Today I was out back doing yard work almost all day. I was working mainly on the deck, which is very old and there is rotted wood everywhere since we just recently tore down the old wooden awning. etc. This morning (probably around 10:00am), I noticed a couple tiny red dots and a small stream of blood on my left leg near my knee. I didn't think much of it, it stung a little at the time but I didn't bother to clean it up because I was so busy working and it didn't seem like anything.

I forgot about it, but a couple hours later I was taking a break and noticed a dime-sized, darkened circle near where the holes had been. The holes were barely visible by then, but there was a bit of swelling and numbness within a 1/2 inch radius of the original tiny punctures.

Now, it's 8pm* (about 10 hours later), and all the previous symptoms have gradually spread (aside from the rash, which remains the same size visibly.) There is however a new, smaller dot on the inner edge of the rash. Bruising has come and gone randomly over the area, right now there doesn't seem to be as much blue/purple bruising. The stiffness is present in the surrounding area within a 1-1.5 inch radius.
*was 8pm at the time I typed that*

I've also been feeling tingly in my whole lower left leg, not sure if that is a placebo/paranoia thing or if my leg is actually numb. My left foot seems incredibly stiff compared to my right one, but again, I've been working all day so it could be sore or I could be imagining it. Still no notable pain anywhere, aside from the aforementioned 'spidey senses' in my leg.

Here's two current pictures, although there's not much to see so I don't know if it'll mean anything to anyone. The bruising has gone down significantly. The main thing that can be seen in these pics is the stiff swelling all around it. You can also sort of see the inner-edge spot I described. This little bugger is alternating appearances every few minutes, so it's very hard for me to portray what exactly is going on.




Of course, it's possible this wasn't a spider at all, since bites are incredibly hard to identify if they're mild/early and you didn't actually see it happen. Considering I saw the holes, the rash, swelling, numbness, and bruising, I'm going to go ahead and assume spider bite, or at least nasty bite of some sort.

Here in Alabama we only have widows and recluses, so that narrows it down quite a bit. This doesn't hurt at all, so I've almost completely ruled out a black widow as the culprit since a painless bite from them is practically unheard of.

I'll update you guys in the morning. Hopefully it will continue to be mild or maybe disappear entirely by the morning.

Let me know if you have any advice/observations/input. Feel free to tell me I'm crazy! Sorry for the long post.