Dear Nevin,
I blathered on a bit about what I know in an earlier post. Now, I've had
black widows in the springs of my mg while I was restoring it- no problem,
since a broom or heavy gloved hand is sufficient defence. However, when I
saw Jurassic Park and imagined the threat of dinosaurs roaming around I
thought- hmmm, I see nothing here that couldn't be dealt with by a round
or two from a wetherby .454 magnum. And I would guess they'd taste like
chicken ;-)
As for brown recluse- they can be a problem, but you are almost certain
not to see them- they are reclusive you see. Their range (although not
that of certain potentially dangerous relatives) is far more restrictive
than generally thought too. KS, OK, TX etc. are supposedly the center
portion of their range- though they can be transported out by other means.
Just follow the suggestions of others, and LOOK before you stick your paws
someplace. BTW, the majority of Black widow bites are reported by males
using outhouses where they were nipped on their naughty bits.
"Never ascribe to Malice that which can be explained by Ignorance."
John J. Peloquin, Assistant Research Entomologist
Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521
On Tue, 30 Mar 1999 dresden@tiac.net wrote:
>
> >Tarantulas (wolf spiders?)
>
> I thought they were two different things, I thought wolf spiders were grey
> and non-poisonous (relatively), though they can bite somewhat nastily. I
> know there are few tarantulas in the US (any?) that can kill a person with
> their venom, unless that person is allergic.
>
> Speaking of allergic, also watch out for Brown Recluse spiders in your MG.
> On Southern Air Force bases, that is something crew chiefs learn to look
> for before blindly fondling the landing gear of an aircraft. Some people
> have severe allergic reactions to Brown Recluse bites (coma, lost limbs,
> even death), though with most it just causes a painful itch and swelling; I
> used to know their identifying marks but have forgotten.
>
> Hey, John Peloquin, the entomologist, where are you? Tell us what bugs to
> abandon our MG's for, whether insect or arachnid...
>
> Nevin
>
>
>
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