Ebbie, you are exactly correct, as to the damage that a brown recluse bite causes. The flesh is dead ... gone ... nothing can be done to bring the flesh back to health. In all cases that I've witnessed, serious surgery eventually results in a huge "hole" in the infected area. And that sometimes doesn't even stop the damage.

One of the things that drives my son nuts about my work style is that I can NOT wear gloves when I work. I have to have my skin and fingers in touch with the wood, no matter what I'm doing.

Whenever he cautions me about the likelyhood of spider bites, I usually remind him that it is well known, that any damned critter that dares to bite me will die before I die. Really. Bob