What’s recommended practice if I find a black widow spider in the yard, hiding under the big ugly fake fiberglass rock over our well head?
I got it in a jar and walked it to the fence in the woods and dropped it on the other side, and cleaned the egg cases out.
We have cats and a frequent visiting inquisitive 6 year old grandchild. We can merely guide everybody away from that fake rock, or we can burn down the entire woods, or something in between. What is recommended?
You kill them whenever you find them, and tell people to be careful. It’s not like they are endangered or anything. Step on them and kill the eggs.
I wouldn’t hesitate to spray wherever you see them. They aren’t an endangered species by any stretch of the imagination, and they can endanger you and yours.
Wow, I was going to say, nothing.
Nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Joe
If you’re in an area where you wouldn’t normally find them (I have no idea where you would normally find them) you might consider letting your local health department know about it. They might not care, they might be be happy for the info and send you on your way, they might even send someone over to take care of it for you.
The problem with fumigating to kill one particular spider is that in the process you also kill every bee, grasshopper, butterfly, etc. that is unlucky enough to pass nearby for days or weeks to come. None of them are endangered species either but I’d still prefer to avoid snuffing untold numbers of innocent lives just because I feel a little bit squeamish about one bug. The relocation with the jar sounds like it was a good, humane solution. There’s really no way to guarantee one won’t ever show up again without fumigating the entire area regularly and killing everything. It could be debated that regular, heavy use of insecticide would pose a bigger risk to the cat (and grandkids) than the spider ever did.
Kill the bastard. My backyard used to be infested with them, and they eventually made their way into my house. They are surprisingly difficult to eradicate, it seems like every year a new crop of them pops up. I get the yard sprayed every couple of months but it doesn’t seem to do much good, they just keep coming back.
Whatever you do, don’t mate with it!
Spiders generally get a free pass from me, and when encountered in the house, get diplomatically escorted back into the wilds. Latrodectus mactans is an exception, though. If encountered anywhere outside of a protected area, she gets the toe of the boot, and a hastily mumbled eulogy insincerely lamenting the fact that she had the dumb luck of being born the wrong species.
Maybe you should just stop wasting you money, then…
Where do you live? I have to put it on my “places not to visit” list.
Then again, if your username means what I think it means, perhaps the spiders are all in your imagination? 
I, too, usually give spiders a pass…but not black widows. My grandmother was bit by one once when I was little (so it’s not like she was old and frail - quite the opposite) and she was really sick. It scared me. Even as an adult now, I can hardly look at pictures of them without shuddering a little.
In the central valley of California. It probably doesn’t help that my backyard borders a very large park. The spiders aren’t the only pests either. I thought living next to a big park would be nice, but boy was I wrong, way too many insects to control. If these black widows would just stay outdoors I wouldn’t worry too much, but they always eventually find a way inside.
Kill it. I have a moderate problem with them. They come out at night, so I go hunting for them at night with a flashlight and a broom. Fortunately they seem to prefer outdoors and in the garage rather than in the house, but I kill every one I see. I knew a coworker who was bit on his foot, and he suffered for a couple of weeks - it actually affected both of his legs. He said it felt like someone took a baseball bat to his legs. Uh, that’s all I need to know.
On the plus side, they are pretty easy targets to kill.
Well speak of the devil, just after my last post I went into my laundry room and saw on those damn spiders crawling up my washer machine. Shit, now I have to be fearful every time I handle my clothes! :eek:
I just cleaned that room out and inspected the adjoining garage looking for them just a few days ago too. Maybe I destroyed her web, that could have sent her off in search of different shelter, but I don’t know. I hate the thought of black widows wondering around. Stick to your web damnit!
Kill it if you want to, but they will be back. When your grandkid comes, do a search of your yard and your garage and kill the ones you can find. Otherwise, its an exercise in futility.
Given a chance, they will run for cover when a six-foot-tall mammal enters the room. So they are usually not a problem. You probably have dozens living in and around your home, that you have simply never seen. They usually hide in some crevice during the daytime.
They love to hang onto the underside of a horizontal surface (like, say, a fiberglass rock covering your wellhead). Their favorite hangout is where a horizontal surface meets a vertical surface: for example, where a shelf meets a wall, or where a fence rail meets a fencepost.
In the desert, where I live, the general rule of thumb is, don’t stick your hand into any hole unless you can see the entire hole. If there is any obstruction to your view, a shadow or a corner, then wear gloves. This will give you reasonable odds of avoiding black widows, wasps, scorpions, and rattlesnakes. 
I saw one in my yard for the first time just the other day. Unfortunately for her, I was on my riding lawnmower at the time.
We have a lot of them here in Burbank. In ten years, with kids and dogs and everything else, there has never been a bite.
I think they are pretty shy and if you leave them alone they will return the favor.
Did you go introduce yourself?