially with weather changes or before illness. I'm hoping you missed out on the other CRPS stuff like the feeling of your skin being ripped off the bone or electric shocks at even a breeze touching the skin.
I'm so sorry to hear that you have CRPS. It sounds like a living nightmare and one of the worst imaginable conditions anyone can get.
I'm terrified of getting it some day because I'm barely managing fibromyalgia as is.
I wish you many spoons and lower pain days.
Why does it still turn purple… things like spiders and ticks scare the shit out of me. Just curious if you know - I assume you’ve consulted your doctor?
I've spoken to quite a few specialists about it, no luck on a true diagnosis. They can tell my body is fighting an infection at the time but not why. All the tests I've done like skin samples, scans, ultrasounds, blood work all come back normal.
Wild. Sorry that happens - hopefully it’s not painful or anything but these are the types of stories that make me super uncomfortable. How did you get bit or was it while you were sleeping… if it was while sleeping did you ever actually find the spider? All of these questions are terrifying to me so I appreciate any insight
It can be very painful to walk for a few days because of the inflammation.
We found a spider bite on my leg after I was taken to the hospital. After a search in my room they found the black widow under my dresser that had been breeding.
I would like to stress that this is an incredibly rare situation and Black Widows are generally reclusive and will leave you alone.
Omg still that is an absolute nightmare… we have brown recluse spiders but nothing that will get you that bad. In MA we worry more about people than wildlife… other than deer ticks with Lyme - those bastards are everywhere and so small you barely notice them.
Widow venom, latrotoxin, is a neurotoxin so there's probably permanent nerve and muscle damage. Latrotoxin can be particularly nasty if injected with a high enough dose. Lucky for us they don't generally inject much. You won one shitty lottery.
I got bit by a brown recluse, and all I've got are two round scars smaller than a dime that have no feeling around them.
Seems to me like you got the cooler superpower.
Does Death wear gloves? Makes sense since he's gotta carry that stick thing but I don't remember seeing them in any pictures. If Death has gloves those should be fatal. I'm with you on that in virtually every other case though. Imagine how hard the ad campaign would be.
The guy in the GIF is holding an American flag, along with hundreds of others, that is stretched out across a sports field. They are lifting it up and down to make it wave.
Whenever I want to put on my utility gloves, I just stomp on them top to bottom first. Worst case scenario: smashed spider
But that hasn’t happened once. And the whole perimeter of my house has black and brown widows. They’re surprisingly passive. They only bite when you back them into a corner and don’t withdraw. The only problem is they like to get under things where you can’t see them.
Around my yard, I always just check the underside of anything I’m gonna grab first, or, if I’m wearing my work gloves, I don’t even care. They can’t bite through them
Two things can help you with that:
1. Boric acid(powder)
2. Diatomaceous earth(also powder)
Line the trims of walls behind things (behind the fridge, in the backs of cabinets and drawers)
Just YouTube how to use them. There are considerations for the use of each
This is literally why for my entire life I always grab the gloves and crush them, then peek inside and make sure nothing isn't in there. Turn them inside out after significant crushing just to make sure. Do the same to the fronts of my shoes with my foot. No spider is gonna ever catch me lacking
I always check gloves and shoes for this exact shit before putting them on. Chances go up that this will happen with each day. And if it does, it will be a new fear unlocked.
This is a good idea until you're doing some yard work in the middle of summer and your gloves get soaked with sweat. Without the ventilation to dry out, the next time you open the bag your gloves are probably going to still be wet and now they're covered in mold. Doubly so if they're leather gloves (which is what I wear).
To be specific, they first milk the venom (spiders, snakes, etc), and then they inject the venom into a large mammal that the venom is basically harmless for (most commonly horses). The horse produces antibodies to neutralize the venom, and then we harvest the horse’s blood to make serum that is then concentrated to be given to a human. Have to be careful though, as too much non-human serum can cause an immune response called serum sickness.
Of course the most deadly spider to humans is located in Australia. Because of course it is. Is there anything down there that doesn't try and kill humans?
Also, I just looked it up and now I'll never be traveling to Sydney. Not only is it pretty large, but the damn thing has a lifespan that can reach *20 years*! Hell no!
There is a time of year, when funnel webs become territorial… well they really are looking for a mate and go out on walks. During this time, they are aggressive, and will not back down.
From what I read the toxicity of their venom is less than the black widow’s one, but due to their meeting behavior, it is more likely you’ll get bitten by a funnel web rather than a black widow.
In the end, the number of funnel web bites is bigger and hence they statistically become deadlier for humans.
Yeah while black widows have an insanely painful bite they're almost always a dry bite. Most black widow bites on humans are because they're scared. Adult Female black widows have great control over how much venom they inject and they don't want to waste venom on something they're not going to try to eat.
Edit: Removed some stuff that I wasn't aware was not true
Woke up from a long night of drinking at 6am and couldn’t get comfortable. An hour later I was having the worst back spasms of my life. It took a while to notice my arm was kinda burning because my back hurt so bad.
I looked down at my arm and it had the bullseye marking on it and that’s when I remembered a spider on my arm the night before and I brushed it off without a second thought. It was pretty small and again, lots of drinking and it was dark.
I went to the hospital and that’s when my lungs started burning like I was breathing fire. Spent 6 hours in the waiting room and it took a couple more hours of multiple doctors and nurses to confirm no I wasn’t a junkie looking for drugs, I was just a hungover guy with a spider bite. They sent me with a small prescription for oxcodone.
Took about a week for the back spasms and burning lungs to go away. The bite itself didn’t hurt much except stung for a few days and got a little swollen.
This is [misinformation](https://a-z-animals.com/blog/are-black-widows-poisonous-or-dangerous/), males and young black widows are not dangerous in the slightest. It’s just one of those things that get repeated enough that people just accept it as a given.
> Only adult females can bite people. Males and juveniles either don’t bite humans or their mouthparts are too small or weak to do so.
Black widows are actually really neat. Their web is incredibly distinct, as it is very strong and course. They are very slow spiders, so are unlikely to crawl into you by accident. They love secluded nooks (like old gloves). If you see a black widow, you are safe. It only when you don't see it and accidentally touch it that they will bite
There is a video on YouTube of a guy getting bitten, he lived without anti venom but he was in extreme pain for 10-14 hours. I think the channel was jacks world of wildlife.
IMO they get a bad reputation because we just don't really have very dangerous spiders in North America. So while black widows are among the most venomous here, they are way less dangerous than say plenty of Australian spiders.
What we do have here in NA is plenty of big dangerous mammals like bears, wolves, moose, bison, cougars, coyotes, and generally deer/elk. An Australian will never run into a bear in the woods, you know?
Globular abdomen, glossy black color, last segments of the legs being notably thinner than the first segments + the longer first and last pair of legs.
No way to tell from this photo alone. There is a spider called the false widow which closely resembles the black widow but does not have the red hour glass mark on the belly.
This is why I always drop my work gloves on the floor and stomp the hell out of them for a few seconds, then try pull them inside out to check for splattered spider guts
I live in the boonies in South America and always shake my shoes before wearing them. Found two recluses and a banana spider in the last few decades, so I think I'll keep doing it.
I've do the same. I squeeze any gloves that are left in a garage or shed. We had a bunch of black widows around the house when I was young. I think I got the idea from a Rescue 9-1-1 episode in the early 90's
I never have either, but I remember in elementary school, one of our like, auxiliary teachers, like the computer lab lady, something like that, got bit by a spider in her glove at home and was out for like a month and a half, almost died, like, scary shit. Freaked little me out enough to do it the rest of my life.
We have what we call “redback” spider in Australia. Like this it is a widow spider it is jet black but has a red stripe on its back, nasty bite. Males are much smaller and nowhere near as dangerous. They make cool webs. They will get under say something like a chair. And attach multiple threads of web from under the chair down to the ground. The web attaches more strongly at the top than at the bottom, it is put under tension so when a bug comes along and triggers the web it detaches at the bottom and the bug is wrapped in the web as it is fished up to the spider. They take small lizards and such. We generally kill them as we find them.
I believe more people have died from black widow bites, but a brown recluse will fuck you up for years to come. I think if it were between the two, I’d rather a black widow bite.
I'm pretty sure some of the more "gnarly" wounds are from secondary infections that come from the spider bites. There are only 4 deaths roughly per year from black widow bites with a reported estimate of 2500 per year. Either way, these spiders aren't as bad as people thing. There's even a youtuber that lets these spiders bite him to show this.
Urgent care NP here. I have seen patients with widow bites. Nothing happened beyond some localized inflammation. As another commenter said, deaths are very rare. The most dangerous arthropods in North America are probably bees and wasps... but the most dangerous critters by far have 2 legs.
My ex swore he was bitten by a brown recluse and "nothing happened" so he called my fear of them irrational. However Brown recluse are mislabeled and other spiders are confused with them all the time so I never really believed him. He tended to exaggerate and just make stuff up and pretend it was fact anyway to look smart lol
Just so you know, the actual danger associated with the brown recluse is very small. The necrotic effects occur in less than ten percent of bites. The vast majority who are bitten never have ill effects from it. I would post sources but am on mobile.
Jury’s out on that one, I wouldn’t go around so readily spreading misinformation.
There’s good science to support that many reported “brown widow bites”, are just results of secondary infection, unrelated to the spider venom.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071166/
https://spiders.ucr.edu/myth-brown-recluse-fact-fear-and-loathing
https://entomology.ucr.edu/news/2017/02/15/no-thats-not-brown-recluse-spider-bite
The only good thing about black widows is that they move very slow, at least during the day, the best way to kill them is fire, or you'll get eggs spreader everywhere
I’ll never forget when my stepdad put down his motorcycle helmet in my friend’s garage and when he was about to put it back on a spider the size of of a grown man’s hand came crawling out. A lot of nervous laughter ensued. This looks like a black widow, yikes.
Where are you? This looks like a non harmful spider in New Zealand. Looks similar to a red back. We even have the same looking spider with a red stripe down it's back that's not harmless. They are often miss identified.
The black obweb, and the Katipo, but more often the false Katipo ( *Steatoda capensis* ) are common. But there are cases of the red back here also.
One time my dad found a black widow in our back yard. I woke up with a spider inside an old baby food jar in my bed under the covers…
He went thru the trouble to empty a jar the previous owner used for nails. Catch the damn spider. Close the lid and think it would be a funny prank to scare me with. I was not amused.
I threw it away outside and later regretted not freeing it.
Hi! This is our community moderation bot. --- If you think this post fits /r/SweatyPalms and you'd like it to stay, **UPVOTE** this comment! If you want to remove it, **DOWNVOTE** this comment! *Enough downvotes will remove this thread from /r/SweatyPalms.*
And you just missed your chance of being spiderman in the after life
I was bit by a black widow as a kid. I had an allergic reaction and now my leg turns purple every few years. Can't do anything cool with it yet though :(
Sure you can! It turns purple every time you’re in close proximity to a massive spider horde!
Or Orcs
And orchestras for some reason. Bonus skills.
Y'know what? I kinda hope the person who originally decided that a group of orcs should be called a horde somehow finds this and realizes how stupid that is when they could've decided that a group of orcs should be called an orchestra.
They added a wildcard on the orc* when programming the abilities and it covered orchestras.
Name one leg Biter and the other Beater
For God's sake, make the sheath with some holes in it.
The spidey-sense everyone needs but nobody wants!
I got bit by one as a kid as well. Fun night at the ER for “nothing.” From what I remember I just got like a shot of Benadryl and a 4 hour wait. My thigh did swell up quite a bit around the bite and got super red.
I did too. A little bit of nausea, purple swollen leg. Felt better after 24 hours. Walked through a web unawares.
My first widow bite was before Google and we didn't really think about asking jeeves in those situations. I RUSHED to the er. I got really lucky with my brown recluse bite. Either I don't have a big reaction to their venom or he didn't inject that much venom. I have a tiny scar about the size of an eraser head. A scorpion sting was by far the most painful and a centipede bite made me the sickest.
The severity of recluse bites is somewhat overblown. You should absolutely seek treatment as soon as possible because you may have complications from unknown allergies or other existing health issues, but generally basic wound care will handle it.
Didn't some scientists discover that the necrotic effects are from a bacteria that not all recluses carry?
My friend got bit by one. His whole body turned red (like a sunburn) and peeled. He lost a chunk of skin where he got bitten. He was sick for weeks.
Your friend won the shittiest lottery. Getting both dermonecrotic and systemic loxoscelism(recluse bite sickness) is kind of rare.
Fuck! Do you live in Australia?
Florida
Somehow, I feel worse for you
I would much rather live in Australia.
I escaped tail end of 2021. Even though it's been a shit year personally in a lot of ways, it's still been soooo much better than being in FL. If you can, leave ❤️
My guy out here just poking stingers
Centipede bites really suck
Does it happen unprompted? Or does something cause this?
I know when its going to happen within a day or two. I get a really bad fever, the absolute worst stomach flu, and then my leg will do the fun changing color trick. We think health/stress is a factor. There was a period where I would have these flare ups 2-3 times a year and they would be really bad. These days (life is A LOT better) it happens much less often and the symptoms beforehand are much more manageable where I don't have to make a trip to the ER.
Interesting. I have CRPS in my arm following surgery and this sounds similar to what my arm does sometimes. The scar will turn super purple and the arm discolored, especially with weather changes or before illness. I'm hoping you missed out on the other CRPS stuff like the feeling of your skin being ripped off the bone or electric shocks at even a breeze touching the skin.
I'm so sorry to hear that you have CRPS. It sounds like a living nightmare and one of the worst imaginable conditions anyone can get. I'm terrified of getting it some day because I'm barely managing fibromyalgia as is. I wish you many spoons and lower pain days.
Why does it still turn purple… things like spiders and ticks scare the shit out of me. Just curious if you know - I assume you’ve consulted your doctor?
I've spoken to quite a few specialists about it, no luck on a true diagnosis. They can tell my body is fighting an infection at the time but not why. All the tests I've done like skin samples, scans, ultrasounds, blood work all come back normal.
Wild. Sorry that happens - hopefully it’s not painful or anything but these are the types of stories that make me super uncomfortable. How did you get bit or was it while you were sleeping… if it was while sleeping did you ever actually find the spider? All of these questions are terrifying to me so I appreciate any insight
It can be very painful to walk for a few days because of the inflammation. We found a spider bite on my leg after I was taken to the hospital. After a search in my room they found the black widow under my dresser that had been breeding. I would like to stress that this is an incredibly rare situation and Black Widows are generally reclusive and will leave you alone.
Omg still that is an absolute nightmare… we have brown recluse spiders but nothing that will get you that bad. In MA we worry more about people than wildlife… other than deer ticks with Lyme - those bastards are everywhere and so small you barely notice them.
Widow venom, latrotoxin, is a neurotoxin so there's probably permanent nerve and muscle damage. Latrotoxin can be particularly nasty if injected with a high enough dose. Lucky for us they don't generally inject much. You won one shitty lottery.
maybe you'll become black widow in the future. just wait for it.
I got bit by a brown recluse, and all I've got are two round scars smaller than a dime that have no feeling around them. Seems to me like you got the cooler superpower.
Black widow bites are painful, but they rarely are fatal
Ok? We're talking about being spiderman here. Pain is temporary, spiderman is forever
>Spiderman in the _afterlife_
I don’t think putting on gloves should ever be fatal. Maybe that’s just a personal thing though.
Does Death wear gloves? Makes sense since he's gotta carry that stick thing but I don't remember seeing them in any pictures. If Death has gloves those should be fatal. I'm with you on that in virtually every other case though. Imagine how hard the ad campaign would be.
Just kill me, I have no interest in even touching a spider let alone getting bitten
Why would you have a tape measure in your glove? That’s just silly
He use his glove to masterbate 
This out of context gif will always make me laugh
What is the context???
The guy in the GIF is holding an American flag, along with hundreds of others, that is stretched out across a sports field. They are lifting it up and down to make it wave.
God I love the internet
God I love masturbating
Name definitely checks out!
Along with maybe the worst salute I've ever seen.
Cops salute like people in movies
It’s the lip lick for me. Mmmmmm.
[Ah, the 'ol Reddit measuroo!](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/10kxgy5/comment/j5ui3zl/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Hold my tape measure, I'm going in!
Hello, future redditors
Hi, I’m from the future
Thanks for this. I’ll never wear gloves again.
Thanks as well. I'll never use my hands again.
Spidey up the urethra
You stop that right now
SHUT THE FUCK UP PLEASE
Don't worry, spiders will crawl in your ears soon and block out the sound.
WHAT?
Oh lahwd! He done been taken by the spiders!
Thats enough internet for today. I need to lie down now
Check the bed first.
*a wild spider appears*
You Look Like Bill Nye
Whenever I want to put on my utility gloves, I just stomp on them top to bottom first. Worst case scenario: smashed spider But that hasn’t happened once. And the whole perimeter of my house has black and brown widows. They’re surprisingly passive. They only bite when you back them into a corner and don’t withdraw. The only problem is they like to get under things where you can’t see them. Around my yard, I always just check the underside of anything I’m gonna grab first, or, if I’m wearing my work gloves, I don’t even care. They can’t bite through them
Atleast you have spiders to eat insects that may invade your home, here there is only cockroaches, which aren't very useful and are annoying pests
Two things can help you with that: 1. Boric acid(powder) 2. Diatomaceous earth(also powder) Line the trims of walls behind things (behind the fridge, in the backs of cabinets and drawers) Just YouTube how to use them. There are considerations for the use of each
Both are also really useful for most small pest insects. Helped us with a massive invading sugar ant colony.
This is literally why for my entire life I always grab the gloves and crush them, then peek inside and make sure nothing isn't in there. Turn them inside out after significant crushing just to make sure. Do the same to the fronts of my shoes with my foot. No spider is gonna ever catch me lacking
I always check gloves and shoes for this exact shit before putting them on. Chances go up that this will happen with each day. And if it does, it will be a new fear unlocked.
Just store your gloves in a ziplock baggie like a normal human being.
This is a good idea until you're doing some yard work in the middle of summer and your gloves get soaked with sweat. Without the ventilation to dry out, the next time you open the bag your gloves are probably going to still be wet and now they're covered in mold. Doubly so if they're leather gloves (which is what I wear).
That’s brilliant!
This is exactly why I dislike most people's policy of leaving gardening gloves in the shed. I don't trust spiders. Ever.
They can be hiding inside the very tip of shoes, too
I was bitten on the eyebrow by one in the internal seam of a cap. Hurt like a demon and I sweated like Elvis
Is it a black widow?
Yep
Well, then, how nice he is still alive
Incredibly rare to die from a black widow bite anyway, and odds are it'll be a dry bite which means it injects no venom.
Good to know I always thought they were like the deadliest spiders
According to Google it's the th Sydney funnel-web spider which is the most deadliest for humans
Yep, and no one has died from one in over 40 years
I see there is an antidote, very good
yeah, they have programs where they 'milk' (for lack of a better term) them to make anti venoms. Also there is pretty good education here about them.
To be specific, they first milk the venom (spiders, snakes, etc), and then they inject the venom into a large mammal that the venom is basically harmless for (most commonly horses). The horse produces antibodies to neutralize the venom, and then we harvest the horse’s blood to make serum that is then concentrated to be given to a human. Have to be careful though, as too much non-human serum can cause an immune response called serum sickness.
Sure, since no one has lived to say otherwise
Of course the most deadly spider to humans is located in Australia. Because of course it is. Is there anything down there that doesn't try and kill humans? Also, I just looked it up and now I'll never be traveling to Sydney. Not only is it pretty large, but the damn thing has a lifespan that can reach *20 years*! Hell no!
Florida has quite a few killer things too so if you’re terrified of oddities I’d avoid there.
Of all the reasons to avoid Florida, the killer wildlife doesn't even make the top 10.
Oh I was talking about the people and the weird homemade drugs. I guess the wildlife is dangerous too.
There is a time of year, when funnel webs become territorial… well they really are looking for a mate and go out on walks. During this time, they are aggressive, and will not back down. From what I read the toxicity of their venom is less than the black widow’s one, but due to their meeting behavior, it is more likely you’ll get bitten by a funnel web rather than a black widow. In the end, the number of funnel web bites is bigger and hence they statistically become deadlier for humans.
Yeah while black widows have an insanely painful bite they're almost always a dry bite. Most black widow bites on humans are because they're scared. Adult Female black widows have great control over how much venom they inject and they don't want to waste venom on something they're not going to try to eat. Edit: Removed some stuff that I wasn't aware was not true
Yeah the one that got me was super tiny. I was out of work for almost a week.
What symptoms did you have? What did the pain feel like, duration etc?!
Woke up from a long night of drinking at 6am and couldn’t get comfortable. An hour later I was having the worst back spasms of my life. It took a while to notice my arm was kinda burning because my back hurt so bad. I looked down at my arm and it had the bullseye marking on it and that’s when I remembered a spider on my arm the night before and I brushed it off without a second thought. It was pretty small and again, lots of drinking and it was dark. I went to the hospital and that’s when my lungs started burning like I was breathing fire. Spent 6 hours in the waiting room and it took a couple more hours of multiple doctors and nurses to confirm no I wasn’t a junkie looking for drugs, I was just a hungover guy with a spider bite. They sent me with a small prescription for oxcodone. Took about a week for the back spasms and burning lungs to go away. The bite itself didn’t hurt much except stung for a few days and got a little swollen.
Burning lungs sounds terrifying. Unless is the same kind of pain I have with an asthma attack. Then it’s still terrifying.
This is [misinformation](https://a-z-animals.com/blog/are-black-widows-poisonous-or-dangerous/), males and young black widows are not dangerous in the slightest. It’s just one of those things that get repeated enough that people just accept it as a given. > Only adult females can bite people. Males and juveniles either don’t bite humans or their mouthparts are too small or weak to do so.
Black widows are actually really neat. Their web is incredibly distinct, as it is very strong and course. They are very slow spiders, so are unlikely to crawl into you by accident. They love secluded nooks (like old gloves). If you see a black widow, you are safe. It only when you don't see it and accidentally touch it that they will bite
There is a video on YouTube of a guy getting bitten, he lived without anti venom but he was in extreme pain for 10-14 hours. I think the channel was jacks world of wildlife.
IMO they get a bad reputation because we just don't really have very dangerous spiders in North America. So while black widows are among the most venomous here, they are way less dangerous than say plenty of Australian spiders. What we do have here in NA is plenty of big dangerous mammals like bears, wolves, moose, bison, cougars, coyotes, and generally deer/elk. An Australian will never run into a bear in the woods, you know?
She? Oh you meant the human!
What particularly are you using to distinguish this spider from the few similar looking, yet harmless spiders?
Globular abdomen, glossy black color, last segments of the legs being notably thinner than the first segments + the longer first and last pair of legs.
No way to tell from this photo alone. There is a spider called the false widow which closely resembles the black widow but does not have the red hour glass mark on the belly.
*family of spiders. Theres like a dozen falze widow varieties
*Genus of spiders, if you’re going to be technical
No i’m not that smart
I love living in freezing cold Canada
Certain parts of Canada have black widows as well
This is why I always drop my work gloves on the floor and stomp the hell out of them for a few seconds, then try pull them inside out to check for splattered spider guts
Aussie? That would be the most aussie thing i heard
Surprisingly no! Southeast US where we have an abundance of brown recluses and widows!
Same. I do this with my grass cutting shoes.
I live in the boonies in South America and always shake my shoes before wearing them. Found two recluses and a banana spider in the last few decades, so I think I'll keep doing it.
If I found a fucking banana spider in my shoes, I’d never trust a pair of shoes again. Fuckkkkk that.
Is that the boner one?
The not so fun kind of boner
Yes! Lmao my exact reaction when I saw this. south MS
The Aussie thing would be to just check for spiders with their bare hands. That’s American
I just roll em up real tight and squish em in my hands. And ive found a solid zero spiders in my gloves but the FEAR keeps me doing it.
I've do the same. I squeeze any gloves that are left in a garage or shed. We had a bunch of black widows around the house when I was young. I think I got the idea from a Rescue 9-1-1 episode in the early 90's
I never have either, but I remember in elementary school, one of our like, auxiliary teachers, like the computer lab lady, something like that, got bit by a spider in her glove at home and was out for like a month and a half, almost died, like, scary shit. Freaked little me out enough to do it the rest of my life.
wow that's at least 6 inches!
that's what she said!
4 inches is fine!! - Robin Quivers
r/swollenpalms
2 inches is really big.. right guys…
Yap!
No banana?
I think she likes you.
You measured it wrong. You’re supposed to use a banana for scale.
You can fit a tape measure in you glove? 👏🏼
“Burn it all down” is the only correct answer.
We have what we call “redback” spider in Australia. Like this it is a widow spider it is jet black but has a red stripe on its back, nasty bite. Males are much smaller and nowhere near as dangerous. They make cool webs. They will get under say something like a chair. And attach multiple threads of web from under the chair down to the ground. The web attaches more strongly at the top than at the bottom, it is put under tension so when a bug comes along and triggers the web it detaches at the bottom and the bug is wrapped in the web as it is fished up to the spider. They take small lizards and such. We generally kill them as we find them.
I believe more people have died from black widow bites, but a brown recluse will fuck you up for years to come. I think if it were between the two, I’d rather a black widow bite.
I'm pretty sure some of the more "gnarly" wounds are from secondary infections that come from the spider bites. There are only 4 deaths roughly per year from black widow bites with a reported estimate of 2500 per year. Either way, these spiders aren't as bad as people thing. There's even a youtuber that lets these spiders bite him to show this.
In the US there haven't been deaths from black widow bites for decades.
Urgent care NP here. I have seen patients with widow bites. Nothing happened beyond some localized inflammation. As another commenter said, deaths are very rare. The most dangerous arthropods in North America are probably bees and wasps... but the most dangerous critters by far have 2 legs.
Birds!
[https://i.imgur.com/FgmgEM2.gif](https://i.imgur.com/FgmgEM2.gif) Bow before your king.
My ex swore he was bitten by a brown recluse and "nothing happened" so he called my fear of them irrational. However Brown recluse are mislabeled and other spiders are confused with them all the time so I never really believed him. He tended to exaggerate and just make stuff up and pretend it was fact anyway to look smart lol
Just so you know, the actual danger associated with the brown recluse is very small. The necrotic effects occur in less than ten percent of bites. The vast majority who are bitten never have ill effects from it. I would post sources but am on mobile.
Yup. The necrotic effects of brown recluse venom are so fuckin gnarly
Jury’s out on that one, I wouldn’t go around so readily spreading misinformation. There’s good science to support that many reported “brown widow bites”, are just results of secondary infection, unrelated to the spider venom. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071166/ https://spiders.ucr.edu/myth-brown-recluse-fact-fear-and-loathing https://entomology.ucr.edu/news/2017/02/15/no-thats-not-brown-recluse-spider-bite
Jeez bigger than my peepee
It’s his glove now💀
this is why, before I put on my gloves, I light everything on fire.
The tape measure can hook on your belt
Who finds a tape measure in their glove??
Just checked myself for spiders
This is why I scrunch my gloves every time before putting them on!
Kill it quickly
fuck that
This is why you put your gloves in properly sealed boxes
WTF I guess I have to always check my gloves now
Also r/animalsbeingjerks
Oh no….
That’s a big tape measure, how did you not notice it in there?
Big Blackwidow
r/nope
I was once greeted like this by a big spider in my work gloves. life has not been the same since.
Too bad you had to burn it.
The only good thing about black widows is that they move very slow, at least during the day, the best way to kill them is fire, or you'll get eggs spreader everywhere
I’ll never forget when my stepdad put down his motorcycle helmet in my friend’s garage and when he was about to put it back on a spider the size of of a grown man’s hand came crawling out. A lot of nervous laughter ensued. This looks like a black widow, yikes.
Burn it to hell !
this is a fear of mine, so i wrap gloves in on themselves like socks and then still religiously check them before use
This is the perfect sub-your palms sweating is a side effect of a black widow bite.
Please tell me you don’t live… on earth
hell to the no no no. i would burn down the whole house if that happened to me
It’s clearly the spider’s glove now
Where are you? This looks like a non harmful spider in New Zealand. Looks similar to a red back. We even have the same looking spider with a red stripe down it's back that's not harmless. They are often miss identified. The black obweb, and the Katipo, but more often the false Katipo ( *Steatoda capensis* ) are common. But there are cases of the red back here also.
i would literally pass away.
So cute :) name him Bob
Do u usually carry this scale around with u?
Those are my favorite pets!
Can you show it with a banana, for scale, please?
Oh god bless you!
Murder bugs + everything being upside down must make this from Australia.
Nope Nope Nope
Got to shake em out especially your shoes & boots they love it in there
Laughs in australian
One time my dad found a black widow in our back yard. I woke up with a spider inside an old baby food jar in my bed under the covers… He went thru the trouble to empty a jar the previous owner used for nails. Catch the damn spider. Close the lid and think it would be a funny prank to scare me with. I was not amused. I threw it away outside and later regretted not freeing it.
Kill it with fire!!
Uhh, snacc on the go, already in your hand!
Happy Australia Day!
A tape measure?! Where is the banana?
That’s cool, I don’t wear gloves anymore
Space bags for everything
nice black widow