# What do you do when you find a small but dangerous animal in your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153 "2009-02-02T21:27:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/41 "2009-02-05T02:47:52Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > You’ve been stung by a scorpion, **redtail**? What happens? I always thought it was a huge deal and you had to get to the ER, stat, or you could die. You sound so casual about it! I’m impressed. I was stung by a scorpion when I was 5 and living in southern Oklahoma. My very vivid recollection is that it hurt like nothing else I’d ever been stung by up to then and that included plenty of wasps and hornets. My mother put some baking soda and water paste on the sting, and when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t even find the site of the sting. I guess I was lucky I didn’t live in Arizona ;). ---
**Author:** ![Incref](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@Incref](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incref)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/42 "2009-02-05T05:55:47Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > You would virtually never encounter a platypus outside a zoo. What? I’ve seen quite a few while living in country Victoria (in fact there was one in the creek that ran through the town right next to the main street) and up here in the Gold Coast hinterland. I mean they don’t just hang out on bank waiting for people to say ‘Hi’ but you see them swishing about and coming up to breathe occasionally. My mother once called the police on a spider… and yes they came to the house, caught it and let it go outside. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/43 "2009-02-05T06:43:36Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > You’ve been stung by a scorpion, **redtail**? What happens? I always thought it was a huge deal and you had to get to the ER, stat, or you could die. You sound so casual about it! I’m impressed. Naw, most scorpions pose no real danger at all to an adult. A few friends of mine have been bit in Africa. It hurts pretty bad for a long time, but it won’t kill you. I believe the smaller scorpions are worse than the larger ones. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/44 "2009-02-05T07:13:35Z")
[thread=477963]This[/thread] is what I did last time. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/45 "2009-02-05T07:21:44Z")
I get scorpions in the house when it is dry. They like to hide in dirty clothes, towels, and bunched up bedlinens. I’ve been stung a few times, it hurts like a wasp sting. They are not too hard to kill, just smack 'em with a rolled up newspaper. One week I killed four or five of them, and I lined their dead bodies outside on the porch as a warning to the others! Spiders I usually sweep into a glass tumbler and let them go. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/46 "2009-02-05T07:42:19Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > I get scorpions in the house when it is dry. They like to hide in dirty clothes, towels, and bunched up bedlinens. I’ve been stung a few times, it hurts like a wasp sting. They are not too hard to kill, just smack 'em with a rolled up newspaper. One week I killed four or five of them, and I lined their dead bodies outside on the porch as a warning to the others! Spiders I usually sweep into a glass tumbler and let them go. You should have put their heads on spikes. I suppose their own stingers would’ve sufficed. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/47 "2009-02-05T07:53:13Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Seriously, nothing _that_ dangerous or deadly is likely to be found **in your house**. Depends where you live. I’ve seen funnel-web spiders in houses in Sydney. A guy i worked with once got a frantic call from his wife after a funnel-web walked into the house between the legs of his two-year-old daughter, while she watched it with interest. An adult who is treated reasonably promptly is very unlikely to die from a funnel-web bite, but a toddler is another story. Also, it’s possible to get bitten without realizing what bit you, and if you don’t get treatment fairly quickly you can get very sick. > [@kambuckta](#): > > That being said, venomous snakes sometimes like to wander into homes in rural Australia and unwary folks have to confront a Joey Blake in their bathtub or curled around the roof-rafters. > > 😃 Yeah, i have friends who grew up on farms who occasionally found brown snakes in the house. They are pretty damn venomous, especially if you’re miles from the nearest hospital. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/48 "2009-02-05T11:48:23Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Depends where you live. I’ve seen funnel-web spiders in houses in Sydney. A guy i worked with once got a frantic call from his wife after a funnel-web walked into the house between the legs of his two-year-old daughter, while she watched it with interest. It is a deadly spider, but its deadliness is greatly overrated - there have been only 13 proven deaths from the funnel-web ever, and none since the anti-venom became available in 1981. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_funnel-web_spider) and [The Australian Museum](http://www.austmus.gov.au/spiders/dangerous/funnelweb/index.htm). Red-backs (in the widow group of spiders) haven’t killed anyone for 50 years. Nasty bites, wouldn’t want one myself, but the anti-venom is rapid working and very effective. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/49 "2009-02-05T14:05:16Z")
> [@gingerbreadwoman1](#): > > My son said that he would take care of the situation, he got his b-b gun and proceeded to shoot the snake right dab between it’s eyes. I would have taken care of it myself, but my son wanted to show off his newfangled skills with his new weapon. He wouldn’t be named Ralphie, would he? Here in Arizona we got a poisonous lizard: [Gila Monsters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_monster). Although not very deadly, they have a habit of latching on and not letting go. Further they work their lower jaw back and forth, the better to get the venom into you, so they can leave a nasty wound. I give 'em a wide berth on those rare occasions I come across one. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/50 "2009-02-05T14:27:24Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > He wouldn’t be named Ralphie, would he? > > Here in Arizona we got a poisonous lizard: [Gila Monsters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_monster). Although not very deadly, they have a habit of latching on and not letting go. Further they work their lower jaw back and forth, the better to get the venom into you, so they can leave a nasty wound. I give 'em a wide berth on those rare occasions I come across one. I’ve lived here 25 years, and never seen one… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/51 "2009-02-05T14:57:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Chronos: > (except the coral snake, found only in the Southwest and with a very distinctive pattern of red, yellow, and black bands) > [@LouisB](#): > > We have bunches of these things in Florida and we ain’t in the Southwest. Coral snakes can be found all over the southern U.S. We have them in Arizona and in western New Mexico. Another species lives in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. And a third species can be found in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, along the Atlantic coast of North and South Carolina, and the entire state of Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/52 "2009-02-05T15:03:44Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I’ve lived here 25 years, and never seen one… Nor are you likely to. They are rare and extremely secretive. The neat thing is if you do have them denning near you, you are likely to find them over and over again in the same spots. 🙂 Give them about three to four feet in distance and you can enjoy watching them bask. They are gorgeous lizards. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/53 "2009-02-05T16:27:02Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > You’ve been stung by a scorpion, **redtail**? What happens? I always thought it was a huge deal and you had to get to the ER, stat, or you could die. You sound so casual about it! I’m impressed. Nope, as others have said, most NA scorpion stings are fairly harmless (unless you have an allergic reaction). The two I distinctly remember were the one under the bathmat (he was HUGE and was trying like hell to sting me but I only felt little pokes because the bathmat was too thick - felt like a sticker or something caught in the mat) and the one in the laundry (stung the holy crap out of me when I picked up the basket). I’d say it compared to a bee or wasp sting - painful but not horrendous. It was a little freaky though - it was the first time I’d been stung by a scorpion and I’d heard all the same stories. I knew they weren’t true, but when it’s _your_ hand…😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/54 "2009-02-05T18:15:48Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Here in Arizona we got a poisonous lizard: [Gila Monsters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_monster). I love that quote in the article: > [@Dr. Ward](#): > > I have never been called to attend a case of Gila monster bite, and I don’t want to be. I think a man who is fool enough to get bitten by a Gila monster ought to die. The creature is so sluggish and slow of movement that the victim of its bite is compelled to help largely in order to get bitten. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/55 "2009-02-05T18:41:36Z")
When there’s anything in the house, my first priority is to get rid of it before my partner sees it. You don’t want to see a 6’10" (208cm) man running around screaming like a little sissy. And at that height, jumping up on a chair can have serious repercussions. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/56 "2009-02-05T18:49:16Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > It is a deadly spider, but its deadliness is greatly overrated - there have been only 13 proven deaths from the funnel-web ever, and none since the anti-venom became available in 1981. Sure, i’m aware of that. But if we don’t talk about the funnel-web as dangerous or deadly, then those word become pointless for basically _any_ discussion of spiders, because the funnel-web is always on the short-list in a discussion of “world’s deadliest spiders.” The fact is that spiders in general aren’t as dangerous as their reputation suggests, but i’m sure a funnel-web falls into the OP’s category. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/57 "2009-02-05T20:59:28Z")
All this talk about spiders being less dangerous than their reputations suggest and invading mammals being more of a concern begs the question… What _are_ the most harmful/deadly creatures one should worry about entering their home? Are there studies compiled listing the most dangerous creatures commonly found in households? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/58 "2009-02-05T21:38:40Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > What _are_ the most harmful/deadly creatures one should worry about entering their home? Are there studies compiled listing the most dangerous creatures commonly found in households? [Futurama]Turns out it’s man! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/59 "2009-02-05T21:46:15Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > All this talk about spiders being less dangerous than their reputations suggest and invading mammals being more of a concern begs the question… > > What _are_ the most harmful/deadly creatures one should worry about entering their home? Are there studies compiled listing the most dangerous creatures commonly found in households? I can absolutely guarantee that the most deadly animal (other than Man) that is commonly found in a house is: **Dog**. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153/60 "2009-02-05T21:54:59Z")
> [@](#): > > I can absolutely guarantee that the most deadly animal (other than Man) that is commonly found in a house is: Dog. I wouldn’t be so sure… Statistically, over the course of history, Flea probably has a heck of a lot more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-find-a-small-but-dangerous-animal-in-your-house/484153.md?page=4)