Black widow - what to do?

[Duriana]

as I was in the backyard I saw what I thought to be one of those tiny red dwarf spiders as I got closer I realized that red dot was a ventral hourglass marking.



So what should I do? If it was just me I'd be fine, Since I would know to avoid that hole. But my problem is our dog sniffing around and I'm hesitant to tell the rest of my family in case they get out the Raid.. Also this appears to be a juvenile, can they even bite you? I could get her a nice enclosure at this age but I know the adults have some pretty big webs. Or I could relocate her in a forest away from any walking trails.

 

[Richard McJimsey]

Yes, juveniles can bite. I'd just relocate them as you find them. Unless your dog sticks his face in the web, he wouldn't be bitten.

 

[Biollantefan54]

I doubt your dog would get bit, even if he stuck his nose in the web. Black widows aren't aggressive and it would run into it'd retreat and stay there until the danger is gone

 

[Duriana]

Yes, juveniles can bite. I'd just relocate them as you find them. Unless your dog sticks his face in the web, he wouldn't be bitten.

I doubt your dog would get bit, even if he stuck his nose in the web. Black widows aren't aggressive and it would run into it'd retreat and stay there until the danger is gone

Ok I'll go out next time I can and release her. I have noticed when I was watching, as soon as I took any step towards the hole, she retreated very quickly. Very beautiful little creature

 

[chanda]

Just leave her where she is. I have lots of black widows in my yard and garden - and even in the garage and around the edges of the house. I've lived around black widows nearly all my life - and had assorted pets (including curious dogs and cats) and even small children - and we've never had a problem with them. They tend to stay put in their webs and retreat when they see something coming. They are beautiful spiders and fascinating to watch - when I have the patience to go out at night with a flashlight and sit by the web and wait. You can also keep them in captivity. Even though they will occasionally make a large web in the wild, they do not need to do so. I have kept mature black widows in clear 2-liter soda bottles and even 20 oz. water or plastic soda bottles, though my preferred enclosure is a 32oz. deli cup, and they do just fine. They just need to have some twigs to attach their webs to and you need to drop in a couple of crickets or other suitable prey items every week or so.

 

[Duriana]

Just leave her where she is. I have lots of black widows in my yard and garden - and even in the garage and around the edges of the house. I've lived around black widows nearly all my life - and had assorted pets (including curious dogs and cats) and even small children - and we've never had a problem with them. They tend to stay put in their webs and retreat when they see something coming. They are beautiful spiders and fascinating to watch - when I have the patience to go out at night with a flashlight and sit by the web and wait. You can also keep them in captivity. Even though they will occasionally make a large web in the wild, they do not need to do so. I have kept mature black widows in clear 2-liter soda bottles and even 20 oz. water or plastic soda bottles, though my preferred enclosure is a 32oz. deli cup, and they do just fine. They just need to have some twigs to attach their webs to and you need to drop in a couple of crickets or other suitable prey items every week or so.

I would love to keep her, not sure if my Mom would allow that Maybe I could convince her though. But hey way more people die from mosquitos then L. Mactans bites annually.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Whenever I see threads like this concerning widow spiders, I always think how ignarance of their presence can be such bliss. You have to wonder if that one in particular has been in the same spot for a long time without causing any problems. It would seem as soon as someone finds a widow spider that it becomes a potential hazard to people and pets.

My advice to you would be just to leave it alone.

 

[Duriana]

Whenever I see threads like this concerning widow spiders, I always think how ignarance of their presence can be such bliss. You have to wonder if that one in particular has been in the same spot for a long time without causing any problems. It would seem as soon as someone finds a widow spider that it becomes a potential hazard to people and pets.

My advice to you would be just to leave it alone.

I look in this spot regularly and have never seen her. Yes I was a little startled at finding her but the relocating is mainly for her own safety.

 

[The Snark]

If you live in Widow country the wisest move is to closely familiarize yourself with it's chosen habitat and habits. You will never be free of the animals, barring a swimming pool filled with Dursban, but you can avoid unfortunate encounters with Widows. In their natural habitats they are extremely predictable and outside of their web will simply death curl given the opportunity.
The only time widows have been known to bite humans is if trapped against your skin or if you cram your hand deep into their web when egg sacks are present. Both require some degree of dumb move on the human's part. Think sticking your hand in or sitting on a blender. If it had any say in the matter the blender would prefer to be left out of these bizarre relationships.

 

[Ungoliant]

I would love to find some native black widows in my yard. I only find the invasive brown widows these days.

 

[The Snark]

@Ungoliant Just wondering. Do Geos have the same affinity for moist places like around/behind toilets that other widows, especially Hesperus have? Or are they just rat bag don't care invasives stealing any territory they can?

 

[Ungoliant]

Just wondering. Do Geos have the same affinity for moist places like around/behind toilets that other widows, especially Hesperus have? Or are they just rat bag don't care invasives stealing any territory they can?

We don't have Latrodectus hesperus where I live; instead we have Latrodectus mactans.

Latrodectus geometricus is a prolific breeder and to have displaced our native L. mactans. In my experience, L. geometricus tolerates a wider range of living space than L. mactans. I frequently find L. geometricus in less sheltered areas, such as attached to the outside of potted plant bins outside, where I would never have found L. mactans. They are indeed "rat bag don't care invasives stealing any territory they can."

But now I don't even find L. mactans in the types of places where, several years ago, I would normally have been able to find them.

I have also noticed that where common house spiders (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) are abundant, I don't find widows of either species.

 

[Duriana]

If you live in Widow country the wisest move is to closely familiarize yourself with it's chosen habitat and habits. You will never be free of the animals, barring a swimming pool filled with Dursban, but you can avoid unfortunate encounters with Widows. In their natural habitats they are extremely predictable and outside of their web will simply death curl given the opportunity.
The only time widows have been known to bite humans is if trapped against your skin or if you cram your hand deep into their web when egg sacks are present. Both require some degree of dumb move on the human's part. Think sticking your hand in or sitting on a blender. If it had any say in the matter the blender would prefer to be left out of these bizarre relationships.

Ha never looked at it that way also if the human were to get injured, nobody blames the blender. They blame the human for being idiotic.

Oh Only on Arachnoboards do you see humans comparing spiders to blenders

 

[Duriana]

I would love to find some native black widows in my yard. I only find the invasive brown widows these days.

This is the third L. Mactans I have seen in my yard. Two were adult females. All have been very close to my house, in fact their all of their webs were touching the house. I have seen one L. geometricus, but she has left her web since then.

 

[The Snark]

Ha never looked at it that way also if the human were to get injured, nobody blames the blender. They blame the human for being idiotic.

That's the rose colored glasses perfect world syndrome.Complete defiance or denial of the natural world.
With Latrodectus this would have made more sense a few years back in the Southern California regions. There, L Hesperus was everywhere. Stick your hand in a web, jerk it out quick. Outhouses and public toilets always had a few. Just a matter of fact humans meeting mom nature.

 

[Anoplogaster]

For every widow you see, there are several that you don't see. It reminds me of shark warnings getting posted all over beaches when one happens to come close enough to the surface to see. They're always around. Just pretend you didn't see it

 

[Ellenantula]

I was bit by a black widow maybe 10 years or so ago.
I had just woken up, stumbling half-asleep into kitchen to put on a pot of coffee; and had then gone into my living room to start up my morning routine of checking email, opening browser to check banking account, etc. I had sat down briefly at computer desk, pulled out the slider shelf with my keyboard to start pulling email, etc. Anyway, still half-asleep, I got up from computer desk and walked into the kitchen to see if my coffee was ready when I felt something on my arm. I was already at kitchen sink by that point and didn't really see what was on me, but I sort of knocked it/slapped it off my arm (near wrist) and whatever it was fell off into sink. I guess I suspected it was a mosquito or something, since I didn't really see what it was since I reacted too quickly to knock it off me. Other than a red spot on my arm and feeling my arm cramp up (which I blamed on self-injury - believing I had perhaps knocked whatever bit me off my arm too roughly). I was too busy planning my day, getting showered and ready for work to be bothered.
I went to work as usual, but felt bad -- and thought I might be getting the flu. Originally, driving in to work, only the arm seemed to bother me. But soon I felt achy, sweaty, dizzy, having chills, a feverish headache feeling with muscle cramps... and I felt so nauseated; Plus, oddly, I felt severe pain behind my sternum. My boss immediately diagnosed gall bladder problems and sent me home (I had worked less than 3 hours -- so I was back home less than 5 hours of the bite). I was sure it was flu symptoms. I just knew I felt lousy and needed to lie down.
When I got home, I just felt worse and worse, and when I went to the kitchen sink to get a glass a water (I had a few dirty dishes in sink that I was removing so I could fit my glass under the faucet), there it was: an injured (probably already dead) black widow in my sink. The black distinctive silhouette with red on belly were unmistakable. I figure when I slapped it off my arm it fell in the sink, injured and unable to crawl away. My arm had a reddened slightly raised area and a magnifying glass revealed two tiny pinholes. The bite area was sore and my arm and hand muscles were cramping badly. The chills, dizziness, headache, nausea and chest pain (esp sternum) were just as bad really. Anyway, I became concerned I might die (seriously -- I thought black widow bites were lethal) so I searched yahoo for information about black widow bites -- and realized I appeared to have some of the symptoms, plus, obviously: I had the black widow corpse (now under a cup, since I wasn't convinced it was really dead -- I had really bad arachnophobia). I did feel reassured after my research that I probably wouldn't die though. lol
I had considered calling 911 and going to the Emergency Room when I first pieced together that I had been bitten by a black widow!
I figure I disturbed this black widow when I pulled out the computer desk keyboard shelf and she must have ridden on my arm to the kitchen. There was only a small bit of messy webbing near back of keyboard and she had to have moved in overnight, since I'd been on that keyboard/computer the evening before. I only felt bad for a few days, and gradually improved.
The widow bite helped me begin the process of getting over my arachnophobia. I mean, the worst that could happen... did. And I survived.
(Had wanted to post this in the Bites forum but get the "not allowed to post here" message)

 

[spotropaicsav]

Whenever I see threads like this concerning widow spiders, I always think how ignarance of their presence can be such bliss. You have to wonder if that one in particular has been in the same spot for a long time without causing any problems. It would seem as soon as someone finds a widow spider that it becomes a potential hazard to people and pets.

My advice to you would be just to leave it alone.

I agree with the ignorance is bliss idea- when I moved to CA 10+ years ago, I noticed so many in living areas.
Many people here go through the process of an exterminator etc. At this point I turn a blind eye unless there is an immediate danger... which has not been the case. We have been coexisisting without any bites so far, we just avoid if spotted, no stress, less hassle. Works for our household

 

[myrmecophile]

They are just rat bag invasives. They set up house keeping any old place they can find including those places used by the native species.

@Ungoliant Just wondering. Do Geos have the same affinity for moist places like around/behind toilets that other widows, especially Hesperus have? Or are they just rat bag don't care invasives stealing any territory they can?

 

[Duriana]

I was bit by a black widow maybe 10 years or so ago.
I had just woken up, stumbling half-asleep into kitchen to put on a pot of coffee; and had then gone into my living room to start up my morning routine of checking email, opening browser to check banking account, etc. I had sat down briefly at computer desk, pulled out the slider shelf with my keyboard to start pulling email, etc. Anyway, still half-asleep, I got up from computer desk and walked into the kitchen to see if my coffee was ready when I felt something on my arm. I was already at kitchen sink by that point and didn't really see what was on me, but I sort of knocked it/slapped it off my arm (near wrist) and whatever it was fell off into sink. I guess I suspected it was a mosquito or something, since I didn't really see what it was since I reacted too quickly to knock it off me. Other than a red spot on my arm and feeling my arm cramp up (which I blamed on self-injury - believing I had perhaps knocked whatever bit me off my arm too roughly). I was too busy planning my day, getting showered and ready for work to be bothered.
I went to work as usual, but felt bad -- and thought I might be getting the flu. Originally, driving in to work, only the arm seemed to bother me. But soon I felt achy, sweaty, dizzy, having chills, a feverish headache feeling with muscle cramps... and I felt so nauseated; Plus, oddly, I felt severe pain behind my sternum. My boss immediately diagnosed gall bladder problems and sent me home (I had worked less than 3 hours -- so I was back home less than 5 hours of the bite). I was sure it was flu symptoms. I just knew I felt lousy and needed to lie down.
When I got home, I just felt worse and worse, and when I went to the kitchen sink to get a glass a water (I had a few dirty dishes in sink that I was removing so I could fit my glass under the faucet), there it was: an injured (probably already dead) black widow in my sink. The black distinctive silhouette with red on belly were unmistakable. I figure when I slapped it off my arm it fell in the sink, injured and unable to crawl away. My arm had a reddened slightly raised area and a magnifying glass revealed two tiny pinholes. The bite area was sore and my arm and hand muscles were cramping badly. The chills, dizziness, headache, nausea and chest pain (esp sternum) were just as bad really. Anyway, I became concerned I might die (seriously -- I thought black widow bites were lethal) so I searched yahoo for information about black widow bites -- and realized I appeared to have some of the symptoms, plus, obviously: I had the black widow corpse (now under a cup, since I wasn't convinced it was really dead -- I had really bad arachnophobia). I did feel reassured after my research that I probably wouldn't die though. lol
I had considered calling 911 and going to the Emergency Room when I first pieced together that I had been bitten by a black widow!
I figure I disturbed this black widow when I pulled out the computer desk keyboard shelf and she must have ridden on my arm to the kitchen. There was only a small bit of messy webbing near back of keyboard and she had to have moved in overnight, since I'd been on that keyboard/computer the evening before. I only felt bad for a few days, and gradually improved.
The widow bite helped me begin the process of getting over my arachnophobia. I mean, the worst that could happen... did. And I survived.
(Had wanted to post this in the Bites forum but get the "not allowed to post here" message)

Dang.. and now look at you, on a forum about loving spiders Did you end up going to the hospital, or did you just let it go away? I was reading in a book I got recently that their venom induces sort of a mental fear too, even a obsession In some people, about the "I'm gonna die" thing.