Living in Atlanta: The Danger Hiding in Your Home

If you live in Atlanta, you’re probably used to dealing with the roaches every hot and humid summer. Most of us have to agree, roaches really are nasty, but they aren’t very dangerous (aside from the bacteria they harbor). Unfortunately, cockroaches aren’t the only pest you have to deal with, and if they are, count yourself lucky.

There are two extremely common invaders that could be hiding in some dark corner of your home right now:

Black Widows: The black widow spider is most easily identified by its glossy black body and the red hourglass on the underside of its abdomen. The females are MUCH larger than the males, and unlike the males, they harbor a dangerous poison.

Black widows are not known for going out of their way to be aggressive, but if an egg sac is present, or they feel threatened, they will attack and bite. They poisonous bite is not immediately deadly, but without medical attention can lead to death.

If you have children or pets, these are certainly not spiders you want around your home.

Brown Recluse: The brown recluse ranges from off white to dark brown in color, and it can be identified by a violin shaped pattern on its neck. It’s extremely difficult to identify this spider as it appears very similar to non threatening species of spiders. This is why if you think you might be dealing with an infestation of any kind, you’ll want to contact a pest company who can properly identify and remove pests from your home.

Brown recluse are not aggressive, but when they feel threatened, they will bite. A brown recluse bite is an excruciating and terrifying experience to go through. Their venom is extremely damaging to human skin, and can cause necrosis, in which the skin will blacken and die. Although not immediately deadly, without proper medical attention, this could result in death.

If you have children or pets, this is another species of spider that you don’t want around your home.

Frank's Story:

Frank L. of  Atlanta was a forty something year old man who wasn't afraid of anything (or so he told everyone). He was a rough and tumble kind of guy. He'd spent most of his life working to pull junk out from crawl spaces and gut homes.  Spiders were nothing new to him. 

One cold  morning , he woke up to a throbbing pain on his face. It felt like his cheek was on fire.  He threw the thin sheet off that he usually wore to bed and faltered to the bathroom.  Sure enough, a red, swollen bump  the size of a quarter sat on his cheek.  He groaned, remembering vaguely slapping something that had been crawling across his face that night.  It was just a spider bite, so he decided to head to work.

Several hours later, the bite  turned pale and a red ring formed around it. He  continued to work as usual, until a coworker  worriedly asked him about the blister on his face. 

"Blister?" Frank rushed to the bathroom. Sure enough, the bite had turned into a nasty blister. Not being a fan of hospitals or doctors, he decided to let it take its natural course. 

The following day,  the infected skin turned blue, then black, and deteriorated rapidly throughout that week. After being told by his coworkers and family repeatedly to go to the doctor, he finally gave in and visited urgent care at a local hospital. Luckily, the rotting wound wasn't much bigger than a dime, but the dame had gone deep, and he was informed that the scar could remain for the rest of his life. 

If Frank hadn't gone to the hospital, it's possible that he could have died from the infection. It's closeness to his brain could have also been fatal. 

His was a less severe version of a brown recluse bite.  

How to Avoid Being Bitten:

• These spiders are nocturnal, therefore you are at less risk of running into them during the day. At night, check an area using a flashlight (such as a closet or attic) before reaching in.

• Do not reach into dark places without checking first! These spiders prefer to hide in the darkest sections of our homes and it is very easy to reach into a spot unknowingly and end up bitten if we’ve disturbed them.

• Do not let your children stick their hands in old boxes full of junk

• Monitor areas that spiders can hide if you have children

• Be extremely careful around garages, old boxes, fields, attics, crawl spaces, storage, junk piles, under cars, and in dark corners in your home etc.

If you’ve found one spider, chances are there are even more hiding away. Remember, spiders reproduce and their egg sacs can hatch hundreds of babies. Without proper handling and removal, you could end up with a terrifying, possibly even deadly, infestation.

If you think that you might have a problem (i.e. more of those little buggers hanging around your home), contact your local pest control company right away.

Handling insects that you know nothing about can be extremely dangerous. If you aren’t sure what type of bug you’ve found, feel free to use this bug identifier.

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