Thursday, February 9, 2012

Extrinsic in Ohio (Things that are here because they don't know any better)

Perhaps some of you who will read this are somewhat familiar with this story.

If I were to consider the total waking hours of time that made up my early childhood, I would imagine more than half of those would have been spent in the city of North Royalton, Ohio. For those of you not familiar, North Royalton is a city near Cleveland, Ohio, in Cuyahoga County, and in close proximity to the Cleveland Metro Parks. It is on the b order of what some older Clevelanders refer to as The Emerald Necklace - that is, the rural area surrounding the metropolitan area of Cleveland.

My hometown of Westfield Township is located in the southern portion of Medina County in Ohio, which is a decidedly rural area. Ironically, I have encountered much  more wildlife in Royalton than Westfeild. And my most recent encounter was a year or two ago in the basement of a house in a suburban area in Royalton. It was a Hogna Wolf Spider. A terrifying experience for an arachnophobe, such as my self, especially considering I had only a damp bathrobe to defend my self with.

This spider was, including the legs, a good four to five inches across. It was highly aggressive. As soon as I entered the room, it turned towards me and we both froze, staring eye to eye (to eye to eye to eye etc.) Every side stepping move I made was matched by the rapidly approaching spider. I'll spare the details of how I killed it, because this isn't a snuff website. A small part of me felt bad for killing it, but I felt like killing it was the only way to be sure it wasn't going to bite one of us.

So anyway, this generated some discussion in the break room at work. I had no idea what kind of spider it was. I described the apperance and description of the spider, and everyone told me it was a Brown Recluse. Okay, sure. I thought. But when I got home, and did some Google-ing, I learned that the Brown Recluse is very RECLUSIVE, hence the name. They're also very small, and have a different body shape than that of Wolf Spiders. Okay, so, not a dangerous - and potentially deadly -  Brown Recluse. Just a Wolf Spider, who's bite won't kill me, or put me in the hospital (unless I'm allergic), but will still hurt really REALLY bad.

But this bring me to the topic at hand. As I said, everyone one in the break room and at the office told me that it sounded like I was describing a Brown Recluse, and they were all 100% wrong. Except one guy. He told me that it didn't sound at all like a Brown Recluse, and that it could not be a Brown Recluse, because they do not live in Ohio! This is where I have a problem.

Wikipedia indicates that the Brown Recluse's habitat does not include Ohio. Wikipedia: Brown Recluse Spider Also from Wikipedia, is the definition of the word habitat.
habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits") is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animalplant or other type of organismWikipedia: Habitat

So, in Ohio, the local ecology and/or environment is not suitable for the Brown Recluse. Maybe it's not warm enough for her. Or maybe it's not humid enough. Or maybe there aren't enough of whatever they eat to keep them fed. But consider this: The environment - the climate - changes from time to time. Whatever your feelings of gloabl warming, any almanac will tell you that some summers are warmer and more humid than others. I remember a few years ago we had a very mild summer, with temperatures in the mid 60's to low 80's every week. This summer, by far not the worst in recent Ohio history, has seen upper 90's. 

So let me pose to you this little though experiment: For one summer in Ohio, it's warm enough and humid enough for not only the Brown Recluse to hang out in our lovely forests, but also whatever little bugs these things eat. Is the Brown Recluse going to walk up to the border of Ohio, stop, check it's National Audubon Society Field Guide, and say 'Oh snap! I'm not supposed to be here! Later ya'll!" and run away? No, it will just continue to where ever it's stomach takes it.

So what indication do I have that this has ever happened? Firstly, only anecdotal evidence. A very good friend of my father's was bit, while sitting on his porch in northeastern Ohio, by a Brown Recluse, and nearly died. Now, for  less anecdotal evidence, are the toxicology peeps over at Medina General Hospital. I happen to have some connections at Medina General, and I asked if any one had ever been treated there for such a bite. Not only was the answer "Yes", but I was told that it was around A DOZEN BROWN RECLUSE BITES PER YEAR! What floored me even more was the news that there were just as many BLACK WIDOW BITES per year!  OH SNAP!

Now, if you're reading this blog, have I proved to you that the Brown Recluse, and Black Widow, live in Ohio, even though all the textbooks out there say that they don't? No. But I invite you to ask around. Go to a hospital's website, and contact the appropriate people. Email them and ask them if any one has ever come in with a Brown Recluse or Black Widow spider bite. 

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the myth of Ohio being free of the Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders has been disproved. But wait, there's more!

If you're an Ohioan, you may have heard some one tell you that there

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This is another post that I did not finish. I started it some time ago, and decided that it was little more than a rant, and didn't really need to be published. When I came across it today, however, I decided I would publish it for this simple fact: Despite what you have heard, there are deadly animals in Ohio. I've now encountered one Brown Recluse, One Black Widow, and one Black Widow Killer (a less dangerous cousin of the Black Widow), and one Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake. I've also had nearly close encounters with Cougars (not just the old lady kinds, but the Puma (a.k.a. Mountain Lion) kind) and Black Bear.

These animals were not brought here by humans. They got here all on their own.

I would like to point out that one time, in highschool, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and witnessed some PETA wanna-be types releasing a Black Panther into the woods of Lodi, Ohio. It was recaptured after a few days. Made the most terrifying shriek I've ever heard. Worse than the noises that rabbits (they're VERY loud) and deer make at night, and louder than a Bobcat. These, BTW, all also live in Ohio.

I've never encountered a wolf in Ohio, but there are (very rare) roving packs of wild dogs that are pretty dangerous, as well as coyote. As for me, the only hazard I've ever had from a coyote is that in Stow, Ohio, they get the size of Labradors, and like to hang out on the runway at the Kent State University Airport (K1G3). I've had to abort many landings because of their obnoxious "I own the airport" attitude, not unlike many of the human residents of Stow.

KTHXBAI

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