by Ted Sherman

Created on: January 23, 2008

We had just moved to southern Arizona, and were enjoying the beautiful walking paths of a lush golf course just behind our apartment house. As we hiked, we saw many local critters for the first time. A family of javalinas trotted past, two coyotes spoke to each other on either side of the path, a big scorpion skittered along in front of us. A baby snake rattled at us. We jumped back. Our companion, an old Arizona hand, "Don't mind the little rattler. It's the big guys you need to worry about. Scorpions can give you a nasty sting. Just watch out for the brown recluse. his bite can kill you."

Huh? What the heck was a brown recluse? An African-American hermit? No, we were told it was a buff-colored little spider that could deliver enough poison to kill a coyote or wildcat. Throughout the rest of the hike, we saw a horned toad, some rabbits and a village of prairie dogs. When we got back to our apartment, sitting right outside the door was a dark spider the size of a hamburger.

We jumped again, but our local friend laughed, reached down, picked up the dangerous-looking critter and put it on his arm. He stroked it and said, "This is a tarantula. It can bite and cause some irritation, but they're usually friendly if you don't do something sudden. But watch out for those brown recluses."

Of course, you can guess what happened next. Several days later, my wife was at the kitchen sink and reached for a nearby sponge. From another room I heard her cry out, and rushed in. She said there must have been a sliver of glass in the sponge because she just had been cut, and it was very painful. We put some anesthetic on the red spot between two fingers, and that made it OK. No it didn't.

And hour later, my wife almost collapsed. She showed me that her hand had turned bright red in the area of the wound, and was swelling up to almost twice its normal size. We found out later she was suffering a dangerous allergic reaction to the bite. It is called anaphylaxis, and if not treated quickly, can be deadly. Frightened at the spread of the swelling from her fingers and up her arm, and the continuing severe pain, I called 911. There was a firehouse just two miles away, and happily for us, two no-nonsense EMTs arrived within just a few minutes. They examined and cleaned the wound area, and told us what had happened. It wasn't a sharp piece of glass, but the bite of a brown recluse that was causing all the trouble.

They applied soothing lotion to the sore areas and gave her several Benedryl tablets. Before they left, they told us to call our family doctor the next morning for advice, medical visits and a more complete series of prescription drugs. We were very lucky that, although we lost an hour when we failed to realize my wife had been bitten by a brown recluse, the very efficient EMT guys were the heroes of the day. They arrived prepared to act immediately, and they save my wife from possible serious illness or death.

So, don't do what we did when you suspect you or someone with you has been bitten by a spider. And, don't try to guess what species of bug it is. We wrongly waited an hour until the symptoms got almost beyond control. Get help, and get it immediately.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.