We’ve all been there, cleaning out the garage or a storage shed that has a pair of skis or a snowboard hidden in the back that we really need. And there she is, with her web woven across a the back support beam like a tapestry. The Black Widow.
And what’s worse is if we happen to dig our hand down into a dark spot to pick up that nail we dropped, and boom! She bites us. But what now? Well, Black Widow bites are pretty miserable. According to Tech Insider, their bite is 15 times worse than a rattlesnake as her venom attacks your nervous system with a number of chemicals, the most potent of which is called alpha-latrotoxin. Within an hour cramping around the bite can be unbearable and then the back, shoulders and stomach go. The stomach muscles can turn as hard as a cutting board. And it feels like knives are entering your abdomen.
The poison usually sends people to the hospital and into a state of delirium. Pregnant woman have been known to go into labor. Morphine and barbiturates can help with pain but because the venom has a major impact on the lungs, doctors don’t like to use them. The anti-venom also uses pretty harsh horse proteins so prescribing that is a last resort for doctors. Bottom line: avoid these lethal little spiders with the red hour glass marking like the plague. Because a Black Widow’s bite can certainly make you feel like you’ve contracted something similar.
