Help....Black widow living in my car!!

[kosh]

I had a black widow set up outside my garage door and I didn't kill it as I usually would cause I thought maybe she would help out with the mosquitoes. A couple of days later she was gone and I wondered if I had done the right thing by not killing her. Well, a couple of days after that, I notice a widow looking web in the back seat of my car... I watched the web for days and would sneak out to the garage once in a while with a flashlight to try and catch the owner of the web out in the open. I never saw anything. Just to be "safe," I got my shop vac out and vacuumed the heck out of the back seat and sucked in between the seats and every nook and cranny I could force the vacuum nozzle into...
Well, this morning I went into the garage and was about to get in my car to go to work and I looked and there is the black widow hanging in a fresh web in my back seat. As soon as she saw movement, she bolted back down into the crevice of the back seat.

I need to figure out how to get this spider out of my car. No method will be satisfactory unless I see the spider leaving my car or a dead body, etc...

How can I catch the thing since I couldn't even suck it out with a shop vac and destroying it's web just made it build another one?

Sometimes my girlfirend's kids ride in the back of my car and the last thing I want is a black widow biting either of her children.

 

[Moltar]

Catch something to feed her and drop in into the web. When she comes out to wrap it up you can be waiting for her with a cup or... newspaper. Then do as you will.

I don't know if you've ever kept widows or not but they're very easy to care for and are just generally cool pets. Their temperament makes keeping them much less dangerous than people think.

 

[kosh]

I guess i can try to catch some sort of small flying insect this evening after work and try to coax her out long enough to get her.

I haven't ever kept widows but I have kept T's and wolf spiders before.

I thought about putting a glue board under her web but what are the chances she would leave her web to crawl on the board? Maybe if I destroy the new web she might get stuck trying to rebuild...

 

[Moltar]

Anything's possible. They don't touch the ground that much though. I'd try the feeding thing first. Use their instincts against them...

 

[Widowman10]

I thought about putting a glue board under her web but what are the chances she would leave her web to crawl on the board?

that's probably not going to work. etown gives a great point. what you can also try though, is to leave easy access before nightfall (open the door, give yourself a clear path to the web so she won't know you're coming).

widows always come out and hang in the middle of the web at night. use a flashlight and take a stick or something and scrape away (quickly) the web she would use to get back to her retreat. easy as pie from there.


nightime is the best time to catch widows.

 

[pitbulllady]

that's probably not going to work. etown gives a great point. what you can also try though, is to leave easy access before nightfall (open the door, give yourself a clear path to the web so she won't know you're coming).

widows always come out and hang in the middle of the web at night. use a flashlight and take a stick or something and scrape away (quickly) the web she would use to get back to her retreat. easy as pie from there.


nightime is the best time to catch widows.

That's usually when I catch 'em, too. As long as you don't make noise, they seem oblivious to a flashlight beam, and it's relatively easy to catch one using a tall plastic cup and a stick. Place the cup underneath the spider and tap the spider gently with the stick, and almost always it will ball up and drop into the cup, and play dead for a few hours. These spiders cannot climb smooth slick surfaces so it's not going to climb out unless you put something in the cup, like a small bunch of twigs, for it to climb on. I had several Northern Widows living in and underneath my Studebaker when I had it shipped from Ohio, although the Dirt-Dauber(Potter) wasps got most of them before I could.

pitbulllady

 

[signinsimple]

I guess i can try to catch some sort of small flying insect this evening after work and try to coax her out long enough to get her.

You don't need a flying insect. Any insect should do (even a rolly polly).

 

[kosh]

I left the car door open last night when I got home and kept going back to check on the spider... She slowly came out but never really ventured far enough out for me to get her good. She definitely seemed oblivious to the flashlight beam and I am guess that maybe the light beam disguised my approach. Right before bed I said screw it and tried to swat her but I missed and she went back into the seat. This morning I peeked and she had a new web and was sitting there but she ran before I could get her again. There was a tiny little spider about 6 inches from her in her web and I assume this was a male. I killed his butt!! I assume that since he was still alive and hanging out that they hadn't yet mated.

I can't really get anything under her cause she is hanging out close to the hole where the seatbelt goes into the back seat. She is kinda small like she hasn't eaten in a while and she has a leg span of maybe the size of a nickel or slightly bigger.

I guess I will try to get her again this evening.

 

[jsloan]

I guess I will try to get her again this evening.

A quick spray from a can of RAID is the best way of getting her when she's out in her web. She won't be able to get away from that fast enough.

 

[signinsimple]

There was a tiny little spider about 6 inches from her in her web and I assume this was a male. I killed his butt!! I assume that since he was still alive and hanging out that they hadn't yet mated.

The males really aren't threatening. The venom is much less toxic (and I'm not even sure if they can pierce skin). I'm guessing tossing an insect into the web didn't work?

 

[Irks]

A long blade of grass works just as well as a bug if you use it correctly. Just imitate a trapped bugs behavior (use correct tension for a prey item, and jerk gently at the web). It takes me less than a minute to capture a black widow if it's hungry and receptive to web vibrations (after they build a new web, they are always looking for food). Raid is completely overkill unless you think she has laid eggsacks deep in your car.

 

[jsloan]

Raid is completely overkill unless you think she has laid eggsacks deep in your car.

The original poster sounds like he wants to kill it. Might as well make it easy.

 

[chris_vegas]

not really the issue, but just because the male was alive and near the web doesn't neccesarily mean mating hadn't taken place. Sometimes the males will stick around the females web till they see out their days. The whole thing about widows always eating the male after mating, is regularly not the case. Widowmans advice about destroying her web behind her is the best thing, they're basically blind and only fast or a threat on their web. She'll be slow and sluggish off her web, you'll catch her easy.

 

[kosh]

Well, I was finally able to get her last night after repeated tries...
She never ventured more than a couple of inches from her hide and always managed to escape before I could do anything. I tried the stick thing with destroying her web line into the hide and that didn't work. It did hamper her escape to the hide somewhat though but, by morning she had just made a new web. I tried a bug in her web and using some hemostats to try to lure her out by vibrating her web gently....to no avail. I got frustrated trying to be "humane" and so I donned leather gloves and took care of her with a swift WHACK last night. She was pretty darned skinny so I am hoping she just hadn't eaten recently. I am pretty sure she was the same one I saw out back last week as they were both similar size. Hope there isn't a sac in my car!!

I usually let spiders live in and around my house and yard, especially if there are dead bugs under their webs. As far as recluses and widows....I must admit that I usually don't let them live long after I discover them. I guess I am just a little paranoid.

 

[Widowman10]

Hope there isn't a sac in my car!!

skinny widow?

I guess I am just a little paranoid.

LOT. haha, just messin with ya

i am a widow enthusiast, but i still understand about spiders in places they shouldn't be. i just usually catch them and keep them when that happens

 

[kosh]

well, most of the widows i see around my house and yard have big, fat abdomens...this one looked like a waif...

 

[widow assassin]

Here is how to get rid of Stubborn Black Widows (from Your car)

This is how I got rid of a Big Fat Nasty Black Widow Spider that was living in my car...................
​

Follow these instructions Step by Step and you will see their dead bodies laying on the ground when your done. It worked for me!!

Here is what you will need to buy before hand.​

• 3 Good Bug Bombs (read the label, make sure they kill spiders) ( I used Raid Max - Green Bottle )

• A box of painters plastic. (make sure there is enough plastic to cover your entire car) ( I bought the Husky Brand at Home Depot for less than $20 )

• a roll of 2" masking tape (whatever kind of tape that sticks to the concrete or floor)

Here is the theory....​

You are going to cover your car completely with the plastic, seal it tight with the tape so no bug fume gets out, then you are going to ignite the bombs, shove them under the car and let it sit for 24 hours.

Here is how you do it....​

• Make sure you are doing this in your garage with a solid floor, not on dirt or soil. Make sure that your garage floor is swept up and cleaned so the tape sticks to the floor

• Roll down your windows in your car, (yes the fumes will leave an invisible film on your interior, but just wipe it up after) At least you wont have a nasty poisonous spider in your car ready to bite you when driving

• now cover your car with big sheets of the plastic. Make sure that it is air tight so no fumes escape. But don't put the plastic sheets on too tight because you want the fumes to get everywhere. When you light those bombs off the plastic will expand so keep that in mind. Just drape the plastic over the car loose and tape the seams together. IMPORTANT- MAKE SURE THAT ALL SIDES ARE LONG ENOUGH TO REACH THE GROUND

• Now start taping that plastic to the ground, all the way around the car, so it is air tight..and don't be lazy about it either, you want to make sure no fumes get out. Those black widows are savage, one mistake and they wont die. they will sit right by that hole you left and breath, then after they will climb back up to their nasty house in your car laughing at you!!

• So now that you have the car completely sealed, you need to find some kind of tray or something that you can slide under your car with the bug bombs taped to it. (I had those bug bombs taped to metal painting roller trays. they slide good, plus you can angle the bug bombs perfect)

• when your ready, you need to peal up some of the plastic and tape so that you have a hole to slide the bombs in..........., light one bomb, slide one up to the front, then light another and slide it too the back, then one in the middle, reseal the plastic and tape. Now let that spider poison fill up your make shift death tent. And leave it marinating for 24 hours or more.

• you will see the plastic expanding, that is normal. If you smell bug bomb at first , that is normal, but if you smell it after like an hour then you have failed to make it air tight. So in that case, you need to find the breach and seal it. Or get a friend that is competent enough to do this job!!!

• So that next day, peal the plastic back, pull the sliding bug bomb trays out from under your car, and look. You should see a black, curled up, pathetic spider corpse, make sure to crush it with something (just for good measures) If for some odd reason that you do not see a dead Black Widow, don't fret....they probably just died in their bed, and they will blow out next time you drive down the street

• Here is the best way to ensure that you killed that Black Widow........In the morning, after your car has been sitting cold all night, look with a flash light under your car. If there is still a Black Widow Spider Alive (and biting) you will see Thick Single stranded webs going from underneath your car stretching down to the ground. Not your typical elaborate spider web, i'm talking just one or two strands, attached to the ground up to your car. Just one or two thick webs. Here is a picture that I made to illustrate what I mean




This whole process of taping the car up with plastic should take at least a few hours maybe more. So plan on this during the weekend, so you dont have to drive your car for a day or two. Make sure to wipe the interior of your car after, because the fumes are poisonous to humans too.