Creepy Comeback

They could be anywhere--and probably are.

Under the sink, in the garage, beneath the shrubs, the spiders are crawling.

The double-weather whammy of plentiful winter rain and warm spring temperatures has given rise to a teeming spider population, say county officials who are fielding more calls than they can remember in years from spider-spooked residents.

And spiders are just the first wave of creatures that will infiltrate the desolate plains of the kitchen floor and dark closet corners. The weather has also yielded lush vegetation that is expected to host a robust insect and small animal population as spring and summer wear on. And if you venture outside, tread gingerly: Rattlesnakes are out in force, too.

“Generally speaking, all sorts of critters--spiders, ticks, even rodents--are appearing more,” said Frank Hall, director of the county’s vector control department. But people focus on arachnids. “We always get more spider calls. They scream more about spiders than [about] rats.”

Those whose livelihoods depend on bugs--the entomologists who love to study them and the exterminators who kill them--say the generally shy arthropods are simply looking for a cool place to hang out as they cruise the bedroom wall or rest in the corner of the bathtub.

“They are considered, in a general sense, a more benign arthropod than a harmful arthropod,” said Hall, trying to resuscitate the arachnids’ image.

While all of the thousands of spider species found in Los Angeles County can bite, most cannot puncture human skin. Only two species are known to be poisonous to humans: the omnipresent black widow, and the exceedingly rare violin spider. The latter has been spotted mainly in foothill communities and in downtown Los Angeles basements.

Hall estimates that a few black widows have taken up residence in one of every three houses in the region. The spiders, with a distinct red hourglass-shaped spot, typically nestle into the corners of garages, toolsheds or other cool and shaded places.

Experts say that black widows and other spiders only bite in self-defense. And even in a year with a reported increase in the population, disease-carrying rats, ticks and mosquitoes pose a greater--albeit still minor--health risk.

Another risk this year is rattlesnakes, coaxed out from their subterranean dens in greater numbers by the early warm weather and plentiful food.

“It’s like wildflowers--one year you have a pretty good show, the next few years it’s not quite so good,” said Jim Holt of the California State Parks and Recreation Department. “This year there happens to be a really abundant crop of rattlesnakes.”

If you see or hear a rattler on the trail, freeze to give it a chance to slither away, health officials say. If bitten, seek help, but stay calm--not only does it take hours for the venom to become dangerous, stress speeds it through the body.

There have been at least four reported snakebites, including one on a 5-year-old girl who was bitten at a Palmdale school, and another in Valencia.

A ranger was bitten after being caught off-guard by a baby rattlesnake at Topanga State Park and, in the most serious case, a 15-month old boy was bitten in the leg last Sunday by an adult rattler in his back yard in Sherman Oaks.

There is a national shortage of rattlesnake anti-venom at the moment, hospital and poison control officials say. But they added that hospitals have agreements in place to share their antidote supplies, to ensure that bite victims are quickly treated.

With spiders, the first line of defense is keeping them out of the house: seal any gaps to the outside; always wear gloves when reaching into somewhere dark, damp and unknown; and if you see a spider and don’t want to kill it with a swatter, try chasing it out of the house with a broom to distance yourself from a potential bite.

Like six-legged bugs, spiders gravitate toward lush areas and plants. Art Evans, an entomologist who runs the Insect Zoo at the County Museum of Natural History, says that homeowners unwittingly attract unwelcome guests by tending their gardens.

“People can create their own spider boom by putting more plantings in their yard and attracting more insects, and then more spiders,” Evans said. “We roll out the welcome mat for these creatures, intentionally or otherwise, and then we wonder why they’re coming.”

And then the insect-weary call up exterminators such as Beto Martinez, who estimates that his spider calls are up about 10%.

“They’re probably the most challenging pest that we face,” Martinez said.

Exterminators cannot just leave toxins out for spiders because the arachnids crawl too high above surfaces to soak up the poison. They can only be killed by a direct hit of pesticide spray.

The real headache, Martinez said, is when exterminators have to crawl under buildings or between crevices to lay poison in the favored environs of black widows. “It’s a little bit more hairy, but it’s just part of the job,” he said stoically. “That’s what we get paid to do--to get dirty and expose ourselves to those things.”

Not everyone, however, wants to kill their spring spiders. The children at Cottage Co-op, a Pasadena nursery school, are glad to have a few more arachnids to play with.

“The kind ones we protect, because the kids get a science lesson out of them,” said school director Linda Taylor, who has encouraged the children to observe spider webs. “All kinds of critters seem to like nursery schools. I guess it’s a nurturing place.”

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this story.

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(Valley Edition, B1) Snakebite Season

Rattlers, California’s only venomous snakes, begin a brief hibernation in late November and are out as early as Febuary. Up to 6-feet long, they are found mostly in deserts and foothills. Rattlesnakes favor cool, shady spots during the days, but at night seek rocks, concrete or asphalt that is still warm.

Western Rattlesnake

The Southern Pacific rattler, a subspecies of the Western rattlesnake, is the main rattler in this area. Western rattlesnakes are one to five feet in length and have dark blotches on their necks that become bands toward the tail. Habitat ranges from prairies to evergreen forests.

Avoiding Rattlesnakes

* Don’t keep stacks of wood outside. They make great snake nests.

* Repair leaky outdoor faucets (snakes occasionally drink from them.)

* Wear high boots and long pants in grassy areas and carry a stick to beat the brush.

* Keep trash in containers with tight-fitting lids.

* Install molding on door bottoms, particularly on garage doors, to seal off potential entrances.

* Clear brush from around buildings.

* Teach children to identify rattlesnakes.

The Poison

The Southern California area has six species of rattlesnakes. Some rattlesnake venoms primarily attack the nervous system, while others affect the heart and circulatory system.

If bitten, a person should be kept calm while help is summoned. Experts no longer advise making an incision across the bite and sucking out the venom, unless help is a few hours away.

The Victim

Dr. Willis E. Wingert, a retired County-USC Medical Center physician who pecialized in rattlesnake bites, developed statistics on injuries.

The vast majority of people bitten are men between the ages of 17 and 27.

85% of all bites are on the hand or arm; 10% occur on the foot or lower leg.

Many bites occur because of carelessness or ignorance, such as when a hiker steps on a sleeping rattler or a child plays with one.

In more than 30% of the cases, the victim is drunk.

Sources: Los Angeles Animal Regulation Department, “A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians,” “Encyclopedia Americana, Ventura County Animal Regulation.

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Spider Safety Guide

A warm spring has led to a teeming population of spiders of all kinds. In Southern California, only two species pose a serious danger to humans.

*

Black Widow

Habitat: Found throughout Los Angeles County. It favors dark, cool places such as sheds and garages.

Danger to Humans: It will bite only in self-defense, such as when it is brushed against or handled. The bite stings and can lead to lasting pain and abdominal cramps, but is lethal only in vary rare instances. County health officials cannot recall any black widow fatalities in Los Angeles County in at least 30 years.

*

Violin Spider

Habitat: This South American native has been located in only a few areas in the county-in the foothill community of Sierra Madre and in basements in downtown Los Angeles. It is very shy and favors cool, moist areas populated by insects such as cockroaches.

Danger to Humans: Venom dissolves proteins and can leave lesions over the body of victims, but is almost never lethal to humans. Bites from this arachnid are extremely rare.

What to Do if You Are Bitten

* Although death from a black widow or violin spider bite is very rare, victims should still seek immediate medical attention.

* All spiders bite, but rarely puncture human skin. But some people have severe reactions to venoms, including that of spiders other than the black widow and violin spider. Another health risk of a spider bite is infection from bacteria on the spider’s fangs.

* If you are bitten by any spider, wash the wound with hot water to disinfect it, and monitor it for signs of imflammation. If it swells or is otherwise troublesome, seek medical attention.