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Local expert calms fears about spider invasions amid dry weather conditions

ktul.com 2 days ago
Local expert calms fears about spider invasions amid dry weather conditions (KOKH)
Local expert calms fears about spider invasions amid dry weather conditions (KOKH)

Tulsa, Okla. (KTUL) — With how hot and dry it’s been outside, you may get some uninvited arachnid visitors in your home.

And yes all spiders are venomous, but most spiders don’t have fangs long enough to penetrate human skin.

Wyatt Hoback, a professor of Entomology at Oklahoma State University says the spiders that people are typically concerned about are black widows and brown recluse spiders which both can be found near your home if not in your home.

Hoback says brown recluse spiders like to live in houses and black widows will live in downspouts, yard sprinkler system areas, wood piles and garages.

"Black widows are what you would picture a very black jelly bean-shaped spider," said Hoback.

They’re hairless spiders often with a red pattern.

"The brown recluse are also a hairless spider," said Hoback.

He says that people can recognize the brown recluse spider by its tannish color and a violin shaped pattern on its back.

He says that brown recluses are shy and there’s no need to remove a brown recluse if you see one.

"The danger from brown recluses has been exaggerated," said Hoback.

He says if you see a brown recluse, it’s going to want to move away from you, but if you want to get rid of spiders in your house, you can call a pest control expert to offer options to control spiders in your house.

"For seeing a black widow, the best thing to do is to use a small container, maybe a Tupperware that you have lying around. And you can approach the widow and just kind of enclose it in there," said Hoback.

He says to then take the black widow away from your house and then shake it out of the Tupperware.

"The spider is going to want to get away from you. It's not going to be aggressive at all," said Hoback. "Black widows are very shy. They want to get away. They don't want to risk trying to bite something that's much larger than themselves."

He says if you are, however, bitten by a spider, you should watch the area where you got bit.

"Are you showing local reaction? Are you swelling? Are you getting a pustule buildup?" said Hoback.

He says to seek a medical professional to confirm that it’s a spider bite versus bacterial infection or a local skin reaction.

"Most cases, you don't need any treatment for a spider bite," said Hoback.

He says there is treatment for black widow bites, saying that black widow bites are painful, but brown recluse bites on the other hand often don’t leave any lasting effect.

He says for brown recluse bites, you can simply use antibiotics or topical skin ointment to prevent additional infections.

He reminds people that no humans have died of spider bites in the U.S. in the last 50 years.

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