Wednesday, 27 August 2008

  • When a Poisonous Spider Visits Your House

    Mama Turtleby Mama Turtle

    I found this inside my front doorway yesterday. Actually, Turtle4 spotted it at first and I almost didn't look because she points out just about every little thing that moves...

    My first thought was "Is that what I think it is?!?!?"  I'd never seen one in person (or in arachnid) before. This was after I carefully swooped it out of the door and onto the porch. That's when I realized it was dying.

    I carefully turned her over to see that sure enough, this was in fact a humongous black widow spider. Didn't think to grab a coin for comparison but her abdomen was about as big as my thumbnail. After that I got her into the grass to die in peace.

    I had seen a local news report several weeks ago about how the black widows were prolific this year due to the weather being dry, but I didn't think we'd actually stumble across one, especially in the house! My fascination for how pretty it was gave way to a mild panic attack: "poisonous spider in house ahhhhhhh!" I've calmed down to the point of well, I'll be more wary about putting my shoes on and keep on top of keeping the house clean (dirty house = more bugs = attracts spiders). I think I'll hop up and vacuum now, LOL.

    What would you do if you found a poisonous animal (spider, snake, etc.) in your home?  Would you kill it, or free it outside?

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Comments (52)

  • mizzshoez@xanga

    where do yo live....just so I know where not to move
  • nimbusthedragon@xanga

    I hate spiders in general... and this would just outright freak me out.
  • ThatOneGirlValerie@xanga

    Instinct would take over and I'd kill it instantly. I'm rather afraid of spiders...especially humongous poisonous ones. Lol if it was big enough I might actually leave the house and call a man friend to find the unwanted guest :P
  • jemaigrirai@xanga

    We've had poisonous arachnids in the house so much- black widows, brown recluses and scorpions, to name the obvious ones.  We just kill them and get on with life.  It's hard to avoid when you live in a desert environment.  They like the cool and shadows of the house.
  • merquryd@xanga

    I think I'd pass out.  I'm seriously afraid of spiders.  I had to close my eyes to scroll past the pictures you posted.
  • Punk_Rock_Mommy@xanga

    I'd kill it.  No questions asked.  My husband found a black widow under a rock in our garden.  He killed it simply because our girls like to collect rocks and we don't need that.  Around here, brown recluses have been biting people.  Those scare the crud out of me!
  • neverdie373@xanga

    I would have killed it.  I'm terrified of spiders (and bug in general) and my mom used to tell stories about her army days when they would find nests of brown recluses in their tents during annual training.
  • mrsengeseth@xanga

    I'd have killed it. I have in the past. We live in the Rocky Mountain Area, and there are those and brown recluses up here.
  • mamaturtle

    @mizzshoez@xanga - Inland North Carolina. Google tells me that black widows can be found anywhere from as far north as MA and as far west as CA, but they're most common in the southern states. As a native NY'er, I'd never seen one before until yesterday.
  • mamabutterfly

    I would kill it. Spiders don't bother me too much, although I personally don't like to kill them because the crunch grosses me out. Snakes are a whole other story - they give me the willies. If I found a snake in my house, I'd leave with the kids and call the hubby. It would freak me out!!
  • SnowFrog@xanga

    If its a bug or spider, its dead either by squishing or some Bug Intended toxic measure. A lizard (yes there are poisonus ones) or snake I would call someone to come remove it properly.

    I hate spiders.

  • HisLadyofVirtue@xanga

    We had ablack widow problem in our house in Arizona.  Like we found SEVERAL near the front door, and we are talking the abdomens were the size of a quarter, but longer, HUGE!  Andf then one day I found about 100 babies on the walls in my entry way.  I just sprayed the heck out of them to kill tham because we had a new born in the house, and it wasn't worth the risk. 


    At that point I realized there was a nest or something and so I got online to see where they live, and it said one place is under rocks!  We had some stones near our front door, and I kept telling my husband that was where they were coming from, but he wouldn't believe me.  Then when my dad came out to visit they were cleaning up the front yard, and sure enough.....A dozen or so of them were under there!
  • queenofcanadia@xanga

    I hate spiders. I've been pretty lucky about not having any poisonous ones in my house, but I would definately kill them if I saw them. Ok, well... I wouldn't kill them -I would have someone else kill them because I really hate spiders - they freak me out. 


    We did have some brown recluse spiders hanging around the place I worked at over the summer. I worked with all guys, though, so they killed them all the time because it freaked me and Emmy out.
  • shards_of_beauty@xanga

    Spiders I kill.  Always.  Even the tiny ones.  I know it's horrible, but there's SO MANY of them where I live that releasing them all would be way too time consuming.  Snakes are too messy to kill inside, so I would catch it, box it up, and call my friend Matt to take care of releasing it or choose to keep it as a pet.
  • mamawhale

    It look so deadly and pretty at the same time.  I don't know what i would do if I come across one of those.  I probably would freak out and run away from it.  Nice pictures by the way.  
  • averyswife@xanga

    Creepy!  I always think of black widows and brown recluses as being tiny spiders, but that was huge!!  Totally would have freaked me out!  I've never come in contact with a poisonous spider before, but even the friendly hairy varieties creep me out.
  • ElizabethDNB@xanga

    We hve had a few in or near our house.  Near I let alone, but even though I am antibug killing if a p. spider is closer than the welcome mat it has to be disposed of.  My daughter disagrees with this and thinks I am a terrible murdered, but calms down a little when I say it might kill the puppy.
  • yetnotI@xanga

    Oh my goodness. My first instinct would have been to kill it, but then my girly-cant-touch-anything-icky side would have kicked in, and I would have called my husband to kill it. He's brave like that. The only drawback is that sometimes he'll bring the dead thing close to me just to freak me out.
  • mamakoala

    @ElizabethDNB@xanga - Haha that last line about how you calm your daughter down is too cute.  It's also true, I think.  I'm sure the spider venom could seriously harm your puppy!

    @mamaturtle - I am also from NY, and have never seen a black widow before.  I have to say, it's probably one of the prettiest looking spiders I've ever seen.  I only see ugly brown ones in our house, and I'm pretty sure they're harmless.  And yet... if I see one, I do kill it.  Just grosses me out, and I hate the spider webs too.
  • MommyInJuly08

    Well I guess it would depend, but if I found a spider like that in my house, I'd kill it, because I would be so freaked out at that point and panicky that my first instinct would be to grab a shoe and kill it.

    lol
  • Amyld@xanga

    Kill it. (I kill all spiders).

  • iknowHimdou@xanga

    Holy cow! That's quite a big black widow! *Shivers*


    I was bitten by a brown recluse spider when I was little. I have a scar that is two inches long and two inches wide from that crazy thing!


    I hate bugs, but if something posionous is in the house, it would have to be killed. I don't have kids, but I do have animals. And I don't want them or me for that matter to get bitten. I live in AZ and black widows are very common as well as scorpions!

  • alemi@xanga

    Our son was bitten by a black widow this summer. It's definitely been a bad year here in the south. He'd left his baseball cleats on the step in the garage, and when he slipped them on, a bw came out from under the flap and bit the top of his foot. By the grace of God, he's now fine ~ only two small scars from the ulcerations where the fangs went in. So, beautiful as they are, they still must die if they get close to my house! Glad you found her before she got one of you!
  • SimplyPynki@xanga

    I'd throw it outside.  Like we do now. Spiders and snakes have important jobs.  I try not to kill them.  
  • buddy71@xanga

    be asured that no matter how clean you think your house is, you will have areas that have bugs and even black widow spiders.


    yes all things have their place, but some can be dangerous to me and my family and pets.  the insect etc. will do what they have to do out of instinct and not because they come out after you.  this year around my palce has been really bad for black widows and for rattle snakes. though i hated to kill them, out of safety i felt i had to as there would be no way to prevent (at least the snakes) from returning and causing possible harm.  but i have taken steps to prevent getting those type of critters that do harm by trying to eliminate the places they would like to live.  so yes, if the possiblity of harm can be caused by them, they have to go.  which usually means killing.    i just hope that they understand.

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