[Smurfysmurf]

You don't have to know me well, to know that I am literally deathly afraid of spiders. This started growing up in Germany, where there aren't really any scary spiders at all...well, they were scary enough for me, until I moved into the backwoods of TN...

We don't have Tarantulas here, but we have spiders that are of the same size..and we have little poisonous spiders that will eat at your flesh. I've seen the fist size spiders but not the flesh eating ones yet

Anyway...this time of year it's nothing unusual to walk in the woods and walk straight into a a very thick net with an ugly spider sitting in the middle of it..and after doing this for a few times (and ending up doing my little scary spider dance trying to get that stuff out of my face and hair) I decided to take a picture of those spiders..because up until this year I hadn't seen them.

So, here you go..here is a picture of one of the spiders that invaded MY woods..and have nothing better to do than to put their strong nets at face level on MY path The picture was taken after I removed the net with a stick

[SmurfingH]

Me no like! That would really freak me out!

[bwalters]

I have never seen a spider that looked like that. Whats it called? Now you know why hikers are always seen carrying walking sticks. I usually walk with one out in front of me. and if I need it for balance, I can quickly get it to the ground. I have also ran into those spider webs. I also don't like it very much. I've done the dance myself. lol One of the guys I have been working with found a black widow spider the other day, He poured some alcohol on it and it just sat there. We went in for a couple of min to look it up on the computer. When I walked back to were it was. It was gone. Gulp. They can be deadly.

[Smurfysmurf]

Yeah, we have those, too...and a lot. Thankfully, they apparently belong to the shy spiders who rather run away than bite.

The poisonous spider I mentioned is the brown recluse which lives inside and is quite aggressive. It will jump on you and bite. I haven't seen one yet..but I know several people who were bitten by one. It's a very very ugly wound and the flesh will die off

I also take a stick with me into the woods...it's quite helpful for several things

[bwalters]

I know three people that have been bitten by brown recluse. My old boss was bitten when he put on a pair of pants he hadn't worn in awhile. That was around 25 years ago and he still has a quarter size hole in his leg. It is about 1/4 inch deep. But healed. My mother was bitten by one and we thought her are was going to fall off. The third was an older man I knew he was bitten and caught the spider and took it to the doctor. The doctor treated him for the bite as best he could. They stopped at a grocery store an bought grocerys. When they arrived home he took a bag in the house sat down and died. Only time I have ever heard of someone dying from one.

[Tojo]

I've never heard of that spider but I'm glad they aren't here

The scariest spiders I ever saw were in Australia. The Huntsman was very big but in fact harmless. The Redbacks on the other hand are quite small & pack a nasty bite - they are related to the Black Widow. I squashed a few of them to avoid getting bitten whilst fruit picking.

[bwalters]

Yea they are a nasty, Nasty Spider. Not many people die from them, but if bitten a huge area around that spot will turn black, but usually just the area where bitten will be permantly effected.
I was opening a copier one day. We lifted the box off the copier, and turned it over. When I look in the box I saw the books for the copier in the bottom. As I reached down about 3 feet to grab them I saw a brown recluse about 3 inches from my face. I didn't get the books. I called our warehouse guy over, we grabbed a piece of tape and caught him. Of course he died. lol

[Tojo]

I called our warehouse guy over, we grabbed a piece of tape and caught him. Of course he died. lol

I hope you meant the spider Bill

[bwalters]

LOL I can see how you were confused. Yes I meant the spider.