Warm weather drives out venomous spiders

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - So far this year, 34 spider bites have been called in to the Regional Poison Control Center.

With the warm weather, spiders are sure to be out even more - including the two venomous spiders you'll find right here in our state.

The first is the brown recluse.

"They like to hide. They are recluses. You'll rarely see a Brown Recluse running across your living room floor," explains Dr. Ann Slattery, the director of the RPCC.

The black widow is the second venomous kind.

"They're the shiny, black spider that has either the red, yellow or orange hour glass on them. They like dark spaces, so they'd be in your garage, garbage, that type of thing," she says.

Slattery says sometimes people may be bitten by a spider, but because it's so quick, they won't know what kind it is.

If a black widow gets you, Slattery says it will be obvious pretty quickly.

"You're going to within 30 to 120 minutes, have some pain. You will have rigidity of your muscles, muscle spasms. It's painful and you will go seek treatment," she says.

A bite from a brown recluse will not be so obvious so soon.

"It will usually be a little blister within 24 hours and may have a bullseye and be blanched beyond that."

The best way to protect your home, she says, have it exterminated and keep an eye out, especially in dark places.

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