August 13, 2011

I've found my people [Brown Recluse division]

That would be the Brown Recluse spider, ha very ha.

So many years...! So many years I've spent patiently explaining that your aunt in Pacoima or your grandfather in Carmel was actually not, I repeat, not bitten by a Brown Recluse spider, because the Brown Recluse doesn't live in California, and even where it does live, it isn't running around biting people. It's shy and, well, reclusive. And did I mention that most medical doctors are not arthropodologists? May I add that most medical doctors do not spend their days researching bacterial infections, Staph infections in particular? Here's someone who does. Oh, kids, how this makes me smile:

It's not a freaking spider bite

Via this:
MRSA, spider bites and denial

And here's more:
“Spider bite” lesions are usually diagnosed as skin and soft-tissue infections

And more:
Spider!

And more:
Male funnel-web spider [ at somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com — awesome-sauce, I'm telling you]

All with lovely linkage. Like this:

An approach to spider bites: Erroneous attribution of dermonecrotic lesions to brown recluse or hobo spider bites in California Canada [pdf]

California does have a Desert Recluse. [Spider!] It's shy, reclusive [quelle surprise] and reluctant to bite. Just for you, Californians:
Brown Recluse and Other Recluse Spiders

Photo credit: awesome shot of a spider at Kent Ridge Park in Singapore, by Tripod Ape, at Flickr.

3 comments:

YesBiscuit! said...

Luisa - Could you look at this red bump on the back of my leg?

Luisa said...

The first thing to do is make sure your bump is a bug and not a feature. I, for example, have a big bump on the back of my legs. It's my ass. Does your bump itch? If it itches, it could be... well, it could be a lot of things, but you might have been bitten by a waspito. Wasp + mosquito hybrid, and I know this because a waspito got me last year. See the scar? Hurts AND itches, and I did not make that up. Next!

KB said...

Thank you so much for your links concerning MRSA. I greatly appreciate it! The links have been very helpful. We are still trying to sort out how to treat K but I am a more educated participant now.

KB