It’s that time of year in the South where temperatures are beginning to fall.  At night, we are just kissing freezing – with frost warnings aplenty.  Along with these cooler temperatures is the bug phenomenon.  These little creatures do not like the cold any more than we do, so they’re moving from your yard to where it’s warm – YOUR HOUSE.

I’ve seen an abundance of black beetles this year and I don’t like them one bit.  We’ve also been invaded by lady bugs.  So far – at least at my house – we haven’t seen any brown recluse spiders.  But my friend has and her doctor confirmed it this morning.  She’s been bitten.

Photo after the jump (look out, it’s not pretty and not for the faint).

According to a report from e! Science News a year ago, brown recluse spiders like to hide.

The brown recluse likes to make a winter home in attics, basements, or areas where things are placed and left for long periods of time. The spiders are drawn to boxes of papers or files, which have a lot of cracks and crevices to use for hiding.

When my friend woke up this morning, she said she felt a sharp pain on her leg.  When she looked, the inflamed area included a hole in her leg, so she sought medical attention fairly quickly.  Her doctor put her on antibiotics and has asked her to stay off her feet for the day.

The e! Science News advises further steps:

• Wash the site of the spider bite.
• Apply a cold compress.
• Apply a general antibiotic to the site to minimize the risk of secondary infection.
• See a doctor as soon as possible and try to capture and take the spider with you so the bite can be confirmed as a brown recluse bite.

I’m pretty much a pacifist until it comes to creatures entering my home.  Especially spiders.  They will be terminated with extreme prejudice.