America's Most Dangerous Spiders: The Black Widow & Brown Recluse

California has some nasty looking spiders. Black Widow spiders are common and what look like Brown Recluse spiders are most likely non-Recluse most commonly found in the Midwest and South\Southwest. Both prefer warm and dry climates and hidden locations away from  people. The BW prefers dark areas.

Of the two nasty looking insects, it is the Brown Recluse that has venom far worse than a rattlesnake bite. The venom of the Brown Recluse causes destruction of the human skin and then can cause infection in underlying tissue. This can happen within 25 days of the bite. The Black Widow venom is much less dangerous and most will only suffer for several days. But it all depends on a person's health and their reaction. In a weakened state, either spider bite can produce serious results that one would not imagine.

The bite of a BW is akin to a pinprick, while the Brown Recluse has a bee sting-like bite. Either may leave fang marks. Many people do not even realize that a BW has bitten them until swelling occurs or worse symptoms occur. This is usually within 20 min. The same is true with a Brown Recluse until a red-like skin disorder develops within a few days. The skin disorder is actually the venom killing the tissue and subsequent worse infections that must be addressed in the worse cases. In these cases, skin grafts must occur where the dead skin developed making recovery last months.

Both spiders are nocturnal and like dark areas to live in. Both produce an array of bite symptoms from swelling, vomiting, muscle soreness, difficulty breathing and many more. If there is paid and redness around a particular part of your body for no explicable reason, consider these critters, especially, if you recall working around their environment.