Warning to anyone who hates spiders - don't look any further down this page.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Don't Like Spiders? Don't Even Visit Today - I Promise I'll Find Something Better Tomorrow
John is going to Puerto Rico for work tomorrow. I'm not coming along, even though I hinted that I would like to. ("Please, please take me with you", wasn't clear enough, I guess.) Instead of pouting, uselessly, I put that energy into getting some more Christmas dishes out of the garage. And that's where I found this lady. Now I have always agreed with my mother about spiders, most of them are good to have around. She talks about the one on her lemon tree as being the Co-Gardner, keeping it organic by eating all the bugs, so she doesn't have to spray. I have left the few small spiders who built webs by my front door alone, since I have found them catching all those nasty pests before they get into the flour. But I had noticed that there were no more of those small house spiders in the garage, I should have remembered that, other than spray, there is only one other thing that eradicates all those small spiders - a big, Black Widow Spider. I'm no stranger to the Black Widow. When I lived in Southern California, (before I turned 15), it was my job to get rid of them. But after I spent decades in Seattle, where Black Widows don't live, I seem to have gotten a little rusty on proper technique. I thought it was dead when I took a pencil and rolled it into this ziploc bag. WRONG! And I was only putting it in the bag because my friend Carol said that the Apartment Managers might not believe me about the problem if I didn't take this "dead" spider over to show them. (Perhaps in a bag? Really?)
Warning to anyone who hates spiders - don't look any further down this page.
Warning to anyone who hates spiders - don't look any further down this page.
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Do you know, I've never actually seen a black widow spider? Clever of you to put it in a bag to show.
ReplyDeleteI had thought it was a good idea to bag her when Carol suggested it, but when she started crawling out while I was closing the bag, it was really, really scary.
ReplyDeleteMy son called me to say he was amazed at how distinct the red hourglass was. I told him that when you see a Black Widow, you know it.
Learning something new every day department: When I saw that spider I thought 'Why does Beryl have an Australian redback spider in Oklahoma?'. So I did a little googling and discover a black widow spider is the same thing and they are found all over the world. And I thought we had a monopoly on that little horror! They are indeed poisonous, and we have had them invade every home we've had. They love to lurk in a forgotten corner of the garden, but have even appeared in our living room! If it weren't for the snakes they would be No.1 on my hit list.
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia - I never thought that they were the same either - since that red hourglass is on the stomach of the Black Widow - you have to flip them over to see the red. But you are right about how they like the corners. One thing that amazes me is how strong their webs are. Please let them stay out of the house! Apartment management is sending in exterminators on Thursday. They are more worried about them than I am.
ReplyDeleteAAAAAHHHH! I am newly awed by your bravery. Spiders are a struggle for me. I like them, in theory. They are spectacular, fascinating creatures. I can look at pictures and even watch close-up nature films of them in action. But when I see one in real life, the creepy crawly shivers go up and down the back of my neck. And if the spider is close enough so that there is ANY possibility of it touching me, and/or if it's headed toward me, I shriek like a little girl. And we don't even have poisonous ones where I live! You are amazing.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne - And I am in awe of your writing skill! But you are right - as I've gotten older, I have realized that I am pretty brave. It has been a bit of a struggle to get used to having a poisonous spider around again, because even though I grew up around them, I lived most of my adult life in Seattle, where there also aren't any.
ReplyDeleteSince spiders seem to run away, I figure any spider that is heading toward you is already suicidal, so whatever happens, it's not your fault. (You're not Buddhist, are you?)
Great shot of the identifying red. I haven't seen any Black Widows here but we have the Brown Recluse which is no fun to be bitten by either.
ReplyDeleteMostly I tolerate spiders unless they are actually ON me...then I flap at them and squeal like a mad woman.
Darla
Hi Darla - I think the reason you haven't seen any Black widows is that they require an enormous number of insects to eat. It may seem like there are lots of insects around, but a large human population usually means enough less insects that Black Widows head for the unincorporated. Our apartments are brand new construction in the middle of a field on a greenbelt. And it's getting cold, so the spiders are looking to stay warm in our bug filled garage.
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