The Brown Recluse Spider

Excellent read, I learned so much as a Floridian who always believed the tall tales about the big bad brown recluse, only to find I've had a huge misconception about a docile and well, reclusive, spider.

Many people fear spiders, and the brown recluse is one of the venomous and most feared types of spider in the world. However, there are MANY myths and lots of misinformation about this species out there that needs to be corrected and this book does a great job of doing so. This book is very well written and especially well researched with many studies and statistical data to back it up. It clearly separates myths from fact and if there is anything you ever wanted to know about brown recluses, no matter whether it is to learn to identify them or because you want to study them, this book will answer almost any question you can think of about this spider and then some! It also take about a few other medically significant spiders in the world and how they differ in habit and treatment if someone is bitten by one. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the brown recluse. I was very impressed by the knowledge I learned from reading it.

I live with Brown Recluse spiders and am ALWAYS searching the internet to read up about them. I was bitten in 1980 by one, rushed to a hospital because I couldn’t breathe. ER Dr. told me I’d been bitten by either this spider or a Black Widow. To basically watch the area, don’t pop spot if it bubbled (it did, and burst open weeks later to show a 2” hole deep into my left thiegh) Ever since I’ve watched carefully for these spiders only last home was infested!!! And after a year of living in an apartment I brought furniture from old house I’d lived in. Only after 6 wks did I realize what I REALLY BROUGHT INTO MY HAPPY HOME- Brown Recluse spiders! By then it was too late- my humble apartment was infested. What a mess! Got rid of furniture that I brought but by then my place was crawling with these spiders. Have had my place “treated” 3 times professionally- still have them. Sticky traps work best, I’ve found. This book was spot on! Told about everything I never wanted to know about- but NEED to know about! Very, very informative, easy to read and understand! Highly recommend if you want to learn about these creatures!

Finally, a truly powerful resource filled with knowledge and pictures.I could not put it down and read it through the first night. Now I keep it close at hand and review it any time that an unknown spider turns up.For years people would scream that almost any spider might be a brown recluse. We had no way of knowing.A DOCTOR stated that my sister MIGHT HAVE been bitten by a brown recluse. He looked right at the spider and said this.That turned out to be completely wrong and caused much unnecessary fear and apprehension. Not to mention the unnecessary medical cost.At the time, I could not find any reference with good photos or descriptions. I searched high and low.This book by Richard Vetter is the resource I wanted in my hand while they had my sister in the emergency room. It would have saved us all a lot of worry.KNOWLEDGE IS POWER and this this fascinating book is both easy to read, yet filled with the kind of information I would think any college professor would want the students to have on hand.Highly recommended for anyone who ever asked "is that a brown recluse?" or "where can I find a good picture of ...?"Long overdue. I wish that every Emergency Room doc in the country had one on hand.

Good reading. So many misidentify brown spiders as brown recluse and go to the ER for what they think is a spider bite. Also doctors do the same. This book should be read by any emergency doctor.

Just when you think you know everything about the most common spider in your area, this book lets you know (politely!) just how wrong you are! I have always been fascinated by spiders, and this book took my fascination to a new level! Well written and informative, but good enough to keep you reading, this book will remain on my bookshelf and be pulled out often as a reference! Well worth the money!!

Very informative. Well written. I found it useful in understanding my personal encounter with a Brown Recluse Spider in an outside firewood stack. Got bite on right upper foot. Didn't know it for about 2 hours. Then pain set in. Foot was swollen by next morning and quite painful. Had chills,fever,nausea and vomited once about 12 hours post bite. Foot swelling with red coloration and blue/purple areas in 2 bite areas. This book guided me through this. I am now 8 days post bite now with mainly soreness but no acute pain. Less swelling. I seem to be having a good recovery. I did not seek medical heip. The book was my guide.

Book binding (paperback) is on par with all other paperback. Content was comprehensive in perspective. Only improvement would have been to not publish the pages on glossy paper. Not sure of the intent behind this decision for glossy paper, but if you make notes, underline, highlight, etc. when reading there is an increased risk of smearing ink with this book. Potentially, there could be a different paper choice for hardbacks, but I have not looked into this.Personally, this book (content) was enjoyable, engaging, and encyclopedic on the subject matter, which dispelled several myths that do circulate about the reclusa.