I got bitten by something thread?

[Taupotreeman]

I take exception to your comparison to Mr. Mainwaring. My better half lost her Father from a simple Bee sting due to Anaphylactic shock he lived for a 1/2 hour after this event and passed on. I bet most people on this site have no clue how dangerous it is to be bitten or stung by something and just shrug it off.

Knowledge is power for those willing to learn from others. Knowledge and experience is priceless IMO. For all who are working in the field make sure your first aid kit is current and don't take for granted things like bee stings or bites, the live you save may well be your own.

easy-lift guy

 

At college we were out doing felling training somewhere in Sherwood forest when one of the guys got stung by a bee. Next thing we know his face and hands started to swell and he had trouble breathing. One of the lecturers rushed him off to the forestry commision base where he had to have a shot to sort him out. seeing people stung has never been funny since.

[LoadhandlerUK]

I take exception to your comparison to Mr. Mainwaring. My better half lost her Father from a simple Bee sting due to Anaphylactic shock he lived for a 1/2 hour after this event and passed on. I bet most people on this site have no clue how dangerous it is to be bitten or stung by something and just shrug it off.

Knowledge is power for those willing to learn from others. Knowledge and experience is priceless IMO. For all who are working in the field make sure your first aid kit is current and don't take for granted things like bee stings or bites, the live you save may well be your own.

easy-lift guy

 

Point taken

[gibbon]

Really, I catch them all the time and hold them in my hand so my children can look at them, never been bitten.

 

I didn't think they could bite either, but she got into bed and squashed one and it had her. I knocked it off and still didn't believe it bit, but her arm swelled and she had a welt.

[Pete Tattam]

I started a thread sometime ago re false black widow spiders which are now common all over Britain. When I got bitten by one it swelled up just like in the pics. Went down eventually but keep an eye on it.

[Saw-sick Steve]

Originally Posted by skyhuck

Really, I catch them all the time and hold them in my hand so my children can look at them, never been bitten.

I didn't think they could bite either, but she got into bed and squashed one and it had her. I knocked it off and still didn't believe it bit, but her arm swelled and she had a welt.

08-01-12 08:41 AM

The large hairy spiders that enter our houses, often in autumn, all belong to the tegenaria group and are usually one of 3 species;

Tegenaria agrestis, T.duellica, T.domestica.

All have the ability to pierce skin, though are highly unlikely to do so. I too remove them by picking them up and have never suffered a bite while doing so, but this is down to both the spiders reluctance to bite and it's inability to puncture the tough skin on the palm of your hand. However, they will bite if they feel threatened and are certainly capable of penetrating the softer skin on the back of your hand, or somewhere like your upper arm or leg if you were unlucky enough to be in such a situation.

The sensation of a bite is unlikely to be little more than a minor irritation, a slight 'pinching' feeling, certainly a lot less painful than, say, a bee or wasp sting. However, while the latter two species mentioned will leave no after affects, the first mentioned, T.agrestis, can have a nasty reaction with a minority of people, leading to local inflammation around the bite area, swelling and in extreme cases, necrosis.

However, before anyone takes this as a green light to squash all big hairy spiders, it's worth mentioning that the biggest, meanest looking one of the three, Tegenaria duellica, actually out competes T.agrestis and prevents it taking up residence in areas it inhabits, pushing it to more marginal areas - i.e, not human habitation.

[geoff]

Anaphylactic shock is a very nasty thing to have happen,we should all be aware of the symptoms in our trade,and of any known alergies of our work mates.

I personaly have suffered from it twice,both times the euro wasp,& it knocked me off my feet in minutes,confusion,swelling of face etc,rash on arms & legs,dificult breathing & fierce chest pains from sternum to epiglotis.

both times required a stay in hospital.

[sasha.p]

[/A mate of mine had the same reaction after being stabbed by a blackthorn, his hand swelled up to double its size and took a week for it to go down

Have to agree there I had similar from hawthorn did not realize it was the hawthorn that had done it as im alway's getting scratched and stuff but dont really pay that much attention but a month or so ago I was clearing some and did get stabbed in the arm by it next day my arm was up like a balloon ended up on anti histamine and anti biotics I thought it was a bite at first until I remembered the thorn that got me,would highly recomend benadryl topical antihistamine cream stops the itching pretty quick ,whatever the cause hope it gets better soon