Gah! Black widow!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Hello, my name is Asimovian, I’m 33 years old, and I just met my first black widow spider.

OK, I realize it is highly probably that I’ve encountered a black widow before but without noticing. However, this weekend as I was poking around in the garage, I noticed a rather large spider which had threaded itself between a shelf and my wife’s scooter. Have I mentioned it was big? Quite possibly the size of a small dog?

Anyway, I mentioned to my wife as she was coming out to the car that she should be careful because there’s a dinos–I mean, a spider in the corner over there. Her eyes got large and she asked me if I realized that it was a black widow, which I hadn’t, as I hadn’t felt much of a desire to inspect up close. I think I squeaked.

Well, we took off to run around for the day, and when we got back, our new friend was where we’d left her, despite all my wishing for the world that she’d be gone. (OK, that’s not really true – I was hoping she’d still be there because if she wasn’t, I’d have been EXTREMELY paranoid about where she’d gone off to.)

We searched our cabinets for spider spray, but we didn’t have any because we don’t normally have much trouble with spiders. We had some inspect spray that I used instead – and in massive quantities – before the spider finally succumbed. It was not a pretty death.

I’m not a big fan of killing spiders. I usually leave them alone unless I find them in my bedroom or the shower. But I do occasionally crawl around on the floor of the garage, and the idea of being surprised by a black widow is enough to make me want to be well rid of them. We’ve lived in this house for seven years, and I’d never seen one before this weekend.

So now I’m wondering, do I have to be afraid of having more of these visitors, or could this have been a one-off “treat” for us?

2

Black widows are shy and retiring.
Just leave her alone, and she won’t bother you.
We have zillions of them out here. I just ignore them.

3

I get tons of them too. They creep me right out, but I don’t kill them. In fact, last year I found one that had come inside for the winter, I caught her, put her in a container and fed her till the spring.

4

WD-40 and a lighter, Don’t burn down the garage.

5

I’ve seen them a couple of times. My closest encounter was in a little bunkhouse bathroom at the ranch where my daughter takes riding lessons. It was in the sink. I didn’t bother it, but I did check under the toilet seat whenever I used that bathroom from then on.

6

I am not kidding when I say that you aren’t the first person to suggest that. However, I’d prefer to just not have black widows in the garage or house.

7

We cut two cords of slash one winter for two girlfriends who had a wood burning stove in their house and that woodpile practically shot black widows out like a novelty device. I’m not Captain Squick, but I stopped helping fetch wood after the third one or so. They are kind of pretty however.

8

Aren’t they also dangerously venomous?

9

What do you mean also? That’s kind of what the big deal is right?

10

[Vincent Price]
Such power and dignity…unhampered by sentiment.
If I may put forward a slice of personal philosophy,
I feel that man has ruled this world as a stumbling demented child-king long enough!
And as his empire crumbles, my precious Black Widow shall rise as his most fitting successor!
[/Vincent Price]

11

That is precisely why I have such a problem with them. I’m not fond of any insect, but I’m usually happy to live and let live unless I think a mistake is going to send me to the hospital.

12

Not as much as popular consciousness would have you believe. While their venom is very potent, actual lethality rates vary between 1%-5% depending on species, and that is assuming a full bite. (The males are far less potent and their chelicerae are barely long enough to penetrate most of the epidural level of an adult human.) You don’t want to get bitten by one, of course, and I can’t blame the o.p. for wanting to dispose of the creature for safety purposes, but a pair of leather work gloves and a glass jar would have been sufficient to capture it. They don’t spring or jump, and are generally retiring in the face of a threat. The primary utility of their venom, aside from killing prey (which consists of insects or other spiders) is to ward off potential predators, hence the distinctive read mark to indicate their toxic nature to would-be consumers.

Just last week I saw a widow spider (presumably Latrodectus hesperus) with her mate who had made their home in a gatepost. She had just caught some kind of beetle and was winding it up in the strands of the web before injecting it with digestive enzymes. It was fascinating, and I was tempted to collect the egg sac and keep it in a jar until the wee ones hatch, but I’m too old for that to be anything but disturbing in a bad Thomas Harris novel sense anymore. Being a grown-up sucks in a lot of ways.

Stranger

13

Um, excuse me. I had heard there were black widows on Vancouver Island, but I’d managed to live in denial until now. I garden, you know. (Or try to.) This involves crawling around on the ground sometimes, and messing with piles of leaves and dirt, and sticking my face and hands into all manner of things, growing or dead.

::la la la la la:: no spiders 'round here, nope, no black widow or brown recluses 'round here, nopenopenope

14
  1. Black Widows are rather small.
  2. The big problem with BW toxin is that it induces severe pain in its victims.
  3. BW venom can be fatal to very young children.
15

One night, when I was living in El Paso, I walked out the front door and saw a large black spider hanging perpendicularly. I thought it was kinda kewl. Well, being deadly dangerous as they are, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a black widow so I checked its back. OK, no hour glass.

I caught it in a jar, knowing that some science teachers might like to have it. I punched some holes in the lid and…long story short, it was a black widow…they have the hour glass on the other side, duh!

So I figured I’d just cheated death and I’d show it to people, fishing for some accolades. But no. In fact, seeing it in the jar and how rapt my fascination was with it, some actually offered to round up more for me. “We’ve got a million of those at our place,” they’d say. How anti-climactic!

Wikipedia says:

Only 63 deaths were reported in the United States between 1950 and 1990.

16

We had one on our front porch a few years ago. My husband used this method and it worked like a charm. Photographic evidence.

I’ve seen a couple out in the vineyards during some of my classes. I’ve come to expect them and just stay out of their way when I see them.

17

If it makes you feel any better, I’ve yet to see one out in the garden. They can usually be found behind things in basements or under things in garages.

There is a great fat one living behind my washing machine right now. Her giant, shiny, bulbous body freaks me right out when she moves.

18

You may have killed an innocent similar looking spider. Black widows are typically not that large at all. Usually a penny to half dollar size legs included.

19

Black widows, you’re safe. I’d hoped that when I caught it, some women would throw their panties at me, the great hunter, but IIRC it turns out the treatment is “tylenol for pain.”

The brown recluse can be much worse. I knew a guy who was bitten by one on his foot. In a couple days he had a big, ulcerated sore and couldn’t wear a shoe.

It is important to seek medical treatment if a brown recluse bite is suspected, as in the rare cases of necrosis the effects can quickly spread, particularly when the venom reaches a blood vessel. Cases of brown recluse venom traveling along a limb through a vein or artery are rare, but the resulting mortification of the tissue can affect an area as large as several inches, to the extreme of requiring excising of the wound. :eek:

I clicked on necrosis. This image, though not due to a brown recluse, is NOT for the squeamish.

20

My dad was bitten by a black widow spider on his calf. He had an ulcerated sore that took about six weeks to heal. Dad always hated black widow spiders. I’m sure the bite didn’t help a bit.

I was getting ready to go diving. I lived in the desert and my wetsuit was in the garage. I was hosing out one of the dive booties when a black widow crawled out onto my hand. I shook her off and she died. (Because I stepped on her!)