Any of yall come across one of these things? Last night i was under my buddies stang in my garage and was taking the tranny bolts loose when i looked to the other side of the tranny and saw a web from the tranny to the exhaust. Started wondering what kind of spider made it and down comes the little lady. So as you know i was done for the night... Went out there this morning and set one of those bombs under the car and found it about to die later this afternoon. Pulled it out flipped it over and saw the little hour glass and killed it. So be careful when working on stuff that comes from out in the woods...hahaha

 

I see em lots of times on plant material that comes out of the south, surprising 'cause we are not used to them. Really makes you think when you spot them.

 

I've seen two black widows under my truck and in a couple in buildings I work in. What we're taken over with is brown widows. They're the same size as black widows but mahogany brown with an orange hour glass on the underside of her abdomen. They originated from Africa and have populated the southeast USA and are taking over native spider species. Like the black widow, they die with the help of direct spider spray and a flash light at night. Demon D bought from the do it yourself pest control store also works well. I've been bitten three times by brown widows. They don't cause an ulcer like the brown recluse but instead give you a systemic toxin that makes you feel like you have a bad flu for a couple of days. The bite site is little more than a mosquito bite but then gets kinda sore for a week or more. They normally don't bite unless they have egg sacs in their web. Then like any mom, don't mess with her hundreds of kids. If there are plenty of bugs to eat, you'll likely see her smaller, lighter colored husband hanging around close by in typical hen pecked fashion. She won't eat him unless he's the only thing left on the menu. Widows like steel and prefer our truck and car chassis to concrete or wood structures. Widows are more of a pest than threat. I'm far more concerned about the brown recluse. They can do some real damage and have no web to make their presence known.

 

I hear that but i prefer to not be bit by either!!! LOL

 

I had a HUGE black widow in my shed. It's a shame I'm such a wuss about spiders because she was truly one of the most beautiful creepy-crawly things I've ever seen. Her body was about the size of the end of my thumb from the fingernail forward. It looked like she was dipped in glossy black paint. I only wish I could get my black truck that glossy! And the hourglass was a brilliant red.

Alas, I'm not a big fan of any spider, let alone black widows (I hate cob webs even worse than the spiders themselves). So I did the only thing any scaredy-cat can and torched her with a flaming propellant of some sort (wd-40? or lysol? or something...), nearly burning my shed down in the process... That'll teach her!

 

a couple of months ago a buddy of mine was bitten by an unknown spider, while sleeping in his house. within a couple of days the bite area was rediculously inflamed, which sent him to the doctor, which led to the doctor having to drain an insane amount of fluid from the bite area. it took several weeks of frequent bandage changing and all kinds of pain and discomfort before he was completely healed up. his recommendation- try not to get bit by a spider.

 

Dont get bit by a black widow! I dont guess it would kill you if you seeked treatment within a reasonable amount of time but man it will make you hurt all over like crazy! Its a feeling just like a muscle cramp, only with every muscle in your body at once! Not fun at all.

 

I'm in SoCal, and we're crawling with black widows- I'm constantly killing them in the garage and shed. My 4-yr-old son calls me to check on every spider he sees- he hunts them down and has me kill the "bad" ones (widows; everything else gets a pass).
Found a tarantula in the backyard earlier this year, the beast must've been four inches from leg tip to leg tip when at rest. Maybe five inches if he stretched. I sprayed him with a hose until he went into my neighbor's yard. They have cats, and I don't care who won.

 

I seek and destroy one Black Widow per day here in Vegas just around the apartment. It takes a good 30 seconds to be demobilized by RAID roach spray. I learned that the female will actually eat a lot of her young if you let her be, only 12 or so of 250-300 spiderlings will live if you leave momma there to take care of business. 6-8 hatches per year equals a lot of spiders.

I saw two the whole 18 years I lived in Northern Washington State. I saw 4 the whole 5 years I lived in Utah. I have killed twenty or more in the almost two months I have lived in Las Vegas. I'm kind of intrigued by them now. They can kill a roach almost as fast as a can of RAID, it is amazing how potent their venom is.

 

There is a spider called a Brown Recluse its venom can cause necrosis, or death of the skin.

There was a case in an Ontario Hospital of a person being bit my this spider and it wasent a pretty site 12 hours after the bite.

 

I have one in my back yard right now. My kids won't go near it and my wife wants it dead. It's pretty big for a black widow and I just can't bring myself to kill her. I check on her each day and watched her put a little cocoon around the male while he was still alive and then I could see where she sucked the life out of him. Really cool stuff. I'm gonna relocate her to the woods behind the house eventually along with her three egg sacks.....

 

Man, I HATE spiders. ANY spiders, venomous or not. Too many legs that creep an' crawl all over everything.

chaikwa.

 

Well doing residential yard work I see more spiders and wasps then i wanna see! The Black Widows like dark areas, their web almost looks like fresh pulled cotton, and you can't mistake their bodies. We have some pretty big ones for widows, 1 1/2inches. Then you'll see dang near foot long tarantulas walking right next to you, along with scorpions, snakes, and others. You just get used to it, wear pants and boots and ignore them.

 

They are thick in some areas around here. I do residential foundation inspections and see them all the time.

I used to have them real bad around my place. One night I came home and found one hanging from a towel in the bathroom...the next day I called a pest control company to come and spray the perimeter of the house and garage. I walked around and counted the dead ones, and quit counting at over 70!

 

I 100% agree right there! You should see me when I accidentally walk into a web a night. We could probably win some money if my wife video taped it. We have a Garden Spider (we call them banana spiders) guarding the front porch right not. Wife and kids named him Aragon. As long as I know where he is, we're cool (plus I use the back door).

And on the Brown Recluse, its not necessarily the venom that causes the tissue death but a bacteria that likes to hang out on their fangs. They are highly suseptible to the bacteria due to the places they like to hangout. Doc told me people get nibbled on by those spiders more than they know, they just dont always have those disgusting reactions that you see associated with their bites.