So I came downstairs this morning and a mouse popped out of my end table drawer. He ran under the loveseat and I grab a flashlight and a box so I can herd him in and release him in the wild.
And . . . under the loveseat and couch there are dozens and dozens of black and brown spiders running amok and some of them are fighting with the mouse. Yuck, eek, yick!
I tipped the couches backwards and sure enough, they are both spider havens. I accessed my inner Popeye strength and dragged my ex-furniture to the curb for trash pick-up.
I can’t catch a sample spider, they’re too quick and clever. I’m fairly certain that this is a black widow infestation (found spidey sites and picture comparison).
However, would black widows run in herds? I think they may have ganged up and killed the mouse. Would spiders work together to take down a rodent?
Could be a black widow, and they aren’t particularly hard to identify if you can spot the red hourglass (though sometimes this can be hard to find/see).
But I am concerned about one thing. All you did was drag the furniture out to the curb for collection. This is unacceptable. You should nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.
(full disclosure: I don’t even hate spiders and generally do not kill them when I find them around my house. But black windows are nothing to mess around with).
Also, male black widows are brown and smaller and don’t look much like female black widows, so that might be what they were.
Not in. Under. No doubt there are a few under the couch I’m sitting on now. They never come out, and I never go in. If they’re there, they’re performing service.
Actual black widows, I can’t abide. False ones, live and let live.
I’m pretty sure they aren’t false widows . . . but again, I couldn’t catch any of the little suckers to examine red markings.
I also think I got bit on Friday night while I was lying on the couch. I had/have the symptoms and a pretty nasty looking wound on my neck (going to doc tomorrow :eek:)
I’m with you on preserving our 4- and 8-legged friends (I tried for an hour this morning to rescue poor Mr. Mouse). I’m no longer leaving the back door open for the doggies to come in and out; my heart can’t take another pop-up mouse and terrorist spider event.
We were planning on buying new furniture at summer’s end, so the spideys helped move our shopping forward.
This concerns me too. People pick up furniture like this. You should add a sign warning people to leave it for the garbage guys due to spider infestation.
I suppose this is acceptable for now, but next time remember to keep a few orbital thermonuclear bombs on hand for when spiders nest up in your new furniture
Seriously though… if they were in your furniture you may want to seriously consider hiring an exterminator to come in and examine your house. No sense buying new furniture just to have a new infestation come in. They might be / probably are elsewhere in your house too.
I have definitely had widows in the house- they do seem to come in groups. I think it’s because they just don’t travel far from the egg sac after they hatch. For anyone else in a similar predicament as the OP, they’re easily taken care of with household pesticides. Just read the label for the right one before you buy it and follow the instructions.
Dang! I just used my last orbital thermo bomb to clean my gutters Time to reorder on Amazon.
Exterminator is coming on Tuesday and we’ll have the new stuff delivered later in the week. If there is a nest of widows, I’m betting they are hanging out in my non-functioning chimney or in the really scary room in the basement. Remember the scary basement room in The Amityville Horror? – I have one of those.
Time to reorder on Amazon.