Black widow spiders. I hate 'em. We have them at our new house and lots of them. They breed in the Ivy patch (which we're ripping out this weekend) among the moving related trash that has accumulated on the side of our house (being hauled away tomorrow) and as if that wasn't bad enough, I found one in the closet under the stairs in the house two days ago. In. My. House.
While finding a black widow spider under the stairs sounds appropriately cute and spooky around Halloween, I am not amused. In fact, I'm feeling downright psychotic over this. Like, real, palpable anxiety over it. I hallucinate seeing them. When I walk in a room I look in every corner. When I pick something up off the floor I shake it. I'm afraid to unpack boxes that have been sitting in the garage because I'm certain a widow is hiding in it. In fact, I don't like to even go in the garage. Or in the yard. If I see another one in the house we'll have no choice. We'll have to burn the house down.
Do I sound crazy? I do, don't I. I can't have arachnophobia if I only fear black widows, can I? Other spiders are downright cuddly compared to these poisonous widow bitches. I just fear the widows.
Yes, I know they aren't trying to hurt me. They are solitary, non-aggressive and don't move around much. Only the adult females are poisonous. Yes, a single bite from one can kill a person but yes I know that nobody has died from a bite in the US for 10 years. However, I also know this is because when people have symptoms after being bitten they go to the hospital. I don't wanna go to the hospital or bring my kids to the hospital because we dared to play in the yard!
We've always been a "catch the spider/bug in a glass and carry it outside" family but not when it comes to these suckers. These get the boot. As in smashed with a boot. I know, I know, I should love all nature's creatures and she is poisonous because she is just trying to protect her young. But so am I. The widows gotta go, they aren't welcome here!
I think my intense reaction over this spider thing is a combo of new house (unfamiliar territory), new baby (hello hormones!) and having two young kids (mama bear protection). Ugh, I hate them. I hate everything about them. The red hourglass on their belly says, "count the seconds you have before you die after I bite you". Their bulbous butt and their pointy sharp legs and their blackest of black color. Damn, everything about them is scary. Oy. I hate them.
My son pronounces "spiders" as "biters". Enough said.
PS - if anyone leaves a comment about how much they love black widow spiders I will likely wind up visualizing you as one giant black widow spider and I'll fear/hate you too. Cuz I'm crazy like that.
We don't really have black widows where I live, but there are rare reports of sightings. This, alone, is enough to convince me that every spider I see is a black widow and therefore deadly. You will get no judgment from me, I would squash one of those in a heartbeat. Not near my babies, you spider!
Posted by: AmberS | October 30, 2009 at 12:23 PM
I thought it was just me...but I could be hormonal, too.
Posted by: cindy | October 30, 2009 at 02:37 PM
You poor dear! I don't envy you this situation -- I would be just as freaked out as you are right now.
Hopefully the ivy and trash removal will cut down on the evil visitors... good luck!
Posted by: kelly | October 30, 2009 at 02:46 PM
I'm with you girlfriend! I think ridding your yard of the ivy will be a big help. Or, you can call these 'planet friendly' guys:
http://www.royalpest.com/black-widow-spiders.html
Posted by: shawn | October 30, 2009 at 09:05 PM
Gross! I feel for you....I would burn the house down too! I hope this problem resolves itself in a hurry...
Posted by: Katie | October 31, 2009 at 06:38 AM
YIKES! I am soooooo with you on this one. I would really freak out if I saw a black widow spider "hanging out" in or around my house. I live in OHio at the moment, don't have them here; but we are moving to Georgia in the summer and I am worried that they have them there. not good!
Good luck!
lisa
Posted by: 5orangepotatoes | October 31, 2009 at 09:52 AM
My organic exterminator sprays the outside of the house with soybean oil (look it up, it's a registered pesticide). It kills everything, but has no residual effect so you'd need to do it every month to interrupt their breeding cycles.
Posted by: Kim S. | October 31, 2009 at 01:00 PM
my husband had one crawling on his neck about a month or so ago...we were sitting in bed and he started slapping at his neck. he couldn't really see it, as it was dark and he just thought it was some kind of weird beetle. the next day, i found it dead, hanging to the side of the bed, a female. :(
scary stuff. if it had bitten gracie, she would've died for sure. i have never before seen one in our house so the next day, the house was torn apart and deeply cleaned...every piece of furniture moved and everything organized. i don't blame you one bit!
Posted by: Jenn | October 31, 2009 at 05:46 PM
Oh I hate those things. All spiders, actually.
Posted by: Wendy | November 01, 2009 at 11:48 AM
I could barely even look at the pics- I have a distinct spider scream that hubby has finally learned to recognize after 8 years of marriage and come to my rescue! For us it is mostly brown recluses! But then again I can't handle most spiders. One night a huge one when crawling right by my foot when I was at the saw talk about near disaster! Best of luck- I say rip out that Ivy!
Posted by: mamaroots | November 02, 2009 at 04:15 PM
For 5Potatoes...I live in rural GA just outside of Atlanta, and I can attest that I've never seen a black widow in the past 5 years I've lived here. That's not to say they aren't out there lurking, but they're certainly not in every corner, so I hope that takes some anxiety out of you move!
As for irrational reactions to black widow - wanting to squash their bulbous butts into oblivion doesn't seem irrational at all!
Posted by: Mandy T. | November 03, 2009 at 08:33 AM