Lets talk about phobias

[Captante]

Truth is that most folks who get bit by a recluse don't have any serious problems at all just a small "ulceration" that takes longer than normal to heal. (speculation is that many bites are "dry" or "light" on venom)

Nobody really knows why some folks with recluse bites react so strongly while the majority do not .... all that's known for certain is that physically removing the venom from the bite-area is the best way to improve your odds.

Note interestingly that being "allergic" to spider venom is NOT a thing. (or at least never proven)


EDIT: If you get bit by an 8 foot rattler you better hope that (1) they have anti-venom at the local hospital and (2) that fvcker held back injecting full-dose venom or you very well might die prior to arriving at the ER! (and you WILL lose a good size chunk of flesh in the bite-area)

 

[Muse]

I grew up with a huge fear of Black Widow spiders, kidnappers, quicksand, etc. Turned out I watched too many Saturday morning cartoons growing up LOL

Those 3 things are very scary and anyone is fully justified in being terrified at the prospect of being confronted by them. If fact, I'd say it's completely normal and that if they don't scare you you are simply uninformed. Or, in the parlance, blocked.

 

[Muse]

I just use whiskey as a crutch

Have never done that.

 

[IronWing]

I’ve been in quicksand. It’s, um, interesting . The patches I’ve gotten into were small enough that I could punch enough holes in the system to break hydrostatic seal and then the sand and water separated so it was no longer quicksand and I could walk out.

 

[nakedfrog]

Have never done that.

It's a popular choice for musicians, maybe less so for public speakers.

 

[Motostu]

We had recluses in one of our houses. Once they get established, there is no getting rid of the things, just control with glue traps, etc. When we moved, I vacuumed _everything_. Somehow, we managed to keep from bringing them with us, thank goodness.

Our current property is a wooded, rocky lot. We get snakes. I have to deal with 1-2 timber rattlers a year on average. They generally just want to be left alone, and will go on their way or warn you that you're getting too close. I'd let them be if I wasn't worried about our dogs getting bitten, which BTW, both have been. We've learned that the first thing you want to do in that case is give them some benadryl to help in the meantime while you are trying to get to a vet for the anti-venin.

 

[igor_kavinski]

If anyone thought coming into this thread talking about your phobias was gonna help you overcome them, boy, good luck with the new ones you just got from reading the terrifyingly enlightening posts here.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

EDIT: If you get bit by an 8 foot rattler you better hope that (1) they have anti-venom at the local hospital and (2) that fvcker held back injecting full-dose venom or you very well might die prior to arriving at the ER! (and you WILL lose a good size chunk of flesh in the bite-area)

Yup. I was taught at a very young age that there is a distinct possibility I would die if I was stupid. Even with an adult, if you're careless you can end up a corpse despite our modern advances. Snakes were a big one, they'd lose cattle to them periodically.

Want some more nightmare fuel? They lost cattle to ants too. Fire ants would build nests in the cattle trails and if they were unused for too long they'd become these absolutely gargantuan 10-20' wide nest complexes. Cattle would walk through and they'd collapse, injure the cow and if you've been around southern fire ants you can kind of imagine what happens next. We had to go out periodically and search for them, douse with a gallon of gasoline and light the whole thing up.

 

[Captante]

Have never done that.

Somehow I'm not surprised!

 

[Muse]

Somehow I'm not surprised!

I have several whiskeys in the house, 4 or 5. But I seldom partake of any. Certainly not because I "need a drink."

 

[Captante]

 

[nakedfrog]

I have several whiskeys in the house, 4 or 5. But I seldom partake of any. Certainly not because I "need a drink."

I don't drink because I "need a drink", but it does make pushing through performance anxiety easier, and whiskey is delicious

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I don't drink because I "need a drink", but it does make pushing through performance anxiety easier, and whiskey is delicious

-A nice sipping whiskey is basically how I play through horror games at this point. Ain't called liquid courage for nothing.

Also something deeply satisfying about being dry the entire week, then cracking open a nice stout or hefeweizen or something on a Friday afternoon for making it one more week without flipping my shit

 

[Muse]

I don't drink because I "need a drink", but it does make pushing through performance anxiety easier, and whiskey is delicious

I saw John Fahey perform on stage at UCLA 55 years ago. He was seated and had a bottle next to him that looked as though he'd filled it himself. I had the sense that it was alcoholic, probably strongly. My guess would be whiskey. WTH else? I suppose it could have been wine but my intuition was whiskey.

Edit: I did my weekly radio show this afternoon. Like the last 5+ shows I had a large John Fahey anthology CD set at my elbow. I haven't played him in a few months, though. But I always feel that whatever Fahey track I play will work fine. In recent months I pull a lot more music from the station library than I can play in my 3 hour show. What I don't play remains in my report for the following week.

 

[MtnMan]

EDIT: If you get bit by an 8 foot rattler you better hope that (1) they have anti-venom at the local hospital and (2) that fvcker held back injecting full-dose venom or you very well might die prior to arriving at the ER! (and you WILL lose a good size chunk of flesh in the bite-area)

A friend got a bite on the back of the hand by a copperhead while getting some firewood on a cool evening. It did a number on him. He had debilitating pain in the hand and arm for months and months, and had the arm in a sling for 6 months, as it was useless. After about a year, his hand was about 70% - 80%. He transferred to a different city, and I have no idea if he ever fully recovered use of his hand.

 

[Muse]

A friend got a bite on the back of the hand by a copperhead while getting some firewood on a cool evening. It did a number on him. He had debilitating pain in the hand and arm for months and months, and had the arm in a sling for 6 months, as it was useless. After about a year, his hand was about 70% - 80%. He transferred to a different city, and I have no idea if he ever fully recovered use of his hand.

Wow... all this talk about poisonous snakes and the horrors of their venomous bites has me thinking I should bone up on protective measures. I am wanting to get into birding (binoculars, in the "wild"). There are rattlesnakes around here, quite a lot, I'm told, although I don't remember ever encountering a rattler in person. But birding, seems to me, could be a lot more dangerous than other outdoor activities. For one thing, you're a lot more distracted than if just hiking.

 

[Captante]

A friend got a bite on the back of the hand by a copperhead while getting some firewood on a cool evening. It did a number on him. He had debilitating pain in the hand and arm for months and months, and had the arm in a sling for 6 months, as it was useless. After about a year, his hand was about 70% - 80%. He transferred to a different city, and I have no idea if he ever fully recovered use of his hand.

Wow .... and a Copperhead is considered a relatively mild snake-bite too!

 

[Red Squirrel]

All this stuff I'm reading is why I'm glad I live where the air hurts my face.

We more or less don't have anything dangerous here. Though climate change is starting to change that. We have ticks now in some areas and also giant hogweed plants. If you touch those plants you go blind, so that's pretty scary. Every info I see on them only tells you how to identify them when they're large. It's not like they get that way overnight... I have yet to hear of anyone I know actually running across either a giant hogweed or a tick though. So these things are still quite rare. Though one year I remember the ER having quite a few people who had tick bites. I don't remember why I was there myself, I think we were checking up on someone who was there or waiting for them to come out, or something. And lot of the people who were there was because of tick bites. So they are around. This year and past few years have not heard much but also have not really talk to anyone in the ER either...

 

[igor_kavinski]

Wow .... and a Copperhead is considered a relatively mild snake-bite too!

Must have injected all it had.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Wow... all this talk about poisonous snakes and the horrors of their venomous bites has me thinking I should bone up on protective measures. I am wanting to get into birding (binoculars, in the "wild"). There are rattlesnakes around here, quite a lot, I'm told, although I don't remember ever encountering a rattler in person. But birding, seems to me, could be a lot more dangerous than other outdoor activities. For one thing, you're a lot more distracted than if just hiking.

You also tend to stay in one spot quietly for a long while, which is a good way to end up with something cozying up to you, esp if it's early spring or mid to late fall. Snakes like warm stuff and you're likely to be the warmest thing around if it's in the mid 70's and cloudy.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You also tend to stay in one spot quietly for a long while, which is a good way to end up with something cozying up to you, esp if it's early spring or mid to late fall. Snakes like warm stuff and you're likely to be the warmest thing around if it's in the mid 70's and cloudy.

I plan to go tent camping alone soon literally in middle of woods and the nights get pretty cold here. Hope I don't wake up with more than one snake in the sleeping bag.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I plan to go tent camping alone soon literally in middle of woods and the nights get pretty cold here. Hope I don't wake up with more than one snake in the sleeping bag.

One is a pretty good number. Don't roll over in your sleep.

 

[Captante]

I plan to go tent camping alone soon literally in middle of woods and the nights get pretty cold here. Hope I don't wake up with more than one snake in the sleeping bag.

Fortunately the further north you get the fewer snakes you'll encounter.

Cold-blooded critters don't enjoy winter one bit.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Fortunately the further north you get the fewer snakes you'll encounter.

We get snakes here but it's the harmless ones so they don't worry me. They do bite if you tease them though, which I found out as a kid.

 

[MtnMan]

Wow... all this talk about poisonous snakes and the horrors of their venomous bites has me thinking I should bone up on protective measures. I am wanting to get into birding (binoculars, in the "wild"). There are rattlesnakes around here, quite a lot, I'm told, although I don't remember ever encountering a rattler in person. But birding, seems to me, could be a lot more dangerous than other outdoor activities. For one thing, you're a lot more distracted than if just hiking.

8" or taller leather boots, and some tough pants.

Decades ago, I was working on clearing some downed trees, and I felt and heard something hit my leg. It was an Eastern Diamond Back. It actually struck my boot, just above my ankle bone, and left fang marks in the leather, but that is as far as it went.

It did however ruin my shorts.