It’s April, folks! Time to dust off the old gardening gloves for the first time this year and plant some new life. You find them right where you put them, hung up in the shed. You begin to slip them on, when all your fears are realized, and you feel a visitor inside the right index finger of the glove. Instantly, you scream, fling the glove and a little black and red spider crawls out to see what all of the hubbub is about. You ignore your heebie- jeebies and check your finger. Initially there is no sign of foul play, but within the next 30-40 minutes, you know something is definitely wrong. You cringe with discomfort as your mind begins reeling, trying feebly to remember what to do in the event of a black widow bite.
Let’s get one thing straight, if one of these little guys happens to chomp on you, it’s because he felt threatened. I mean, would you hug a stranger who was trying
to invade your space? Probably not. You’d bite him too. An adult black widow’s venom is around 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake’s, but is rarely lethal, except
to children, elderly or the infirm. So good news, if you’ve been bitten all you need to do is follow a few easy steps and you’ll be good as new.
What are the symptoms?
Spider bites are often misdiagnosed, because it doesn’t become apparent for sometime after the person has been bitten. Common signs of a Black Widow bite
include: sweating, chills, headache, body aches, stomach cramps, leg cramps, rapid pulse and exhaustion. The bite site will usually be itchy, red and painful.
What do I do?
1.) Immediately wash the bite with soap and water
2.) Apply an ice pack.
3.) Try to keep the area elevated to avoid the spread of venom.
4.) GO TO THE HOSPITAL!
When all the fun is finally over, you might consider calling in the professionals. Because let’s be honest, we would all like to keep encounters like that to a minimum. A certified pesticide applicator has the tech, know-how and time to take care of your yard, so next time you want to spend some time in your garden, you can rest assured, we’ve bitten first.
