Johnny explained that the bite clearly came from a Brown Recluse.  Those spiders are the only ones in Texas with fangs large enough to break off into a wound.  “I’ve even heard of them causing sepsis,” Johnny said. Much like their curved teeth Brown Recluses are one of the few spiders that shed their skins like snakes, leaving little brown husks in corners that crunch when smashed.  Supposedly, “Brown Recluses like to hide under the covers, or beneath beds, hanging onto sheets and dust ruffles, before creeping out and up into the bed to strike in the dead of night, always while their victims lie asleep;” that’s how Uncle Johnny explained the occurrence of my spider bite to me.  “Those things always choose tight places to bite,” he said, “anything with an elastic line, like the tubes of socks, or along the waist or groin area.”   By comparison, Uncle Johnny runs one of the larger extermination businesses in the state, so I figured he should know about these things.  They’re always having him speak at Texas A&M, where Johnny explains things like the Bush Baby and the Brown Recluse.  Sometimes, though, I think Uncle Johnny likes to tell lies. 

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