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Beware… The Brown Recluse
Experts are warning Northern California residents to look out for the bite of the sometimes deadly brown recluse spider. There has been some debate as to just how prevalent the recluse is in northern California. Some experts argue that the spider’s population is limited to the southeast, southern California, and Baja California. Nevertheless, the same skeptics have acknowledged the expanding web of the spider’s realm in the foothills. A number of Brown Recluse bites have been reported in Amador County. The spider’s presence beyond its natural habitat is blamed on modern transportation, in which spiders have been known to travel long distances on trucks, trains, and planes.
Recluse spiders seem to favor cardboard when dwelling in human residences, possibly because it mimics the rotting tree bark which they naturally inhabit. They also go in shoes, inside dressers, in bed sheets of infrequently used beds, behind pictures and near furnaces. The common source of human-recluse contact is during the cleaning of these spaces, when their isolated spaces suddenly are disturbed and the spider feels threatened. It is important to seek medical treatment if a brown recluse bite is suspected. Cases of brown recluse venom traveling along a limb through a vein or artery are rare, but the resulting mortification of the tissue can affect an area as large as several inches. While it is possible, and even likely, that many cases of "brown recluse bites" are indeed misidentifications of other infections, the brown recluse has justly earned its reputation.
Former 49er Coach Bill Walsh Dies At 75
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Ballot Measure for Proposed Initiative- Eminent Domain
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Motorized Vehical Recreation Parks Shutting Down?
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Heat Wave Continues- Power Managers Concerned
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State Mandated Health Care Gets A Boost Yesterday As Two Democrats Merge Their Bills
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DA Mike Nifong DisBarred
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Fire Season Could Begin Early With Lowest Snow Pack In Nearly A Two Decades
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Tri-County Wildlife Rescues Baby Great Horned Owl
Tri-County Wildlife Care has just received its
first baby raptor for 2007. This 2-3 week old Great Horned Owl
came in covered by a t-shirt in a large, makeshift plastic blue bowl nest after
it apparently fell from its nest several times. This baby has talons the size of fingers and
claws that are one inch long. It is able to rotate its head,
clacking its beak loudly in protest at being examined for an eye and leg
injury. When fully grown, this bird will stand 22” tall and
eat about 10 mice a night. With
its poor sense of smell, it is one of the very few predators who will eat
skunks. The goal of Tri County Wildlife
Care is to rescue, rehabilitate & release local wildlife like this owl. The organization can be
reached at (209) 547-3233 and reached by mail at P.O. Box 367, Jackson, CA
95642.
Snow Pack Situation Improving Say Department of Water Resources
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