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jumping spiders and daddy longlegs in your house keep away brown recluse

paul wheaton

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posted 13 years ago

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This is a jumping spider that found its way onto my monitor.

I was once bit by a brown recluse spider. I had a big welt on my arm for six months. In those days I killed all spider and had to kill lots of flies and other bugs too. Now, I leave all jumping spiders and daddy long legs. They are safe to me, eat all the flies and bugs which makes me have nearly zero brown recluse food. So, a greatly reduced probability of brown recluse spiders.

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Andreas Brevitz

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Location: Sweden, Stockholm

posted 13 years ago

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Haha, I didn't expect they would recognise the movement of the cursor. Actually I have an infestation of Sciaridae, those flies that hang out and lay eggs in flower pots. I've been thinking about going out and collecting some spiders, I think they would have a field day.

ronie dean

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posted 13 years ago

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Instead of suffering with spider bite, use Plantain.

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Andreas Brevitz

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Location: Sweden, Stockholm

posted 13 years ago

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantain
Is this what you are talking about? Does it discourage flies? Actually I live in Sweden and I don't think we have spiders here who are actually able to pierce the skin of a human and if so not poisonous enough to produce any pain, so that's not an issue for me.

Brenda Groth

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posted 13 years ago

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we have always considered the jumping spiders in our windows as pets..they leave us bits of carcasses of their pray in the corners of the windows..so we know they are eating.

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posted 13 years ago

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I love jumping spiders. They seem incredibly intelligent for something of their size and place on the evolutionary ladder. I always just let them be to do their thing. Plus, they don't make annoying webs like other indoor spiders can.

ronie dean

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posted 13 years ago

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AndreasBrevitz wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantain
Is this what you are talking about? Does it discourage flies? Actually I live in Sweden and I don't think we have spiders here who are actually able to pierce the skin of a human and if so not poisonous enough to produce any pain, so that's not an issue for me.

NO!

The Plantain that I'm talking about is a herb... The most common one around my area is this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major

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Andreas Brevitz

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Location: Sweden, Stockholm

posted 13 years ago

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Well, both are herbs, actually... Are you suggesting to dress spiderbites with the plantago major, or what? Use it you say. Use it how?

ronie dean

Posts: 631

Location: NW MO

posted 13 years ago

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AndreasBrevitz wrote:
Well, both are herbs, actually... Are you suggesting to dress spiderbites with the plantago major, or what? Use it you say. Use it how?

I consider that 'banana-like' plantain a fruit...I have never used it.

The herb plantain that grows all over as a 'weed,' can be used for all kinds of bites. Anything that bites, stings, burns...even hangnail can get instant relief with plantain.

For spider bite, I use fresh or dried plantain mixed with hydrocortisone or triple antibiotic. I guess if you don't like those products you could just use a plantain leaf. Use a meat tenderizer tool and pound the leaf to break open the cell walls to release the medicinal fluids from the plant cells. Place the leaf on the affected area for instant relief. (You can also cut the leaf into small pieces, but it takes more time than pounding.)

All 'weed' plantains work equally well (the best I can tell). So use P. Major or P. Lanceolata. I even have a hairy leaf Plantago growing at the farm, but I haven't taken the time to see if has a species name or if it is a variation of P. Major. All the Plantago I've tried works and works great.

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Leila Rich

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posted 13 years ago

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Plantain or dock were our childhood anti-sting plants. Work for bees and nettles, sounds like spiders too!

Ken Peavey

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posted 13 years ago

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Way back in the day I was at my great-grandmother's house and got stung by a hornet. She went out into the yard, picked a few leaves of a weed, tore and crushed them up, put it on the sting, tied a towel around my arm to hold it in place. I'd seen the weed many times as it is common in Maine and has such a prominant shape that it cant be confused with anything else: plantain.

I've been stung many times since, can't even guess how many, but its a lot. I can't say if the plantain helped or if it was just the attention of my grandmother that made everything better. I would gladly be stung again to spend a few minutes more with her.

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Terri Matthews

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Location: Eastern Kansas

posted 13 years ago

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For those of you who are not living in the American Midwest, a Brown Recluse spider can make a disk of dead skin and muscle a couple of inches across. With that much dead tissue, the chance of a secondary infection occuring is considerable. And, a few people also have an allergic reaction which makes it worse.

Fortunately, it is a small and shy spider that likes to hide in dark corners. Of course, since it DOES hide in dark corners and is hard to see, if a person accidently hits it it might bite even though it is shy. I have seen a few but not been bitten.

Erica Wisner

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posted 13 years ago

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I had good results with plantain (when at a remote location and uninsured) for a spider-bite of the 'angry red owie' type. Given my anxiety over waiting to see if the painful bite developed into a necrotic wound (which it didn't), I would not hesitate to go to the doctor and follow medical advice with a wound of that type.

My own usual procedure:
1) Wash any bites or itchy spots with soapy water, remove any stingers, venom, or poison oak type oils.
2) Use any appropriate remedies like calamine (clay), benedryl (antihistamines), plantago, or baking soda depending on the presumed type of biting/stinging spider/insect. To dry out, neutralize, comfort, or continue removing/breaking down any venom.
3) Use antibiotic ointment as a precaution if the swelling has not gone down within a day or so
4) If necrosis, severe swelling, signs of blood poisoning, or I see/capture a venemous biter that is known to have serious effects, I would go directly to the doctor / hospital. Captured biters can also go to the extension service for ID even if the bite is not serious.

For minor stuff, I've chewed up the plantain leaves, but for something with risk of infection that might not be wise.

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paul wheaton

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posted 13 years ago

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Judith Browning

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posted 11 years ago

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We have a lot of brown recluse spiders...I did not know that jumping spiders and daddy longlegs could make a difference but I am noticing the recluse population way up and the others almost nonexistent...we used to have a long legged..what I called house spider in almost every ceiling corner...my husband evicted them frequently and I put out the daddy long legs...

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Renate Howard

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posted 11 years ago

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I was looking up what the long-legged house spiders are called and came up with "cellar spider" or "daddy long legs" - completely different bug than the one I've always called "daddy long legs", which isn't even a true spider since it just has a round body. How fitting that the "daddy long legs" SPIDER are also called "cellar spiders" since when we moved here they had upholstered the cellar ceiling with their fine webs!

Has anyone tried osage orange to prevent all spiders? I'm wondering what so many cellar spiders are eating - the only bugs I see in the corners where they live are the cellar spiders of different sizes! I just wonder if I find a way to keep them out (I find them creepy and they are accomplished web-builders, in quantity if not in beauty), if there will be a population explosion of some other undesirable basement-dweller that's worse than cobwebby spiders everywhere.

Renate Howard

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posted 11 years ago

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I was just looking up what the cellar spiders eat and I guess they mostly hunt and eat other spiders, including the hobo spiders, which do attack humans when they feel threatened and often their bites are attributed to brown recluses because they cause a lesion. So it does make sense that letting them be would prevent other spiders - I though it was from competition but evidently it's because they hunt and eat other spiders and their eggs.

Steven Feil

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Location: South Central Idaho

posted 11 years ago

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Echinacea is a REALLY important herb to take if you have been injected with venom. It helps to stabilize the cell membranes and strengthen the immune system. You should also take Burdock to help with flushing the debris that results from this activity.

Calendula would be another external herb to apply with the plantain.

I can't remember the whole regimen that my herbal mentor uses for spider bites. All I know is he stopped a hobo bite in its tracks for his daughter in about three days with no visible signs at all.

paul wheaton

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posted 10 years ago

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Apparently, this is in some office somewhere

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Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 10 years ago

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I'm gonna try the sign. I think we have noticed a difference in the number of brown recluse since we let this long legged spider stick around. I like those spiders and if there is a chance they will keep the recluse population down I'll protect them completely. My guy lets them stay at a certain height in the room, up in the corners, but I'm thinking most of the recluse I see are on the floor scurrying to the next dark corner so I think I'll try to keep them all.
I liked the toad in the dining room too but that didn't last long

spider.jpg

spider-2.jpg

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elle sagenev

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posted 9 years ago

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Andreas Brevitz wrote:Haha, I didn't expect they would recognise the movement of the cursor. Actually I have an infestation of Sciaridae, those flies that hang out and lay eggs in flower pots. I've been thinking about going out and collecting some spiders, I think they would have a field day.

My husband has totally done that. I can't turn around with that man dumping a spider in my plants.

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Joshua Parke

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posted 9 years ago

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Through my studies, I've learned that using high voltage will also neutralize venom. I've never experienced it for myself, but it's something that I recall.

The story I'm recalling most vividly involved someone being bitten by a recluse. They took the spark cap from their lawn mower, put it on/around the bite spot and had someone pull the cord a few times.....I think they pulled slowly too..?? There are other accounts that people have shared on the net.... I'm not recalling all the details, but I kind of want to think that someone was carrying around a stun gun, specifically for the reason of being bitten by a venomous creature..... or maybe that was an idea I had to create a high voltage low amperage zapper just for this purpose.... I don't recall.

But with some digging on the net, I'm sure one could find it.

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Hester Winterbourne

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posted 9 years ago

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I have seen piezo electric zappers marketed as mosquito bite treatment. But I think that would mainly work if the reaction was an allergic one rather than to an actual venom. My main problem in the summer is with horsefly bites. I can swell up major a couple of days later when I absent-mindedly scratch them. By chance, I was sitting in a farm kitchen gritting my teeth with the irritation, and the farm dog (a Malamute) walked in and licked all over my arm, and later on that afternoon I suddenly realised my arm had not itched since. Now if I get bit I have to go find a dog, which can get me some odd looks from farmers!

Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 9 years ago

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finally got a good picture of this guy...the long bodied cellar spider...one of the 'daddy long legs' spiders (Pholcidae)...this is the third one that's browsed my computer screen lately and the first that was slow enough I could take a photo.
Steve says it is a male because it has enlarged pedipalps.

IMG_0837a.png

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 7 years ago

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A jumping spider in action catching an actual fly

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Keith Kuhnsman

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posted 7 years ago

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That was awesome, thanks!

Pretty little spider, too.

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s wesley

Posts: 112

posted 6 years ago

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That office sign is AWESOME! ha.
Around here I have daddy long legs, jumping spider and others but the recluse population seems to be high also. I have heard that a scorpion's favorite food is a brown recluse. I have noticed they do frequent the same areas. I have been bitten so much by brown recluses that I'm becoming pretty immune. It just kinda gets me "high" for a few days although I'm pretty sure I just got one and it only lasted a day this time. It's pretty reassuring considering the first time I didn't realize what the bite was until three days later and I went into a kind of shock. I used cayenne pepper to bring myself back and keep the shock away and then used charcoal and clay both internally and externally. That and I think fasting and maybe a few other herbs. In my opinion people that get taken to the hospital usually end up the worst because of all the unnatural treatments they use. Although I understand why people choose to take someone there. Anyway, Cayenne is a very very good thing to have in your first aid kit or plan. It's good with bleeding too.

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