Poisonous Spiders On Rise In Northwest

KOIN 6 News reports that brown recluse spiders, also known as hobo spiders, are turning up in large numbers in Eugene.

The spiders, which have a violin-shaped marking behind their eyes, live along fences and in house foundations. They spin webs to catch bugs.

"This year I've run into a lot more than normal. Must be the warm winter we had. But in the Pacific Northwest, they're finding these everywhere, and the bite is the same as a brown recluse or a fiddleback from back east," property inspector Jake Geier tells KOIN.

The bites, which are not usually fatal, start small but can grow to look like a large cigarette burn as the tissue dies.

Antibiotics are usually necessary to treat bites, the television station reports.