Ew. And Why I'm Paranoid.

[sevendaysky]

I, too, subscribe to the Castle Doctrine. Outside my house, if you are not immediately next to me, bugs are safe. Inside it, they are DEAD as fast as I can get my roommate to kill it for me... >.>

[Pagan]

Hmmmm, the only creepy-crawly that I can't abide are cockroaches. I've actually got a huge, raging phobia when it comes to those. And I haven't seen one in my place in months....not that I'm complaining. Especially the flying ones.

Anything else, meh. We've got these big striped beetles that are pretty stupid. Those I catch under a glass an put out regularly.

Spiders get a free pass since they eat bugs. I do occasionally put them out if it's a wolf spider, mainly because I'm worried about stepping on it.

All spiders do have venom, but whether a person has a reaction or not depends on the venom and how the person reacts.

And contrary to popular opinion, they bite defensively. They don't just run up and bite you just to bite you. I've been in this apartment for 13 years, there's spiders all over the place, and I have yet to be bitten.

Now mice, I don't really like having in here. But that's because we have plague and hantavirus. I've had an extremely close call with hantavirus and don't want to contract either one.

[Moirae]

OMG. There's some seriously poisonous spiders in your place. They need to get an exterminator. If they don't kill them, they'll breed and spread.

[blas]

I never thought we had truly poisonous spiders in Wisconsin, especially the further north, colder parts of the state.

My coworkers were bitten at home. Well, the second lady doesn't truly know when and where it happened, the first lady swatted the spider after it bit her.

There's really no need to panic and worry about exterminators until someone can keep the spider and bring it in for a sample. Although, most people don't think to keep bugs they kill.

[Andara Bledin]

And contrary to popular opinion, they bite defensively. They don't just run up and bite you just to bite you.

True. But some spiders consider practically anything happening near them to require "vigorous defense."

^-.-^

[Igorina]

Well considering that much of spider venom includes compounds to paralyze and/or dissolve the innards of whatever they catch; even a bite from a non-venomous spider can have interesting results.

And the entomologist in me feel obligated to point out that when people say 'bugs', she thinks they are referring to the true bugs: Order Hemiptera.

[Andara Bledin]

And the entomologist in me feel obligated to point out that when people say 'bugs', she thinks they are referring to the true bugs: Order Hemiptera.

The last time I had anything particular to do with creepy-crawlies was in grade school, and I still think the same anytime I hear people talking about "bugs."

^-.-^

[Gaki]

Whoa. I get bit by spiders all the time (you can tell by the two distinct fang marks as opposed to a single straw from a mosquito) but they only ever just itch. I've never been bit by a spider that made anything horrible happen although I will say that they do stick around a bit longer and after the red circle goes away there's a little shadow of pigmentation where it used to be that gradually fades. I literally get bit at least 20 or 30 times a summer by spiders alone (there are practically no mosquitoes in my area so generally if you have a bite it's from a spider.)

Although I live in an area where the most common spiders are ordinary house spiders, tan-colored crab spiders, orb spiders (which are essentially harmless but they look big and scary), and moderately-sized wolf spiders.

Generally speaking from the distance between the fang marks on my skin I'd guess that 90% of my bites are from house spiders and the rest are from the crab spiders. They tend to find refuge in my bedding and I roll over on them. That sounds like a horror movie but it's mainly because nobody lives in my room while I'm at school and my mom changes the sheets right after I leave so there's plenty of time for the creepy crawlies to sneak right in. Plus they like me because I'm warm.

Sounds like your coworker got bitten by something really nasty. I've heard of wolf spider bites having bruising like that around them and getting infected so maybe that was it. Having only been chewed on by house spiders and crab spiders, I wouldn't know.

[ShadowBall]

Any time I get bit by something in the house, it always just ends up looking like a mosquito bite. Little red bump that itches. The End. Honestly, as long as they bite in my sleep and I don't notice it, I don't care. But I hate bugs - insects and arachnids. There are hopping spiders and huge motherfucking brown spiders in my basement and they are fast. Sometimes I throw books at them and they still manage to live. Don't think these ones have ever bitten me because both tend to only be seen in the basement.

And hell, I get freaked out by other bugs...the millipedes in the basement I've gotten used to, but I will scream bloody murder if a moth, butterfly, or crane fly flutters near my face. Many a pretty winged insect has met its demise because it flew too close to me and I beat it into the ground...not intentionally, but just from flailing and being afraid.

I recall being at a friend's house earlier in the year. I was getting in the shower and there was a huge moth on the shower wall a few inches from my face. I ran screaming out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel and told my friend to go kill the moth because I refused to go in the bathroom until he did. Thankfully he doesn't mind my fears and saved me.

Oddly enough, I like grasshoppers. They are the only bug I can hold in my hand and not get grossed out by.

[blas]

I got bit by....something, last Thursday (as in not yesterday, but the Thursday before). It was on my butt.

I woke up from a nap, and there was an inflammed itchy bump on one of my cheekies. I wanted to blame it on my new drier sheets or laundry detergent, but that would mean I'd itch everywhere.

Ewww.