black widow spiders, should i kill them?

I have found over a dozen around the house this year and I do kill them by squashing. I also have dozens of spiders that are welcome around the house that I do not kill. I enjoy them making their webs every evening and watching them grow bigger every week until they go away when it gets too cold.

hm..since we have a few folks here that seem to know spiders...what's this guy? gal?

Sorry to you who catch and release. But we have those wolf spiders that come in the house especially when it gets cold outside. I don't have time to get out the vaccum or other and they can run really fast! So I grab my spray can of Raid that I keep handly. If I see one outside I also kill it with Raid. Because if I don't, I will see it in my house later! They scare me and I don't like them!!!!

Quoimerrie - Your spider looks like a Cross Orbweaver - Araneus diadematus.

FYI - Spiders can crawl on you and they will not even bite you, unless they feel threatened - like hitting at them, or laying on them, or roughing them up, etc... You are not their food prey, and to bite you is to waste their venom. At that point they are simply trying to survive. And all spiders are strictly insectivores - they eat insects (and some eat other spiders). That makes them good guys in gardening terms. So I leave them alone (or observe them, which is even more interesting) except for poisonous spiders. I do kill brown recluses and black widows (neither of which I have seen where I live now, fortunately), and that is because their bite could be very stressful, or downright dangerous if I accidentally riled one up.

I realize that some people are terrified of spiders - arachnophobia - and I feel sorry for them. But for those who can reason about their fears, I hope this information will help you get past that fear - they really are fascinating creatures if you'll just take the time to learn more about them.

As a spider enthusiest (I actually keep and breed several varieties of tarantulas) spiders are safe here. Spiders inside are always relocated outside. Spiders outside are left alone unless they are Widows on the childrens things. Widows on the kids stuff are relocated to other suitable areas. Everyone in the house knows a widow web on site. They are distinctive even from other tangled web weavers. One summer we watched a female find a mate, make her sack and raise her abies about 2' over from our front door. We never did see any inside and theyy have never takn over here. I guess the populations are kept in check naturally.

I only recently got bit by a recluse while cleaning out from under my daughters bed. I had read that only 20% of the population has severe flesh necrotizing reactions. I cleaned the bite area with hydrogen peroxcide, washed it with neem soap and then kept tea tree oil on it. It hasn't even been a week and it is healing well.

I guess I just feel that the benefits of my spider friends outweigh the risks.

Having seen what those bites can do to that 20% of the population, I am not willing to take that risk, especially with children.

My personal feelings: The only good spider is a dead spider! Me and Garfield, Yo baby, splat.

You and Garfield have more in common than just spiders, Jim....grin. Big howdy to ya. Moon

Howdy Moon, Only reason I buy a paper is to see what Garfield is up to. Surprise, surprise, the sun is out for the first time in 23 days. Now if this 20 plus inchs of rain will just run off. Better move to higher ground Moon it is coming your way. Jim

I hear ya Jim. Been raining so much here the toes are starting to web....grin. Sure does make it hard on the farmers....lots of them are losing crops to the rain....first a drought and then a flood....hooboy... Best regards to your Rose, grin.

I've got a baby and a toddler so any widow are dead on the spot. Sorry, girls. I try to keep hiding places to a minimum.

Thanks ceejaytown!

You're very welcome.

For some reason we've had an influx of spiders since i posted to this thread this yesterday! Wierd. Found a wolf spider in the kitchen sink and a "garden spider" in the inside of the bedroom window. They never come inside! Ah there's an a ant on me. I'd better get out of this thread!

This has been a fun thread. My family ran a pest control company for 50 years. To us, spiders meant food on the table. I LOVE spiders! Here is another orb spider that has been living in the side yard this summer:

I knew I'd seen that spider before! Hello again, cathy. For everyone else - that's a Neoscona crucifera - Cross Spider, one of the orb weavers.

Hey ceejay, good to see you again. I'm just loving my spider picture, even with his missing leg. My grandkids live with us now, and it is so fun to be a kid again, to play with bugs and worms and take pictures of cool spiders and webs. Everything is new and exciting!

That's the best way to stay young! You sound like a wonderful grandma. The grandkids are lucky.

I doubt it's an influx. As a general rule... when you start to learn about spiders or insects you start to notice them more often. I took an entomology class and hardly noticed anything near our house and then bam... our yard was a jungle full of creatures.

Leysha - I agree completely!

I also worked for an Insect and Butterfly Pavillion so you are taught to watch out for jail breaks. ;)

I wouldn't think that's accurate. My mom has been living on three acres filled with eucalyptus trees for about 10 years and I've never seen a bigger concentration of black widows anywhere. In the winter time you can pull off bark from a tree and usually find at least one or two curled up in little black widow balls.

And frankly, the trees can be a pain in the butt. They grow rapidly, multiply like jackrabbits, and can be hard to eradicate. Planting near the house may also cause problems from the tree roots. We have a septic system and the roots have reached out 50 or so feet on some of the taller trees, clogging up the leech field and causing the system to backup and not drain properly.

I would just stick to Brit's suggestion of using mint instead.




This message was edited Oct 26, 2010 9:29 PM

This message was edited Oct 26, 2010 9:30 PM

I would kill them since they are highly poisonous, and before they innvade your home.

This spider was found on the 2nd floor, near the staircase, last night....

I almost had a heat attack...omg this is sooo soo gross!!! Does it bite?? Is it poisonous?? my dad picked it up in a net and threw it outside..... do you think it'll come back??

Is this a male or a female??

It is a wolf spider, nothing to freak about.

If it's got more than 2 legs, is within 2 feet of me it gets smushed. I'm terrified I will swallow it while sleeping.

LOL! Those wolf spiders usually live outside in the grass during the growing season, and for the winter, they like to come inside and hide out till spring. I usually saw them in my garage, and kept the weatherstripping around my doors in good shape so that I didn't find them in the house. Those black and white jumping spiders lived in my plant room and they were enough to deal with.

I think spiders are wonderful creatures. I enjoy watching them build webs and wrapping the things they catch in their webs in silk for eating after the insides of their prey catch liquify. Black widows and their fuzzy webs I just move them to the forest out back.