Man Kills Black Widow Spider With a Stick

[RocketMan]

Peoria, IL

There's some in Peoria, AZ, too.  Killed bunches around my house there.

[Jocassee]

My Dad swore for years that there weren't any black widows in here Oregon.  That was until I took him out into his own garage and showed him some.
They are around if you know where to look, but nowhere near as common as AZ, TX or CO where I've lived in the past.

That has been my experience as well. In SC where it tends to be wet much of the year perhaps they don't do as well. You can still find them if you know where to look, in cool dry spots in or near wood structures, mostly. I just don't stick my hands around stuff I can't see. And I rarely bump into them. Brown recluses, on the other hand, give me more worry because they seem to roam more. I had a buddy get a spider bite on his rear with a small amount of necrosis after sleeping on a mattress in his parents' basement that I figured was caused by a juvenile Brown Recluse. I used to sleep down there some weekends too but we all quit after that. I used to see em a lot growing up but never close enought to scare.

Now when I lived in Cape Town we had rain spiders...I hated those things. Not agressive at all but still poisonous, and scary lookin as can be.

[Regolith]

Now when I lived in Cape Town we had rain spiders...I hated those things. Not agressive at all but still poisonous, and scary lookin as can be.

Never heard of rain spiders, so I looked them up on wikipedia. Turns out they're not actually all that poisonous (their bite is just about as bad as a bee sting). The belief that they are poisonous stems from early guinea pig research, where a guinea pig died within 7 minutes from being bitten. Turns out, it was just literally scared to death. 

Can't blame 'em.

[Physics]

Nom nom nom

[Tallpine]

What was the name of the giant spider in LOTR...?   Shelob 

[Scout26]

Still have a scar on the back on my right hand where a Brown Recluse got me at Ft. Leonard Wood back in the summer of '83.  Fortunately, I saw it happen.  I hiked up my skirt and went running to the Drill Sergeants who drove me back to post (generally exceeding the posted speed limits) and to the post hospital.  The docs dug out a huge chunk of meat, and let me spend the night in the hospital, before they sent me back out to the field. 

[Scout26]

[Doggy Daddy]

AUUUGGGHHHH!!!

WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PLANT THAT THOUGHT!?!      

[41magsnub]

Ahem...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)

[Doggy Daddy]

Ahem...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)

gee, thanks 

[BlueStarLizzard]

That has been my experience as well. In SC where it tends to be wet much of the year perhaps they don't do as well. You can still find them if you know where to look, in cool dry spots in or near wood structures, mostly. I just don't stick my hands around stuff I can't see. And I rarely bump into them. Brown recluses, on the other hand, give me more worry because they seem to roam more. I had a buddy get a spider bite on his rear with a small amount of necrosis after sleeping on a mattress in his parents' basement that I figured was caused by a juvenile Brown Recluse. I used to sleep down there some weekends too but we all quit after that. I used to see em a lot growing up but never close enought to scare.

Now when I lived in Cape Town we had rain spiders...I hated those things. Not agressive at all but still poisonous, and scary lookin as can be.

I saw what I think was a Black Widow once here in VA. It was in my bosses kennel. I killed it with extream predjudice.
We have a lot of spiders in our trailer, but i've never been bit by any and I don't know what they are (other them the daddy long legs) I just kill them.
I'm not as phobic as Mrs. Smith, but I'm not tolerating interlopers unless they plan on paying rent.

[AJ Dual]

gee, thanks 

I wouldn't worry. Those are just those teeny baby spiders you can see floating one strand at a time across a field at sunset or sunrise when the light is right.

So your only REAL risk is inhalation.

Better now? 

 

[MechAg94]

The flying spider thought triggered a thought I have had in the past.  What would be more fearful to you, an invasion of deadly spider that were bigger than people or an invasion of spiders that were dog/cat sized?  My thought was the dog/cat size since they are much harder to see and can hide much easier.   

[Tallpine]

The flying spider thought triggered a thought I have had in the past.  What would be more fearful to you, an invasion of deadly spider that were bigger than people or an invasion of spiders that were dog/cat sized?  My thought was the dog/cat size since they are much harder to see and can hide much easier.   

Gonna need a bigger stick 

[AJ Dual]

The flying spider thought triggered a thought I have had in the past.  What would be more fearful to you, an invasion of deadly spider that were bigger than people or an invasion of spiders that were dog/cat sized?  My thought was the dog/cat size since they are much harder to see and can hide much easier.   

Unfortunately, the era is long gone. I think it was the Devonian period with the ginormous insects and other arthropods? High temperatures, and a higher O2 content than today to support such large exoskeletal creatures on land.

Now I think the Christmas Island coconut crab is about as big as any such articulated exoskeletal creature can now get and still function on modern day Earth.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/coconutcrab.asp

[RoadKingLarry]

Actually they can, sort of.
Some species in a juvenile phase will  spin a web into the air and let the wind carry them. They could be anywhere/everywhere.

[RoadKingLarry]

Ahem...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)

I posted before I saw your's.

[Doggy Daddy]

I wouldn't worry. Those are just those teeny baby spiders you can see floating one strand at a time across a field at sunset or sunrise when the light is right.

So your only REAL risk is inhalation.

Better now? 

 

Dood.

Yer a sick bastige.

I really admire that.

DD

[RoadKingLarry]

Killed another Black Widow this morning.
After the careful study I have given them lately I have determined that the "hourglass" markings are actually a combination of triangles.



This one had already had the "business end" removed.

[Doggy Daddy]

Killed another Black Widow this morning.
After the careful study I have given them lately I have determined that the "hourglass" markings are actually a combination of triangles.



This one had already had the "business end" removed.

Mmmmmm..... blueberries!