Would You Go To Bed? :-)

[gness]

Over two weeks ago I woke with a slight itch behind my knee. Inspection found a little spot with a sting still in it. Removed the sting and treated it. Within days the affected area was as large as a saucer, burning and purple and red.
Antibiotics were required but luckily ones I could still enjoy a drink with. Mind you, they haven't worked.
A number of folk in the village have been bitten by false widow spiders this week. The sting still in my leg made me dismiss this.

Research tonight tells me that this spider can leave a sting. It's a nasty little devil.
But worse....where in the bedroom is it!! :-(

[pastafreak]

Sit up in a corner of the room with a flashlight...while Dave rummages in the bedclothes and under the bed. The spider might find him quickly.

[FatticusInch]

https://smithspestmanagement.com/blog/post/how-to-get-rid-of-spiders/

…..and get yourself a cat for good measure!

[Buenchico]

Are you sure it was a sting, per se, and not the remains of a tick (picked up on a walk somewhere) that you'd perhaps rubbed off in your sleep? My first thought, when you described the infected area, was the possibility of Lyme disease:
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/lyme-disease

If so, while you might need further antibiotics, you can at least go to bed without fear of spiders ;-)

[gness]

Thanks, Pasta....and reading Fattucusinch's link I'll spray Dave with vinegar first.

No cats, F. I want nothing to look after now. :-)

[Buenchico]

In case it's a vampire spider, get yourself some garlic ;-)
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/homes-interiors/interiors/how-to/a56/how-to-keep-spiders-out-of-your-house-the-natural-way/

[gness]

Definitely not a tick, Chris. Years of being ticked has made me a tick expert. Whenever I came home from anywhere in Mayo someone would say....check gness for ticks....If we walk we do a tick check as routine.

[gness]

I have garlic, peppermint etc. I do love spiders as a rule and let them have the run of the house....but this devil has to go.

[Buenchico]

I got very few ticks when I was a kid, Gness. It was mainly crosses in my exercise books ;-)

[gness]

:-)...x

[Buenchico]

I'm still confused as to how a spider can leave a sting in someone's flesh when they don't have stings though! (They don't sting. They bite).

[gness]

That is why I’ve dismissed a spider, Chris. But after much research, having been told today my leg has the same damage as a chap in the village who was bitten, I find it’s usually a red area but can occasionally leave a sting.

[wolf63]

I can still remember waking up one morning to find Frankie on pillow with spider legs sticking out of his mouth. It was crunchy and after he ate ithe gave me a kiss.

[gness]

Hmmmm.. well if I wake up and Dave has spider legs sticking out of his mouth he’s not giving or getting a kiss!

[wolf63]

Especially if they are still moving.

[gness]

:-o !

[Hopkirk]

I lived for a while in a country that had large insects. I was awoken once by something that must have got caught in my hair, and was kicking. A cricket of some sort.

I took off vertically, my duvet flying one way and me the other. I landed in a sort of Kung Fu pose, ready to fight.

My heart was racing, and even when I had calmed down, I couldn't sleep for hours.

[ZebuSanctuary]

// affected area was as large as a saucer //

My, my gness, what large knees you have. All the better for eating lashings of macaro-knee ;-))

[gness]

Think cardboard saucer, Zebu…wrapped around a knee…aiming to meet in the middle.
I had knitted one red and purple leg warmer to match just in case.

[Zacs-Master]

You can have moderate amounts of alcohol with all antibiotics, Gness. Moderate, you see ;-)

[Paigntonian]

https://www.fantasticpestcontrol.co.uk/blog/conkers-and-spiders/