Spider bite health question also off-topic thread

**Fraggle Rocker** · 04-30-12, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by Stoniphi

I was told that one type of commonly consumed mushroom gradually kills your liver over years of consumption, ultimately resulting in death via liver failure.

Did you look it up in Wikipedia or perhaps an even more reliable source? We are "told" many things throughout our lives that the teller was "told" by someone else, going back several generations. These days, something like that would be all over the internet, probably even on Snopes.com

I don't eat any except the ones I buy at the grocery store.

These were better.

You are much more adventurous than I, Frag.

The last time I was told that was after returning from two months criss-crossing then-communist Eastern Europe on a motorcycle. Which was almost 40 years ago, about the same time I was picking the mushrooms in my back yard.

**Stoniphi** · 05-01-12, 06:15 AM

...and you lived!

The guy that told me that is a mushroom hunter himself, goes out into the woods after them every year. Seems to know his stuff, but doesn't have much to do with the Internet save for watching his granddaughter on Skype.

I am gonna stick with the grocery store 'schrooms myself though. I also was in Europe 40 + years ago, though it was Western Europe on vacation from a SAC base in N. Africa. Saw some Soviet MIG's though, over N Africa, based in Syria. About as close as I got to Eastern Europe.

**elte** · 06-23-12, 11:40 AM

I've just found new good word on the adorable cellar spider.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0621125554.htm

**KilljoyKlown** · 06-23-12, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by Stoniphi

I was told that one type of commonly consumed mushroom gradually kills your liver over years of consumption, ultimately resulting in death via liver failure.

I don't eat any except the ones I buy at the grocery store. You are much more adventurous than I, Frag.

I'm with you on this one. At least if you get a bad shroom from the store, you have somebody you can sue for damages.

**Fraggle Rocker** · 06-23-12, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by KilljoyKlown

I'm with you on this one. At least if you get a bad shroom from the store, you have somebody you can sue for damages.

Remember, this was in Los Angeles, which is basically desert. That climate does not support a large variety of mushroom species. If you see one you know is edible, there are not six others that look almost identical but are poisonous. In fact there probably aren't six species of mushroom, total, in the entire Southland.

**KilljoyKlown** · 06-23-12, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by Fraggle Rocker

Remember, this was in Los Angeles, which is basically desert. That climate does not support a large variety of mushroom species. If you see one you know is edible, there are not six others that look almost identical but are poisonous. In fact there probably aren't six species of mushroom, total, in the entire Southland.

I'm not much of a mushroom expert and if you make a bad choice it's usually a nasty painful death. I don't know mushrooms from one area to the next, but I do know some stores that carry about a dozen different types of eatable mushrooms and that's good enough for me if I start jonesing for some mushrooms.

I did find a long listing of mushroom species that will show pictures when selected. http://calphotos.berkeley.edu//fungi/sci.html Mushrooms can be beautiful.

**~~seagypsy~~** · 06-23-12, 08:46 PM

I've been bitten several times by brown recluse spiders and so have my children. When I escaped my second husband with only my kids and the clothes on our backs we were broke and ended up living in an old mobile home on a private lot for a year. The home was full of brown recluse spiders. I would try to catch them and put them out but usually ended up just spraying for them, unsuccessfully. I now have 2 scars from bites. I got lucky though and they didn't get real big. One is as big as a cigar burn at the base of my neck and one the size of a cigarette burn behind my ear. My son got one bite right on his anus. Poor thing, missed several days of school because of it but at least it didn't get real bad like the other person mentioned. It developed pimple about 4 mm in diameter and I was able to clean it and remove the dead tissue and what appeared to be a poison deposit pretty quick. My other kids got bites too. All the bites seemed to have a thick green mucus plug at the center that once removed the damage stopped spreading. I was told the mucus plug was the venom deposit and that the body reacts to it by encasing it in mucus to keep it from spreading. I don't know how true that is, it was a nurse that told me, but I have heard some pretty crazy stuff from nurses before.

Our final solution to the problem was to move out as soon as I had the money to do so.

**KilljoyKlown** · 06-23-12, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by seagypsy

I've been bitten several times by brown recluse spiders and so have my children. When I escaped my second husband with only my kids and the clothes on our backs we were broke and ended up living in an old mobile home on a private lot for a year. The home was full of brown recluse spiders. I would try to catch them and put them out but usually ended up just spraying for them, unsuccessfully. I now have 2 scars from bites. I got lucky though and they didn't get real big. One is as big as a cigar burn at the base of my neck and one the size of a cigarette burn behind my ear. My son got one bite right on his anus. Poor thing, missed several days of school because of it but at least it didn't get real bad like the other person mentioned. It developed pimple about 4 mm in diameter and I was able to clean it and remove the dead tissue and what appeared to be a poison deposit pretty quick. My other kids got bites too. All the bites seemed to have a thick green mucus plug at the center that once removed the damage stopped spreading. I was told the mucus plug was the venom deposit and that the body reacts to it by encasing it in mucus to keep it from spreading. I don't know how true that is, it was a nurse that told me, but I have heard some pretty crazy stuff from nurses before.

Our final solution to the problem was to move out as soon as I had the money to do so.

Get the right chemical and a spray can (pump sprayer) and inside spray along where the wall meets the floor in all rooms, then take it outside and put a chemical barrier around the lower part of the home and around any windows and other entrances. Then get a good lawn and garden spray and and do the area around the house out to the edge of the property. If you can keep the spiders food source (other bugs) away from your home the spiders won't have any reason to come your way.

All that is often cheaper than moving and the barrier can last several months.

**R1D2** · 06-23-12, 09:17 PM

Ever hear of a banana spider?
I will try finding a site. They bite humans.

**KilljoyKlown** · 06-23-12, 09:30 PM

Originally Posted by R1D2

Ever hear of a banana spider?
I will try finding a site. They bite humans.

Most of us here on the forum don't live in the tropics. But some times a spider or two might be hiding in a large bunch of bananas that have been shipped.

**R1D2** · 06-23-12, 09:31 PM

Here is 2 nasty spiders. This ones the type I see most often an. It did bite a friend.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver

Here is #2
Sometimes located in florida.
http://www.badspiderbites.com/banana-spider/

**~~seagypsy~~** · 06-23-12, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by R1D2

Ever hear of a banana spider?
I will try finding a site. They bite humans.

I know which one you are talking about. Don't know if they are venomous but they are aggressive. They were all over the place in Indiana where I grew up. Mostly in corn fields or near them. I have had them lung at me and spit. I don't know if they were spitting a liquid or if it was webbing. was weird though and I didn't stick around to find out. It was huge.

Though there is one thing to note. I think we called them banana spiders growing up but I am not sure that is what they are really called.

**Asguard** · 06-23-12, 11:39 PM

All spiders are venomous (they all kill by injecting there victoms with a toxic substance which also digests them) what you mean is you don't know if they are toxic to humans

**~~seagypsy~~** · 06-24-12, 12:22 AM

Originally Posted by Asguard

All spiders are venomous (they all kill by injecting there victoms with a toxic substance which also digests them) what you mean is you don't know if they are toxic to humans

Naah, I actually didn't know if they were venomous. I read about spiders that have fangs so massive they don't need venom. I can't remember which ones and can't say that my sources were reliable, but it gave me the impression that not all spiders are venomous. I do thank you for the correction however.

**R1D2** · 06-24-12, 05:31 AM

If you would have checked out my one link. It tells you. I think the proper name is, golden silk orb-weaver.... An I thought they were poisonous but only when they bit.
Ah found this in that link I provided...

The venom of the golden silk orb-weaver is potent but not lethal to humans. It has a neurotoxic effect similar to that of the black widow spider; however, its venom is not nearly as powerful. The bite causes local pain, redness, and blisters that normally disappear within a 24-hour interval. In rare cases, it might trigger allergic reactions and result in respiratory troubles (in asthmatics) or fast-acting involuntary muscle cramps. As the genus possesses relatively strong chelicerae, the bite could leave a scar on hard tissue (such as fingers).

**R1D2** · 06-24-12, 05:37 AM

My friend ------ had been bit while he was hiking. A banana spider / golden silk orb-weaver. bit him on the chest. He had a huge "bubble" that swelled up. He was real sick. An he refused going to a doctor. He eventually cut into it an removed a mucus like material. An he helped it drain for like 2 weeks. Eventually it healed. An he had a scar.

**Stoniphi** · 06-24-12, 02:57 PM

Banana spider:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...mb=wS8DpzvS6M7

Golden orb weaver spider:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...qcrc&fr=mcafee

Goldens won't hurt you, banana's can.

**KilljoyKlown** · 06-24-12, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by Stoniphi

Banana spider:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...mb=wS8DpzvS6M7

Golden orb weaver spider:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...qcrc&fr=mcafee

Goldens won't hurt you, banana's can.

That's an impressive collection of spiders. Now I know what nightmares are made of. Did you happen to notice the picture of that nasty thumb injury? I'm assuming it was the result of a spider bite, but it didn't say which one.

**KilljoyKlown** · 06-24-12, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by seagypsy

I read about spiders that have fangs so massive they don't need venom.

I think these funnel web spiders have the biggest fangs for there size and they are very venomous. One of the worst spider bites you can get.

**Stoniphi** · 06-26-12, 07:01 AM

Yeah, and the problem with those is that the males go out looking for the females at a certain time of year and can end up pretty much anywhere then - including the back yard in a city or the laundry basket.

They are also very aggressive and strong, can bite right through cloth or light leather. Also pack one heck of a wallop, poison - wise.

Australia can keep those, thanks.

Most spiders are relatively harmless though, unless you are a bug. I have been bitten by many spiders over the years, none worth mentioning specifically, though. Just another bug bite and I get those every day in good weather.

Son just got spider bit last week up in the mountains of upstate New York, didn't notice it until long after the spider had moved on.