Page 74 - 2003 DT 12 Issues

get-together. Goodsprings had bet its

Show me the spider! collected or identified in the incidents. lenge. Visit the website, then mail the
To anyone purporting to have found a critter to Vetter. As he said, “Show me
barely noticed little spider lurks specimen, Vetter says, “Show me the the spider.” ;
in a dark corner of your garage. spider(!)” and issues a “Brown Recluse
ACould it be a Loxosceles Challenge” on his website (http:// General Meeting Notes:
reclusa? Shy, non-aggressive, nocturnal, spiders.ucr.edu/challenge.html).
and rarely seen, the brown recluse spi- Most Loxosceles spiders carry a à The meeting was held at the Red
der nevertheless looms large in the “violin” marking on the cephalothorax, Rock Canyon Homer Morgan Pavilion on
public’s imagination. Urban legends the first body part to which the legs at- Saturday, August 23 and attended by 49
abound. While its bite can produce some tach. Those who really do live with this members, plus guests and BLM person-
nasty results in extreme cases, limbs and recluse chuckle at the spider’s fearsome nel. After the meeting, a light supper was
other appendages reputation in the West. In its native range, served.
DO NOT fall off the brown recluse is a very common house à A motion was made and carried to
or rot away. spider, widely found in Midwestern and accept the 2003-4 Budget as proposed.
Arachnologist Southern states. Documented reports of à A motion was made and carried to
Rick Vetter, large infestations (browns are commu- continue with the current Investment
University of nal) in basements, bedrooms, science Policy, maintaining a balance of $130,000
California, River- labs, old clothes, etc. are common, yet in Certificates of Deposit. Remaining funds
side has heard it bites are rare. While the spider is indeed in excess of that amount will be used for
additional projects during the year over
all. In fact, he’s seriously toxic, the majority of cases are and above those already budgeted for the
put up a website unremarkable, with negligible wounds Canyon.
designed to dis- and no symptoms. Theoretically, people à Two new board members were unani-
pel the myth can die from the venom, but Vetter says mously elected: Helen Barrett, Treasurer
of the brown re- it is highly unlikely. and Laura White, Secretary. They will
cluse. Despite Incidentally, that little spider in your each serve a two-year term, replacing
numerous reports garage isn’t a brown recluse. It’s prob- outgoing directors Rich Augulis and Dawn
of sightings or toxic bites by the brown ably a desert recluse spider, or Vargas.
recluse, Vetter has yet to locate anyone Loxosceles deserta. According to the à Tim O’Brien, BLM National Conser-
who can produce a specimen. Accord- Nevada Division of Agriculture, of the vation Area Manager for both Red Rock
ing to Vetter, there are no populations many spiders in our neighborhood, there Canyon and Sloan Canyon discussed criti-
of the maligned creature in Southern are no brown recluses—only desert cal budget shortages and again thanked
Calif. where numerous attacks have been recluses. This pale (almost brown) noc- Friends for ongoing financial and volun-
reported. Only a handful of specimens turnal hermit will stand and bite—if you teer support.
have ever been collected in the state and, make it—and can sometimes leave a à Mark Rekshynskyj, BLM Red Rock
as such, don’t constitute a population. nasty, necrotic wound. It may sport a Canyon Manager, announced that Red
Then why the epidemic of fear? violin too, but of a more faded variety. Springs will be closed for rehabilitation with
Media hype, misdiagnoses, Look for six eyes in pairs of two. If you a boardwalk project similar to that funded
misidentification, fear of the unknown, find them, you indeed have a recluse. by Friends at Lost Creek.
and a widespread aversion to spiders Then, if you think you have a brown à Vice president, Pat Williams pre-
have added to the rap sheet. Vetter cites recluse, take the Brown Recluse Chal- sented appreciation awards to Ranger
actual headlines from local recluse sto-
ries: “Necrotic Wound Blamed on Needed: Desktop Publisher
Elusive Spider”; “Spider-bite Terror in
If you use either PageMaker or Quark programs, the Desert Trumpet is
California”; “Likely Bite by Spider
looking for someone to publish 3-4 issues annually. Format master will be
Changes Life.” Innuendo, but no proof.
provided. You can use your own line graphics/photos, or they can be pro-
Thousands of medical diagnoses over
vided to you as needed. Call B. Wolin, Editor (256-8043) or email at FORRC
the years have been pinned on the spi-
der, but seldom is any species of spider NEWS, sagebrush1@lvcm.com.
Page 2 FORRC/October2003