One day in 2010, I saw all three of my cats back away from a brown spider which had come in under the door.
Immediately, I knew this spider was different than all others in Missouri I had seen. Puddy, my killer-cat, would not touch this spider, nor would Vladimir or Miho. The stores were out of the spray to kill these. I found two more in the apartment that summer. One had died in my clothes closet. This one was in the hallway.
I took off my wooden clog and smashed it.
It was a Brown Recluse Spider.
I asked the maintenance man if there were Brown Recluse in Maryville. He said yes, all over, and these spiders lived under the wood chips around the apartment complex.
I had first seen one in Mississippi when I went down to help after Katrina. A man I knew pointed one out to me on his broken trees in his backyard. He owned a bayou which had been ruined by the hurricane.
Brown Recluse are also in Iowa, and a girl was severe ill in Bettendorf after being bitten a while ago.
I have seen these spiders in Iowa as well.
Like my cats, if you see one, back off. The bite causes huge damage and death.
There are sprays which kill these types.
I know a man who was bitten by one of these spiders. I saw the sore on his leg. It had spread from his inner thigh all over his leg. I do not know what happened to him.
He was a carpenter and was working on houses after Katrina.
The spider is easy to spot. These creatures are all brown.
The Brown Recluse has been in Malta since 1940.
One must pay attention....