BLACK WIDOWS INVADE!

[SantaFePrax]

Hullo folks,
Overnight any path I have not used for a day is criss-crossed with Black Widow webs--as well as my sacks of compost, etc. Any way to discourage this invasion? Our ER services are so poor here, don't know if they can even treat such a bite!

[rainbowgardener]

Wow!

Here's a fact sheet on black widows and their control:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061A.html

I'm a big believer in organic gardening and not poisoning the environment, but I believe an invasion of black widows is one time when I would make an exception and call in the exterminator with the insecticide. Those are dangerous little beasties!

[hendi_alex]

My yard has always been litterally filled with black widows. I spend time during the spring and summer doing search and destroy, with a stick, but that just thins the herd a bit. Thankfully they only show occassional interest in the house area. The best control stems from removing their habitat. Most of the black widows here in the east are reclusive and generally will nest only in any dark recessed areas. That trait has given rise to one of my more effective black widow controls. I simply place a few one gallon nursery pots around the yard, and in a day or two, usually a black widow has move in, and meets her end from the end of a stick. If you clean up any piles of debris or of stored piles of lumber, logs, or other piles or stacks that provide their favorite nesting sites, keep heavy weed spots cut relatively short, and be careful how and what you store in out buildings, and the black widow density will stay fairly low. One nice thing is that the spiders are quite reclusive and usually not aggressive. On the other hand, like all cold blooded spiders and insects, they get very agitated in weather over about 90 degrees, and during those times will run out and and attack faster than you would imagine possible. Be aware of their irregular web shape with its high luster, and squish both the spider and her egg sacks, any time they are found in an area of concern. Black widows are resistant to most long term house hold sprays so best to focus on habitat removal and mechanically killing the individual spiders. Good luck in co-existing with these creepy and somewhat dangerous spiders.

[SantaFePrax]

Thank you Rainbow Gardener and Green Thumb!

I was somewhat comforted by the sheet indicating that only 1% of those bitten actually die! I already have EI (Environmental Illness--sensitivity to petrochemicals, chemical scents in products)--so cannot risk pesticides.

I have also had these scraggly webs inside--and was shocked that if I just don't close the bathroom door for a few days--there's a web on it! Just killed a huge one in the kitchen, too.

The description of getting planters set up fits perfectly as that is one place where I spotted a widow--where my mulch is stacked and some planters are stored. So will carefully clear those spots more and keep an eye out. Sigh. Won't walk around in the dark that's for sure <grin>!

[a0c8c]

I haven't noticed Widows, but I carry a stick when I walk along our house at night. We have spiders than span the 4 foot path between bushes and trees. I have noticed, once I knock down the webs a couple times, they move somewhere else. And if you keep your house insect free(flying insects like flies and gnats) they'll have no reason to stay inside.

[nes]

Locally there was an older woman parallelized by a black widow bite just a few weeks ago, she was out working in her garden.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1891684

I heartily welcome our daddy long legs & a few other varieties of smaller spiders in our home (especially during August, a.k.a. fly season) however, if their bodies are larger then a loonie they get stomped!

[Kisal]

Reasons to wear gloves when you garden!

[Decado]

I am so glad I live in Minnesota, I don't think I'd be able to handle having black widows everywhere. *shudder*

[Sage Hermit]

Wow! Last year I found a black widow and embraced it as my pet. I had a lizard home made from rock and I put the widow in the rock. I put the ends of carrots and what not in the cave and misted it. They are very docile creatues to me. Do they even live in MN maybe it was just a black spider with a hourglass in red on its back. nope it sure was a widow I aint afraid of bugs.

[rainbowgardener]

Black widow spiders (I grew up with them in Southern California) have the hourglass marking on their abdomen, not their back. They don't eat vegetables, they suck the juices out of other insects and spiders. I think they can be found throughout the contiguous US, but they are much more common in warmer climates and MN would be at the way northern edge of their range. I have never seen one since I moved here to Ohio.

[Sage Hermit]

Thanks, I remember them living in AZ. I must have kept a black widow mimic spider. OH has Wolf Spiders 25x bigger.

[Turk]

I found a HUGE widow in an old yard can the other day. She was big, healthy and beautiful and I had to kill her. I have a 1 year old lab that hangs in the yard. I cannot knowingly allow a venomous critter to live in the same space as my family and pup. I know others are out there, but if you see them, I recommend taking them out. I am all for house spiders and other helpful and harmless critters but I draw the line at venomous.

I definitely recommend calling a professional exterminator for these little guys. Nasty business having them around.

[Sage Hermit]

arachnophobia was a good movie. I draw the line at rare amazonian killer spiders. black widows are not in any way killers for Pete's sake they are just venomous and so are bees.

[syntheticbutterfly]

I know someone who got bitten by a black widow that hid in her shoe, though she didn't die, she was very poorly and nearly lost part of her leg. Be very careful x

[gixxerific]

I know someone who got bitten by a black widow that hid in her shoe, though she didn't die, she was very poorly and nearly lost part of her leg. Be very careful x

Good point Black Widows like warm moist spots like shoes, so keep and eye out for that.

I'm glad we don't have to deal with them around here, though there are a ton of spiders around my house mostly wolf spiders big enough but not so dangerous.