Hello and thanks for the forum membership!
I live in Starkville Mississippi and I just caught a scary looking spider just above my 17 month old son's bed. I'm not normally afraid of such things but this kind of freaked me out because he's so little.
Here are a couple of photo's I was able to take with my phone before I took it away. Can anyone help me identify this thing as well as give me some information on risks to toddlers? He is currently 21 pounds.
Unfortunately, your images are not clear enough for a positive i.d. The only spider in the USA having this general appearance that would be of any concern would be a brown recluse. Compare yours with http://www.brown-recluse.com/images/br7mid.jpg - note the very prominent 'violin' marking on its cephalothorax.
