One thing we have an abundance of here in our woods, is spiders. And I HATE spiders. We have two poisonous versions here in Virginia, the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse.

The Black Widow Spider is distinctive due to the red hour glass on it's underbelly and it's round black body. But there are varieties of them. The one we see most often in the woods, is the "woods" black widow.. The hourglass is broken in half, so that the marking is more like two triangles rather than an hourglass. Still a black widow and still poisonous if they bite you. The Eastern Black Widow is somewhat smaller than some of the varieties you would see out in the Western U.S. They mostly lurk in moist, damp, dark areas, like under fallen trees or in basements.

The Brown Recluse is also distinctive with a dark violin shaped mark on it's back, starting around the eyes. My Mom always called these "fiddle spiders". This spider varies in size in the Virginia area, mostly a small to medium size body, usually a light to medium brown color. It is a poisonous spider that likes dry, warm locations, such as behind furniture or around boxes, also in gargages and basements, as it's home territory.

A school friend of both of my sons, was bitten by a spider as she moved some furniture in her parents garage, one day before going back to college. They showed the spider to the EMT's and it was taken to the local hospital with her, for identification. It was a Brown Recluse. She was treated with medications for two weeks and now is fine, with no lingering effects.

If you are bitten by any spider, the best thing to do is capture it for identification, so that you can be treated with the right kind of medications.