Mord Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 I was doing some over due weeding and weed whacking a little while ago and decided to pull up some grass that was coming out from the bottom of an old plant pot near the steps. So, as I was pulling I noticed it was actually growing from the plant pot...so I moved the pot. All these crickets starting jumping everywhere so I was a bit surprised for a second...and as I looked down what did I see? GAH!! Seeing it's only the second time I've ever seen one I snapped some pics. I decided to let it be until I finished my yard work...then I'd figure on whether I was gonna relocate her or not....So, I started to move the plant pot back and GAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Another one...and she was MATING! At the time of this pic they broke it off...so I waited and took these. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 The scary part was I grabbed the pot about two inches from these punks before I saw them! I'll tell you what...it shrunk my sphincter to the size of a pin hole! I've heard descriptions of what it feels like to have their venom racing through you...one woman said it was like having her bones crushed in a vice so...I got lucky! I saw a bunch of egg sacs, so I am not sure whether or not I am gonna let them live or not. Another problem I have about 15 over grown pots all along that area! Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Damn dude, those black widows can be fatal too. I've never seen one around my house, but I did have a big brown recluse spider about a year ago. Just think, in a parallel universe you might be in a hospital right now or worse, dead. :eek: (Sorry, been watching the science channel alot lately, shows on black holes, time travel, and parallel universes.) P.S. I'd kill them if I were you, take no chances. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoat Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 I've heard descriptions of what it feels like to have their venom racing through you...one woman said it was like having her bones crushed in a vice so...I got lucky! Black widow bites are only very rarely fatal, especially considering the wide range of North America they inhabit, but their venom causes the muscles to constantly contract. I have not experienced this firsthand, but I can imagine that unabated muscle contraction could seem vice-like. I'd recommend killing them, as if happily situated they will only produce more, which will then spread around your property. That being said they aren't terribly dangerous, and your risk is lessened if you take precautions such as wearing gloves when messing with possible spider habitats. We get black widows in the woodpile often enough, and I even saw one hanging out in a pile of fencing material at Menards the other day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Yep...I haven't heard of too many people dying from the bites but I've heard interviews of how horrible the pain is...one guy was hospitalized for 10 days...in total agony. He was so pissed off that now, he goes outside at night with a flashlight and finds as many as he can and kills them. MeatEtr. I think I'd take the BW bite over a Recluse any day of the week. Some people end up with that nasty necrotic disease that never goes away. I didn't do anything about them today...but I probably will tomorrow....though if I let them live, I was gonna take them up the street to the woods, not anywhere near here. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 One night a few decades back I was at a friends house and opened the door beneath the sink to dispose of some garbage and a black widow popped out. It died quickly. During approximately the same time frame, on two different occasions while cutting firewood I pulled the bark off a piece to find a scorpion lurking beneath. They died quickly too. Oddly enough, for both the spider and the scorpions those were the only times I've ever seen them in the flesh. I'd really like to keep it that way too. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 The amous Aussie redback is pretty much the same spider, and they are also very wide ranging. Those two are pretty good examples! The big problem is they love to hide under the lip of moulded plastic things like pots, bins, lawn chairs. The sort of place you stick your fingers when picking things up without thinking. I even had one building a web under my car door handle once. As with most stuff though, they are pretty unlikely to bite, and are easily eradicated. The web is also very recognisable, low, strong and full of rubbish. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 Funny, your scorpion story reminded me of when I lived in FLA. They found a scorpion at my GF's office and called an exterminator...The guy that was dispatched called them in route and begged them to not hurt it...when he got there, he captured it...I think he kept it. LOL I probably would've done the same thing. You should've seen the giant centipede I saw in Arizona...god, those things make my skin crawl! And it was a little one...only about 6 1/2 inches! Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 The amous Aussie redback is pretty much the same spider, and they are also very wide ranging. Those two are pretty good examples! I always wondered about that...they look a lot a like...I never bothered to read up on them though. The big problem is they love to hide under the lip of moulded plastic things like pots, bins, lawn chairs. The sort of place you stick your fingers when picking things up without thinking. I even had one building a web under my car door handle once. As with most stuff though, they are pretty unlikely to bite, and are easily eradicated. The web is also very recognisable, low, strong and full of rubbish. Yeah, I'll be watching where I stick my hands from now on...funny thing is I've been around this neighborhood since I was a kid and only saw my first one ever, last year. Never even thought much about them until today. Two things fascinated me about this though, one, was I witnessed them mating...(and the poor little male had to try twice because of me...he made it though). And two...was that there were two large females within four inches, if that, of each other...I always figured them as solitary unless mating or a brood hatching. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mace Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I'd kill them if I were you, take no chances. Oooh that's bad karma that is. Besides they're kinda cute and go very well with that terracotta color. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Means Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 What possible reason could you have to let it live? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhammer Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Oh, hell, I can find these things when I want to. I bet a couple of dozen are in my yard under rocks or in the brick pile. I do kill them each time I see them, and I am very careful to be on the lookout. Here in the Carolinas, pretty darned common. When I used to do apt Maintenace and had to turn off the water, step one was to torch the water shut off box before I reached in to turn the valve handle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Belenko Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Plenty of black widows in So Cal. I kill a few every year around the yard and garage. Go out side around 9-11 PM on a warm evening use a flash light, look up around the eaves. Keep a can of long reaching wasp spray handy for the black widow spideys. When I was a kid, an older kid told me, never pick up a rock or stick laying in the yard, always move it with your foot and flip it over 1st. And always look in the old tennis shoes on the patio, you wear for yard work before putting them on - most bites occur putting your feet in the shoes they call home. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 And always look in the old tennis shoes on the patio, you wear for yard work before putting them on - most bites occur putting your feet in the shoes they call home. Argh. Now that is just plain creepy. Pretty good reason not to leave your tennies outside. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Pah. Black Widows are pussies compared to the Sydney Funnel Web. Which is aggressive as well as potentially fatal. I have one living in the corner of the window just above me computer monitor. It keeps the flies and moths and stuff under control. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Oh my, I had a close call just now. I drove down to the recycle dumpster with a plastic bin of papers. As I grabbed the top several papers to chuck in, there it was, maybe an inch or two from my hand was a big fat Black Widow. I smashed him good immediately since he was trying to get away farther down into the bin/papers. So no time to grab any pics of him. :eek: Whew, that would of ruined my week for sure. I'm leaving to go on vacation tomorrow too. So just checked the corner where the bin meets up with the end table and sure enough there's another with a few dead ones too. Far too close for comfort, I now declare war. Gonna wipe them out and check the rest of the house. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Let them live. They kill other unpleasant stuff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Let them live. They kill other unpleasant stuff. Like pesky neighbors? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 I always keep a piranha or two in the swimming pool for just that purpose. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmar Bijlsma Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Let them live. They kill other unpleasant stuff. It is a potentially lethal spider. Does it keep the Chupacabra population down or what? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted October 8, 2010 Author Share Posted October 8, 2010 Oh my, I had a close call just now. I drove down to the recycle dumpster with a plastic bin of papers. As I grabbed the top several papers to chuck in, there it was, maybe an inch or two from my hand was a big fat Black Widow. Gets the blood flowin' don't it? Deadly or no...spending a couple days to a week cramped up in the hospital is enough to put the fear of god in you. Ours oughta be dying off here soon...BUT now I have a friggin' raccoon living in the soffit over my front door. Have fun on your vacay. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 BUT now I have a friggin' raccoon living in the soffit over my front door. All the animals must have it in for you, Mord. First it was the wiener dogs, now it's a raccoon. In between, spiders. I have to wonder if you are long for this world. Maybe a rattlesnake in your bed? Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted October 8, 2010 Author Share Posted October 8, 2010 All the animals must have it in for you, Mord. First it was the wiener dogs, now it's a raccoon. In between, spiders. I have to wonder if you are long for this world. Maybe a rattlesnake in your bed? Michael LOL yeah, it's a zoo around here. I haven't even started bitching about the porky punk groundhog that's been, along with his porky punk offspring, wailing my garden for the last three years. I live in a suburby type of area and you'd think it was the middle of nowhere...we have a ton of rabbits, possums, coons and a year back, a fox...unfortunately he got squished...I would've liked him to stick around and do some serious murdering but apparently he was stupider than the rest of them and zigged when he should've zagged. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 I thought Wiener dogs were specially bred to go after groundhogs. Seems like there might be the possibility of killing two birds with one stone in there somewhere... Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 deleted per user request 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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