Okay, whose bright idea was it for us to move out to a place with a little bit of land? Wait. It was me! I suppose I cannot blame Dan as much as I want to blame someone! I have only myself to blame. I am totally sick and tired of seeing these critters:
Black Widow Spider; 5/23/2013
{To see a larger image, go here.}
These keep popping up from time to time. On last Saturday alone (6/29/2013), we killed four of them. Yes, you read that right. Four of them.
I killed a small one while pulling up weeds. (#1) Dan killed another one (#2) that I spotted while weeding; but, was too scared to deal with it because it was huge and not quite within my reach. (When this particular one was killed, we spotted a much smaller one on the same web that was approximately two inches away from the bigger one we killed. I believe it was a male. That spider is deader than dead too. )
We had someone come out later that day to help with a water leak in the irrigation system. We do not even use the system and we thought we shut it off entirely several weeks ago because the system sprang a major leak. But, it turns out that it was not shut off entirely. Anyway, When Dan showed me the problem (leak) that was happening, I spied and pointed out some black widow eggs and told him to be extremely careful because there probably is a black widow nearby. I do not know if the guys took care of that one; but, I do know the hired guy confirmed the existence of a black widow residing there or nearby. And then, while they were walking back to the guy’s vehicle, they spotted another one near a water spigot. Dan killed that one too. (#3).
The last one was a stupid one that I spotted while looking out the back door window late in the evening. It was on the porch column. I could not believe my eyes. I asked Dan if he saw what I saw. I believe he was shocked too. He went out there and killed it for me. (#4).
I am learning to deal with them and am not so freaking out about their existence now. I am pretty much a paranoid girl anyways – I wear my waterproof and snake-proof boots along with jeans and leather gloves whenever I am outside wandering or doing yardwork. I also tend to wear a lightweight long sleeved shirt with a floppy hat for protection from both critters and the sun.
By the way, I know snakes exist hereabouts even though I have never seen one on our property which is why I have a pair of snake-proof boots. I am glad these kind of boots exist because I would never hear a warning rattle due to deafness. Anyway, how do I know snakes exist? Here’s the evidence that was taken with my pathetic phone: {Warning, it’s a nasty picture)
I have never seen a Black Widow spider in real life but have always been warned about them as a child. I would FREAK OUT if I saw one. It's true I see, about the red hour glass!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we only have small harmless spiders here!
ReplyDeleteOh man...I don't get upset about many creepy crawlies, but I do not like Black widows *at all*!!! Great capture, but...eeeewwwwwww...
ReplyDeleteSnakes and spiders are helpful and eat critters you would hate having in your house even more, including ones that carry lists of disease. FYI moth balls around the base of house or porch will repel most snakes. The black widows? Well...we battle them, but the brown recluse more... we do kill those cause there's no repellant I know of!
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty scary that you have seen so many in such a short amount of time.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention 'snake boots'. We just met someone who had some of those, and now Bud is thinking of getting some. He killed two snakes at our property. Though we don't think they were poisonous, our neighbors just recently killed a copperhead and have also seen rattlesnakes, and they are just down the road.