The Yellow Sac Spider Chronicles

 

Readers, this is my most informative post of all time.

 I am suffering from arachnophobia as a result.

Enjoy....

 

This tiny spider is at the heart of all our bite woes.

I am pretty sure.

 

They are small.

 

They are fast.

 

They are  aggressive.

 

They are hard to see.

 

And one came down from the ceiling in front of me one evening (they are nocturnal)

as I was trying to walk for 3 minutes, trying to work off an M&M  on the tread mill.

(Tony DiTerlizzi- Spiderwick Chronicles)

 

Several members of my family have been after or during being in the garden.

My neighbor was in her garden and got bitten on the foot.

 

Her foot would not fit in her shoe within a short amount of time.

 

Yikes.

(this is me posting before I did any research. Very benign. Not frightened.

Naive; despite being bitten recently from just standing in the garden to take a pic for you for this blog......I am re-evaluating A LOT of things right now.)

 

(Pic courtesy of University of Nebraska-Lincoln.)

 

 

These guys normally hang out at garden parties, but they come in when it starts to get cold. 

That's what I love about Idaho, it cools off at night and you can open your window, with your screen protecting you, and feel a nice breeze while you sleep.

 

(Folks, I caught one spider that was smaller than one that made me have a heart attack- or at least raised my heart rate. I squished this small one with t.p.- then I went to take its picture.

 

IT MOVED.

 

I had sprayed it with some nasty combination of oils meant for the gut that is part of Madre's essential oils collection.

 

I am NOT making this up. This is for a book, or something.

Because I squished it AGAIN, Readers.

(Tony again from the spider book...)

 

It is now in a bag, soaked with oil for an earth friendly demise and is

 

S-T-I-L-L       A-L-I-V-e!

 

He played dead. He looked squished .

Once in a Zip-Lock and ignored, he stretched out his limbs or whatever they are.

And moved around.

I moved around.

He stopped.

 

I

am

going

to

die

 

 

 

**********************************************

Post Intermission. Feel free to start vacuuming. Or recover from fainting.

 

Or so I wanted to think, really there are a number of bugs/insects that squeeze into that tight little box in the screen on your window.

 

AAAAAGGGGHHHHH.

(Tenth Year Anni for Tony's illustrated book- I am gonna go to jail for copyright violations.
There is probably less clutter allowed there.)

 

A lot of bites are being blamed on the brown recluse.

But some study done on a PDF file by Utah State said this guy was the culprit.

And apparently they do love to race through leaves and plants quite quickly to find their prey.

 

Because they are so small 15mm they slip under a long sleeved shirt and be offended when they can't find the exit so they bite you several times before escaping.

 

 

There is also a black insect that I am waiting for a Biologist/Scientist connection

out at the Nuclear Plant

to get back with venom, species information.

 

Because that is the only one that has been caught.

 

Good luck catching this one.

If you are from Idaho and Utah these guys and gals are putting up a little flesh colored sac

behind your picture frames, in the dark recesses of your closet or even right out there in the open on your ceiling or in a corner, as if to mock you that they have been hidden in plain view from you!

 

 

They can make 5-6 sacks, that look like a sheet covered with silk, after mating. (they are flesh little sheaths so it is hard to spot them on the ceiling.

 

48 eggs are in those "sacks" that hatch in spring.

 

ugh.

 

And guess what! Unless you are spraying them directly, you can't kill them!! They roll up in a tight ball or use a leaf for an umbrella and laugh at us.But apparently we NEED them to get rid of other

pests!

 

So now what?

 

Oh, you just have to vacuum

 

daily.

 

 And empty out your vacuum bag so there isn't any re-infestation.

 

And de-clutter.

 

People, that is sorta part of my life- clutter.

 

**** I just fainted and when I came to, I had my laptop on my lap and there was a blog post in front of me about spiders....

 

Ahem, (clear blogging throat because I also just read that I need to EMPTY the vacuum sack daily as well or else they just crawl back out of your vacuum and left some egg sacks in your vacuum sack.) 

 

 

Whatever spiders have bitten me, my neighbors, on this side of town and the other, there is a higher amount this year.

 

We don't know why.

 

I haven't checked out the Farmer's Almanac lately

 

- actually ever-

 

so I dunno if it is from a lot of rain in the spring or the heat.

 

Or this is some sort of biblical pestilence.

 

J. was right! That Garden is Forbidden!

 

And because it is getting closer to fall and my room is in the basement, I am going to make sure those spider traps are on the ground close to room openings.

 

 

 

 

************************** I just passed out again!***************************.

 

This time, when I came to, I  was clutching the hose on the vacuum.

I may have actually had a heart attack.

I'm checking my blood pressure right now...

 

whew. okay. we're fine.
 

Before fainting, I had sprayed a spider in my window seal- yes, I randomly  looked there because this post was making me paranoid. And THERE

 

                                                                                      was a SPIDER.

 

I hopped outta bed faster than you can say Yellow and ran to get toilet paper.

 Readers, I came back and it was GONE. It had hid!

(do you know how hard it is to sprint with a cane? And locate it that quick?)
 

I sprayed the concoction of some disgusting oil that Madre has that contains things that supposedly were a green way of destroying a spider. I mixed it with some water. Dumped it in the vacuum bag awhile ago, SPRAYED this black spider directly and it still balled up.

 

that's when I grabbed the vacuum.......... (continue reading the things I wrote about before I started looking in my window corners)

Tony DiTerlizzi illustration from book:

The Spider and the Fly. by Mary Howle-something.

.*******

 

And apparently they are attracted to the T.V. light once all the lights have been turned off!

So traps there for sure.

 

(post Spider siting: I am putting a spider trap at the bottom of my vacuum and the end of the hose- if they decided to hide out in there. oh, and at the vacuum sack opening.

And calling for an appointment with a Dr.  that deals with folks afraid of spiders.I don't think the ER will admit you on the basis of fear of spiders due to blogging.

 

Ya know, see through body bags seem the most effective and easier than what is necessary to stay clear  the Yellow Sac Spider bite at this point.

 

P.S. I had a low grade fever, malaise, myalgia that seized my back and legs up after my bite. The Dr. attributed it to an allergic reaction to a med.
Utah Dr.s looked at labs said it wasn't the med.
I now know......

SPIDER BITE REACTION.

No immune system, people.......

Agnes, in Despicable Me, praying. Edith prayed that no bugs would crawl in their ears and lay eggs.

Readers, freak out, right here. Sleep with the LiGhts oN, a spray bottle of vinegar, oils, and garlic around your neck. Actually,

Don't sleep at all.

******************************

 

Only until an antibiotic for a post infection have I had a turn around of sorts.

-that was the last benign sentence before my spider google research fest and finding

TWO

SPIDERS

during editing.

Don't I seem latti-dah-ish?
Totally unaware of what would unfold when I edited and looked online in the

middle
of

the night?

Spiders can't climb between the zip and the lock of a

Zip-Lock Bag, can they?

I smell like essential oils and think I'm gonna gag.