Spiders in Namibia

I didn't want to write about them. I didn't want to read about them, nor did I want to study the detailed pictures of them. But I did because learning stuff is good: spiders and all their spidery parts. And, whether we like it or not, they are part of everyone's lives no matter where we live. A few months back we found two dead black widows outside our house. One was floating in the dog's water bowl, another swaying in the breeze, caught in it's own webby mess. Mark and I mentioned these appearances to a few local friends, each of whom were surprised by the thought of them existing in Namibia.

Last week Deets found a similar spider loitering in his bedroom, and Mark and I realized it was time to educate ourselves on who else might be lurking around. It took me several trips to the bookstore to find my courage and purchase a book on spiders in Southern Africa. I placed the book on top of the microwave and for a few days I could only leer at the cover, unwilling to open it up. It took the realization of seeing suspicious clusters of creamy-white, spiked balls hanging on our fence that I needed to get my act together and find out just what other types of spiders we were dealing with.

Indeed, we were staring at latrodectus egg sacs with a very pregnant spider gearing up to make more. Latrodectus: of the black widow variety. Turns out they are very prevalent here and while they all have the telltale red-orange markings, not all are black. Some are brown, some are gray, some are striped. More importantly, these kinds of spiders have potent venom capable of inducing intense neurotoxic reactions if bitten. Symptoms such as anxiety, palpitations, sweating, abdominal and chest pain. Oh- and burning site pain that lingers. According to my spider guide, no one in the past 60 years has died in southern Africa which is great news, but it doesn't keep me from feeling overwhelmingly paranoid for my family's safety.

Mark and I scouted our yard and found more widow spiders than I was comfortable with: two shacked up on the fence, one underneath a table chair, and a few more underneath our lounge chairs. All of them with several egg sac trophies chilling in their messy, nonsensical webs. We showed the spiders and eggs to the kids and gave them a fun-filled pep talk on leaving these creatures alone. The entire ordeal was educational and calm for everyone. 

In the book, we also looked three other highly venomous species that are endemic to this region: violin (brown recluse) spiders, 6-eyed sand spiders, and prowling sac spiders. Brown recluses have that extra dark marking on the upper back segment and prefer dark spaces to do their roaming. The sand spiders love the deserty stretches of Namibia. They are flat with big butts, and hilariously bury themselves into the sand- luckily the book shared no reports of documented sand spider bites in humans.  Lastly the black faced, hideously semi-translucent prowling sac spiders: super aggressive creepies that lay disc shaped sacs in curtain folds and inside cupboards. Each of these spider's venom is cytotoxic: the bite will likely start off a painless red bump, but 24 hours later the tissue becomes inflamed, ulcerative, and painful, leaving impressive scars. Anyway. I finished writing about these fine specimens and managed to forget about them. Then I went to bed.

I went to a dark place, feeling every itch on my skin and shift of the bedding to mean these spiders were on the move. I tossed and turned, gasped and flopped my way through the night. This morning I woke up exhausted and sore, and I have spent the first half of my day overreacting at the flies and moths flying by. Logically, I understand spiders are useful and don't want to be bothered, and I am working on anxiety management, but it's an uphill battle. At least I can take solace in the fact that we all learned about what do to just in case someone does get bitten by a spider...

Oh great. A spider got me. Now what?
With luck, you saw the offending spider and can determine which one it was. Without luck, immediate or delayed symptoms will tell you whether the venom gives neurotoxic or cytotoxic symptoms. Either way, if you have no idea what bit you, seeking medical attention is the safest course of action.

First Aid: 

1. Stay calm. You need to keep the heart rate low which aids in slowing the spread of venom.

2. Clean the sting area with soap and water and remove all jewelry. Tissue swelling may impede circulation if not allowed to expand. Never cut into the wound or apply suction. Nor does urinating on the wound help - this is an old wive’s tale. 

3. Apply a cloth with ice or cold water over the sting site: 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off. Repeat as necessary. 

4. While busy with first aid (washing, covering the wound with a bandage) organize transport to the nearest health facility. If possible, call ahead and alert the doctors on duty. Take this step seriously, especially if you don’t know what spider bit you, or the victim is less than 5 years old.

5. Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain management.

6. It bears repeating, especially if you are freaky about spiders like myself: STAY CALM. 

For anyone curious, below are photos of the latrodectus/widow spiders we found in our yard:

Super pregnant. Found underneath our lounge chairs.

On our fence.

Orange marking: bullseye! Stay away.