When the kids came barreling into the house exclaiming they had seen a Black Widow spider in the back yard, I didn't think much of it. After all, they think
every spider is a Black Widow, just like
every snake is a rattle snake. So I casually grabbed a paper towel and made my way through the crowd of excited, jumping kids. Just as I suspected...it was
just a spider, although bigger than I expected, but definitely not as big as a Black Widow (based on my extensive experience of having seen
one in my entire life). It's legs were banded brown and black and it didn't put up much of a fight. I have to admit, however, that after reassuring the kids that is wasn't a Black Widow I was curious about the small orange mark on its belly.
It wasn't more than three minutes later that the kids came running inside once again expressing the same anxious energy and claiming that they had found another Black Widow. And in the same calm and casual response, I grabbed a paper towel and headed for the back yard, once again reassuring them that it wasn't a Black Widow. And there it was...
a text book female Black Widow. About the size of a half dollar, black as night with a bright red hour-glass mark dangling from the kids' play structure. No question about this one. Since it wasn't immediately moving I fetched my camera to take a picture of the
second Black Widow I've ever seen and started snapping photos but then...it started moving. I quickly ushered the kids inside while I doused the spider in bug spray. In case you were wondering (or don't know first hand), these spiders
do not die easily. It takes a steady stream of direct poison for at least a minute (granted, it was ant and roach spray) to get it to succumb to the effects. At that moment I remembered that days before I had noticed this exact web in the yard because it appeared 3-dimensional, attached to several different objects with no rhyme or reason. Not a typical spider web, which I found interesting at the time...but terrifying now that I know that is a tell-tale Black Widow web.
After the Black Widow ordeal I explained to the kids that they needed to steer clear of the area and decided to check for additional webs for good measure.
Come to find out, a wooden play structure is an ideal home for Black Widows with the numerous tight corners and objects from which to hang. I found another 5 or 6 female spiders, their webs and their
EGG SACS.
And the original one I found and dismissed as a regular spider? After looking it up, I discovered
that it's not uncommon for
Black Widows to have brown bands on their legs. Here is one of the ones I found...
After a
small panic attack and a
severe case of the heebee-geebees, the play structure was off limits for playing and swinging.
But by the next morning I had discovered another more disturbing habitat for these very creepy, cannibalistic creatures...the picnic bench on our patio. The one where the kids often sit outside to eat...where I wouldn't think twice about sitting on the bench with my legs under the table...that was just feet from the back door to the house that is propped open more often than not. Yes another 3-4 female spiders, their webs and their
EGG SACS.
Thankfully, the exterminator was able to come the next morning and thoroughly spray the yard. In the mean time, I gathered up all the sticky webs I could and squished the egg sacs I found. After a week of daily web checks, I think we have put an end to (or at least greatly impeded) the life cycle of the Black Widow at our house. And I can officially say I've seen
more than a lifetime's worth of Black Widows. After a week of nightmares about Black Widows and having to limit my research on the computer (the more I learn about them, the creepier they are- did you you know that the baby spiders eat each other when they hatch?), I am working up to sitting comfortably at a table once again without feeling the need to check under it first and putting on shoes without violently shaking them first. Anyone else feeling a little itchy???
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