This is a "Big-'O" Brown Recluse that was crawling on the wall near our dog pens in our Family Room the other night. The Brown Recluse thrive around here and I find...and dispatch them several times year after year.

They are insect and spider hunters and they rely on their stealth to capture their prey. They are venomous and the venom dissolves its prey which helps them digest it. Unfortunately, that same venom reacts the same way with our flesh which can result in a quite nasty wound requiring intensive medical attention.

The problem is often with how they are encountered because their behavior is to hide in dark places such as clothes waiting to be laundered, boxes, piled items, etc. which when picked up the spider hiding in them may feel threatened or pressed against which can result in a bite which may be either dry or venom packed.

This one, like the others that I encounter are dispatched and waste-not-want-not so they make an opportunity for a focus stacking session such as this.