Photo is from UC IPM website (see link below)
2 today, 1 the other day. They’re everywhere right now. When I see them, I screech, do a little dance and run for the can of Spider Killer. Wonder if anybody makes an organic Black Widow spray. I let nearly everything live in my garden. Except Black Widows.
Venom from its bite can cause reactions ranging from mild to painful and serious, but death is very unlikely and many symptoms can be alleviated if medical treatment is obtained. Anyone bitten by this spider should remain calm and promptly seek medical advice; it is helpful if the offending spider can be caught and saved for identification.
I don’t know… I think they’re dancing around the whole death issue…
yes, they do look very creepy. I love your blog, as well as the pictures. Come check out my photos anytime. (:
Great photo Angela! My organic BW killer is me in gloves…or a digger that I sometimes smash them with…I’ve seen too many crawl off after being sprayed…and I’ve got a lot here now too…kill one or two almost every day. But if we get them now there will be fewer of those lovely egg sacs!
Scary.
I find their very tough webs more disconcerting than the spiders themselves. Bazillions of them around here. Better than ticks!
Hey Angela – we use the Victor Poison Free Wasp & Hornet spray on the BW’s – they don’t die instantaneously like with those poisonous sprays, but I soak ’em good for a few seconds and that’s about all they need.
I go through lots of cans of this stuff each summer because I go “hunting” at night for them around the outside of my house (stucco). They love to hang at the bottom of it. I know OSH’s carry it too.
Great idea, Katie. I think I’ve used the Victor stuff on BWs in the past. Will see if I have any left. If not, off to Emigh Hardware I go.
My step-dad said I shouldn’t kill Black Widows. He basically said they are not aggressive. That’s fine and dandy, but neither was I aggressive when I placed my bare hand on the lip of a flower pot I wanted to move only to see a big-ass BW crawling around. Maybe it wouldn’t enjoy injecting me with its potentially deadly venom, but it still might do it.
I always thought I was terribly afraid of spiders, but turning into an organic gardener I’ve realized I actually like spiders, appreciate them, and think some are even *gasp* cute.
But now I know that I just can’t stand black widows. They do eat the rolie polies, but I can’t live with black widows. It’s one of the only things I eradicate.
Argh, I hate those black widows! We’ve got tons right now too and just had Clark pest control start coming out and spraying for them when I found a million in the rocks in our front yard. With three kids under 4, they scare the heck out of me!
I saw a HUGE one in our garage a few days ago…probably the size of a quarter. I almost passed out. Then I sprayed the heck out of it.
I am with the squisher on this one. I think you should be way more afraid of the spray. The black widow probably won’t get you but the poison will. Way too much poison floating around out there already. If I had a major infestation (and who hasn’t in Sacramento really!) then I might go with the pest control people for a bit. Especially if I had kids. When I was a kid it was my job to pick the tomato worms off and squish em. Then it was my job to pick the blackberries… (I digress into self pity here.) I have heard that the Harvesters actually kill the Black Widows. So I let them hang out alot more and I have no Black Widows now… that I have seen. Coincidence? Or spider conspiracy? Thanks for the great blog.
I just killed my sixth BW in two weeks, plus three egg sacs. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
They really freak me out, especially how they’ll charge you. Yuck. I usually love spiders, they eat all sorts of great creepy crawly plant eatting nasties, but I can’t deal with the BW. I’ll check out the Victor stuff. If anyone else has ideas beyond weight management (squishing), please let me know!!
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