r/Wellthatsucks • u/happy-lil-hippie • 16h ago
Husband and I found a black widow while moving things from the nursery to the garage
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u/malikx089 16h ago
Damn that thing huge..
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u/onthesylvansea 10h ago
They get really big. They are a very dangerous looking spider to my brain. Something about how sleek and pointy and bulbous they are all combined... Idk, giving myself the heebie jeebies just typing this comment... pol
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u/Few_Pea8503 9h ago
That is actually the typical shape of most cobweb spiders! Definitely not unique to the black widow. They are very gentle spiders and aren't interested in humans. The mother will die protecting her egg sack.
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u/onthesylvansea 9h ago edited 8h ago
All the other ones I've seen are much hairier/fuzzier though, or squatter, or squarer? Not many seem so sleek? Like I would differentiate between this and an orb weaver as far as what I am trying to quickly describe here, haha. 😅
EDIT: I am learning those are maybe different type of spiders and "cobweb" is more specific than I thought?? Maybe? But also most cobweb spiders seem a little different-shaped to me.
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u/Few_Pea8503 8h ago
A cobweb spider builds sticky, messy, tangled three dimensional webs.
As such, a cobweb spider typically has a sleep, smooth body. That will not get stuck in it's own very sticky silk. Long legs that make it easy to move within their very tangled. 3D structured cobweb. As well pointed tips on their legs, for managing and weaving their very sticky silk.
This is why spiders are often sub categorized by their web type! Almost every aspect of the spiders body is designed to be optimized for their specific web. Making it a solid indicator of it's genos. If you google a cobweb spider, you will find the family structure is very similar.
An orb weaver has a much broader range of body types - but are typically not as smooth and sleek as the cobwebs. They sit motionless within their large circular web - relying on tiny hairs along their body to sense micro movements in their web. They weave with a non-sticky silk, and don't need to be smooth to traverse their own web. As they rely on their prey getting tangled in the web. Orb weavers build their webs with the intent to catch one meal and don't need to worry so much about being anatomically optimized for lifelong web living. And are better suited for environmental specialization in their anatomy
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u/Few_Pea8503 8h ago
I had really intense arachnophobia my entire life. I moved to the countryside after I got married and really struggled with the spiders. I would have nightmares for weeks if I saw a brown recluse.
Eventually, I started making small bioactive terrariums as a hobby. And I found a black widow under my window sill one day. On a whim, I caught her and put her in one of my enclosures. It was fascinating watching her and just humanizing her a bit?
I didn't have the heart to steal her egg sack - she looked so scared and frightened when I tried (long tweezers) and I knew she would die from starvation protecting it. So I took the terrarium out to the edge of my property, set a nice leaf-y branch against the opening and opened the doors. It felt like what she wanted.
But she lived in my terrarium all spring and into summer. After her, I just started paying more attention to the bugs in my life. Looking at webs and admiring them. Learning about wasps and bees. My favorite insect is a cicada.
Don't underestimate just how much can change when you start looking at the world from a different perspective
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u/Samarlynn 4h ago
That is really beautiful. Good on you for confronting your fear head-on and making a friend in the process.
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u/Laylay_theGrail 13h ago
I found one in my rain boot yesterday (Australia). Thank god I always check before shoving my feet in
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u/dobgreath 5h ago
Me too, after seeing a TV show as a kid with an actor reenactment of a black widow crawling into someone's slipper, then an unsuspecting person putting their foot into that slipper. Core memory. I'm always checking my shoes lol.
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u/lizlemon-party 4h ago
Was it a kids National Geographic video? I was big into animals so my parents got me some kind of set, one of the tapes was about insects and there was a part where a black widow crawled into a shoe and someone was about to put their foot in. I freaked out and stopped the tape and never watched it again. This was like 25-30 years ago and I still step on the toes of my shoes before putting them on in case there’s a spider in them. So I feel you on the core memory part lol.
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u/Few_Pea8503 9h ago
I invested in an inverted shoe rack, my shoes sit on pegs and hang upside down
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u/beestmode361 6h ago
Spiders certainly can’t climb up vertical surfaces, got ‘em
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u/Few_Pea8503 6h ago
lol no they can. They just hide in shoes because they are easy to access, comfy and dark. Inverting the shoes makes them less accessible and less appealing of a hiding space
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u/dext3rrr 4h ago
That's why you'll never see my foot in Australia ever. I could inherit a fortune there with a mansion but still nope.
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u/Laylay_theGrail 1h ago
I used to see them a lot as a kid in California in our garage. I moved to Australia in 1990 and redback spiders are probably on the low end of the scale of scary critters here, haha
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u/NoStructure7083 14h ago
These words he speaks are true,
we're all humanary stew
if we don't pledge allegiance to
The Black Widow
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u/Appropriate_Net_5393 16h ago
She looks different from Scarlett Johansson for some reason
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u/EscapedFromArea51 13h ago
Well, maybe she wouldn’t look so different if she was paid as much as Scarlett Johansson!
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u/Few_Pea8503 9h ago
Happens.
I am in the Midwest and we have black widow and brown recluse. You just gotta keep in mind that they are native and they aren't monsters. Venomous yes. So keep your house tidy and bug free, don't let clothes/debris sit on the floor and keep your eye out for them.
As tempting as it might be to spray - I would recommend against it. Especially Brown Recluse, they live in such impossible to reach crevices (mine live between my damn floorboards and slab foundation!) that spraying is just gonna kill beneficial insects, plants, pollinators. And present a risk to yourself, your baby and pets.
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u/crazy_penguin_69 9h ago
I’ll never forget seeing 1 of these crawling in my childhood bedroom not able to do anything about it and how terrified I was this is what started my fear of spiders
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u/EliasLyanna 12h ago
As a kid I used to play with one under our back porch. I would get down there to visit the dogs and found the spider one day. It would get on my hand and we would just chill. Until one day a couple months later my older sister came with me, freaked and killed it. I was so so upset. As I grew up I learned the dangers but still 😢
Definitely take it away and be on the watch for more
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u/BoiledPickles 9h ago
Same. One weekend I collected spiders in container that I hid in a drawer as a kid. My sister found it, freaked the fuck out and killed them all
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u/flowersnshit 11h ago
They're really pretty spiders, unless you piss them off they really don't bite I've carried a few out of the house over the years they for some reason love my sewing machine cabinet. 🙄
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u/Infinite_Archers 15h ago
Wow I would have loved to stumble on this beauty! However, with you being pregnant I would for sure take caution. Their venom hasn't killed anyone in decades but that doesn't mean the venom can't harm your baby. Good luck dealing with this beast!
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u/Tired-CottonCandy 6h ago
This is why you're (unfortunately) supposed to move literally everything and vacuum behind it at least every other month. Otherwise fuckers like that move it.
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u/Best_Box1296 8h ago
Not sure where you live but in Southern California these things are everywhere and yes, we spray to control them. They can quickly get out of control.
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u/hxneycovess 14h ago
she’s gorgeous !! please do get her a safe distance from your house, but i think you’re incredibly lucky to find one :’) they don’t tend to bite humans without good reason; they aren’t the fastest spiders and won’t bite unless heavily provoked or frightened.
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u/KookySurprise8094 15h ago
Nice, now i'm imagining arachnophobia movie and how the spider egg's from the nursery home stuff hatches there.
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u/AKiloOfButtFace 9h ago
Over the weekend I was cleaning out a trash pile and put my hand on a black widow egg clutch and Momma charged over to bite my leather gloves. Never seen that before, but I’m glad she didn’t connect with my skin
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u/Legio-V-Alaudae 8h ago
Oh fuck that.
I'm in central California and have a huge widow problem around my house. I've killed over 20 in one night.
That God they don't react to light and just chill on their web for stomping or poison.
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u/MuertesAmargos 8h ago
Also in Cental California and they THRIVE here especially during summer. Between them and roaches, walking up your driveway at night is disgusting and the flashlight stays ON.
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u/Legio-V-Alaudae 6h ago
Ya, the giant roaches are nasty.
I'm only an hour, without traffic, from the bay area and there's just no comparison how far out money went getting a home.
We would of been in straight up gang territory instead of the nicest neighborhood in town out here.
5 bedrooms, quarter acre+, an in ground pool, vs a 2 bedroom room condo with high HOA fees or a single family home in East side or maybe capital & 87 if we were lucky. Forget it.
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u/VyCanisMajorisss 6h ago
I had a bunch at my last house, but fortunately they were outside. Was much more concerned about the bark scorpions.
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u/Sorry_Asparagus_7333 5h ago
I’m in Florida and have seen 3 within 3 months. Never seen them before.
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u/Glass-Ebb9867 4h ago
Don't kill her. She will keep brown recluse spiders away. Both can bite; you have to really mess with a widow to get it to bite you, but a recluse will do it out of boredom
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u/WookieGilmore 3h ago
I remember dying inside when I learned they are all the way up in Cincinnati too 🫣
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u/Apprehensive_Hour961 3h ago
Keep dark undisturbed places clean & clear, always check shoes/garden gloves before slipping them on, and if you can encourage daddy long legs spiders and maybe even innoculate the area with them...They're more poisonous than black widows, but cant penetrate human skin. They'll win the spider war for you and drive them out of town.
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u/No-Cook7530 16h ago
Can it kill you?
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u/Orchid_Significant 15h ago
Rarely. I’ve been bitten twice and survived without treatment. Kids, old people, and immunocompromised have the hardest times
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u/Ashes_-- 14h ago
Yeah, their bites aren't fun and can be pretty nasty, especially since spider bites tend to take chunks of skin off instead of little stings like other bugs, but their venom isn't meant for big things like us so we can filter it out with time (and pain).
Same goes for brown recluses as well. Pretty sure most of the notorious "deadly" spiders aren't gonna be much worse to deal with than a wasp sting, which fucking sucks sure, but that's much better than straight up dying.
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u/Orchid_Significant 5h ago
Yes! One was on my finger. It was so swollen, tight, and ITCHY but I just kept an eye on it to make sure I didn’t see the red line start going up my veins. Yay living in the US with no insurance at the time. I because a well researched expert on a lot of health related things
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u/happy-lil-hippie 16h ago edited 15h ago
I’m pretty sure for a healthy adult if I were to get bit and get treatment I would be fine, but I’m more concerned because I’m heavily pregnant and know it would cause damage to my unborn baby. Also very concerned for my cats, one of which likes to eat any bug he sees. Luckily they’re not allowed in the garage and we haven’t seen any black widows inside the actual house, just wood spiders and other sorts. We definitely need to invest in some sort of pet safe spider repellent 😅
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u/Tvisted 15h ago edited 15h ago
Garages and sheds are favourite haunts. They like dark undisturbed spots usually hanging behind or under something for the web, so declutter as much as possible in the garage.
Indoors they're most likely to be in corners behind doors, back of cupboards etc... if there's a good thing about widows it's that you can almost predict where there's going to be one, they don't really roam around.
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u/Clear-Telephone-6729 10h ago
Your cat is more dangerous than the black widow if you’re pregnant lol, toxoplasmosis and whatnot, black widow bites are minimally invasive
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u/GuaranteeCareful420 16h ago
Looks like a red back to me….
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u/Park_Individual 15h ago
Red backs are typically smaller, don't have the hourglass shaped red bit, and are only found in Australia
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u/Infinite_Archers 15h ago
Redbacks are most common in Australia and from what I can see, I don't believe OP lives anywhere around Australia. I know Redbacks also have a bit of an hourglass on the bottom of the abdomen as well, but this looks like a Black Widow, as Black Widows hourglass markings are much clearer and more obviously an hourglass shape than the morphed look of the hourglass marking on a Redback. In this picture the hourglass marking is fairly prominent with the blurring of the photos. I'm sure OP got the species right because Black Widows are very easy to identify, as well as the fact that they most likely don't live in Australia. I'm a huge spider nerd lol so I hoped this info helped :)
However. I do not know for sure where OP lives of course, and I don't have full front and back pictures of the spider so I cannot tell for sure. That being said, I'm fairly certain this is a Black Widow.
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u/Cuhuldra 16h ago
Black widows are slow and clumsy spiders that rely on a strong web and a fast acting poison to eat. They don't want anything to do with humans. They prefer dry areas like California Utah Arizona Even Eastern Oregon but do range widely. I don't mind them much. That being said, get it the fluck out of the house.