05-31-2008, 04:54 PM
I'm a stickler for terms. When dealing with spiders and snakes...none are poisonous. 
All spiders have venom and so do some snakes (ie, venomous snakes). The term venomous indicates that the toxin has to be injected in order to do harm. The term poisonous is much more vague and incorrect in this case (it means that the toxin has to be ingested or seep through the skin, etc).
If these two terms were interchangeable, then we could possibly have venomous tree frogs! Instead, they're known as poisonous tree frogs because their toxin seeps through the skin!
Anyway, sorry for going a little OT there. I was going to point out that even with the really "dangerous" spiders in the US (such as black widows and brown recluses), most bites aren't considered life threatening (unless you have a weakened immune system, etc).
That being said, I wouldn't want to be bitten by a brown recluse or a black widow....but outside of those two, spider bites are really harmless.
I highly suggest reading wikipedia's entry on spider bites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_bite . One relevant line from the entry: "Many spiders do not have mouthparts capable of penetrating human skin. While venoms are by definition toxic substances, most spiders do not have venom which is sufficiently toxic (in the quantities delivered) to require medical attention, and of those only a few are known to produce fatalities."
All spiders have venom and so do some snakes (ie, venomous snakes). The term venomous indicates that the toxin has to be injected in order to do harm. The term poisonous is much more vague and incorrect in this case (it means that the toxin has to be ingested or seep through the skin, etc). If these two terms were interchangeable, then we could possibly have venomous tree frogs! Instead, they're known as poisonous tree frogs because their toxin seeps through the skin!
Anyway, sorry for going a little OT there. I was going to point out that even with the really "dangerous" spiders in the US (such as black widows and brown recluses), most bites aren't considered life threatening (unless you have a weakened immune system, etc).
That being said, I wouldn't want to be bitten by a brown recluse or a black widow....but outside of those two, spider bites are really harmless.
I highly suggest reading wikipedia's entry on spider bites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_bite . One relevant line from the entry: "Many spiders do not have mouthparts capable of penetrating human skin. While venoms are by definition toxic substances, most spiders do not have venom which is sufficiently toxic (in the quantities delivered) to require medical attention, and of those only a few are known to produce fatalities."