Why Spiders Bite

Spiders are moving - these are the adults that over wintered and they are not friendly.

During the cold winter months the food sources such as flies and bugs are  not moving but in their egg cycle. Without food spiders go into a hibernation waiting for spring. Their average life span is two years. When spring does warm up, they awaken hungry and aggressive to guard their egg sacks.

We often do spring cleaning and this is when the encounter occurs.
 

 
 


A corner area or under a table is disturbed as we clean and the spider attacks to protect its environment.


Keep in mind, all spiders use some sort of venom or injection to break down cell  tissue. They capture a prey and then put in digestive enzymes to break down the tissue so they can eat the prey externally. So in a way their stomach action is happening outside their bodies.


When we are attacked by a spider, it may use the same venom as a weapon if it has that ability. But unless it is really threatened, it doesn't want to use that venom that it will need to eat.

Often the bite is just with the fangs. The problem is those fangs have been used on dead and decaying carcass of flies which have a high amount of bacteria. Your epidermis was punctured introducing this bacteria. Spider bites that did not hurt at the time of the bite, but itch and become very red after the fact are usually from this. Treat them with anti-bacteria in that case or as your doctor directs.

There are spiders such as the black widow with amazing venom. Consider how small the venom sack on a black widow is and how much she puts into a human victim, yet the results are extreme. I often am told, "I think I got bitten by a black widow". Truth is, if  you get bitten by a black widow, you'll know it. It will be extremely painful at the time of the bite with nausea, headaches and sometimes even partial paralysis of the legs.

People seem to have an unreasonable fear of spiders. The fact that they are aggressive predators in their micro-environment is part of the reason their presence bothers us. As small as they are, they still have that boldness and speed that unnerves us giant monsters with overwhelming size over them.

My rule is spiders are fine in their environment outside, just not in our environment inside.