Spider scares family out of home!

[harvgar]

Found one in my greenhouse at work when I was cleaning up around my desk. It was between the wall and my desk and I unknowing, barehanded, knocked it on the floor and heard a plop when it it the floor. A little un-nerving. Gotta respect them. They have a nasty bite that can cause a lot of pain and affect the nervous system.

[butcher99]

i have found a few but I did find one inside my computer case once. It would have been nice and warm in there I guess. The web was really strong. Much tougher than any other web I have run my hand through.

[my5cents]

It amazes me to see news items about black widow spiders. I had 5 acres off Carrs Landing Rd in Lake Country a few years ago and I could find one in minutes.

One evening in the fall I went out with a flash light and checked the lip below the siding on the house. I went around the whole perimeter and found at least 50. I gave each a shot of bug spray and that kept control of the numbers.

Always in dark spots below the lip of the siding, in "Big "O"" pipe, wood piles, underground sprinkler box. Teltale sign is the disorganized web, looks very random.

The first one I saw when I first bought the house freaked me out, but after you've found a few dozen, you get used to it.

Seeing news items on TV about a black widow being found is like seeing pine cones for sale in craft stores in Vancouver, when I burned thousands in my yard.

I never got used to my cat bringing home rattle snakes though. Again, it's what you get used to.

[janalta]

Yep, see lots of them, all the time.
I have quite a few of them in the crawl space under my house and it's pretty much guaranteed at work that there will be one living in every irrigation box we open.
As far as spiders go...they're really quite beautiful. Gotta love their outlook on the whole relationship thing too.
I'd trade any day for the god aweful wolf spiders I get in my house every summer ! Now those things are nasty !!!

[Bpeep]

Yep, see lots of them, all the time.
I have quite a few of them in the crawl space under my house and it's pretty much guaranteed at work that there will be one living in every irrigation box we open.
As far as spiders go...they're really quite beautiful. Gotta love their outlook on the whole relationship thing too.
I'd trade any day for the god aweful wolf spiders I get in my house every summer ! Now those things are nasty !!!

Lol

[Bpeep]

These words he speaks are true.
We're all humanary stew
If we dont pledge allegiance to
The black widow.

[lilbuddy]

How long do Black Widows live? We have 1 big one that lives in our irrigation box for 3 years now . The box is just a huge web and each spring and fall we check on her and she scurries to the corner and just watches doesnt try to hide ? First year we pulled all the webs out but they were all back by fall so we just left them ever since. We have other ones around the garage but we kill them but we only have to see her twice a year so she can stay

[StraitTalk]

Have had lots of spiders coming into our house lately, my guess is its on account of the constant rain and cold nights. Spider traps are awesome...

[Lady tehMa]

I'll take a black widow over a huntsman any day . . . my sis ran into one of those in Australia. The most famous huntsman of all time has to be "clocky". http://www.summerofdan.net/dunit/2006/06/clock_spider.html

[FreeRights]

Years ago when I lived in West Kelowna, I'd find tons of them (maybe, say, a dozen on a good year) living in the corners of my garage and random places like that, inside the garage, and outside the house.

Since I've been in Vancouver, though, I haven't seen a single one.

[Merry]

We haven't lived in the Okanagan all that long so are not comfortable with the idea of having black widow spiders living in our basement or garage. What advice do any of you long time residents have when it comes to trying to keep their numbers down?

[Lady tehMa]

I've heard keeping horse chestnuts in areas they would live will keep them away - not sure how well it works though

[Bsuds]

We haven't lived in the Okanagan all that long so are not comfortable with the idea of having black widow spiders living in our basement or garage. What advice do any of you long time residents have when it comes to trying to keep their numbers down?

I find that smacking them with a shoe works well.....

[my5cents]

We haven't lived in the Okanagan all that long so are not comfortable with the idea of having black widow spiders living in our basement or garage. What advice do any of you long time residents have when it comes to trying to keep their numbers down?

I wouldn't just be looking for them in my basement or garage. The first one I saw when I moved to the Okanagan was below the toilet tank at the back of the toilet, I was having a bath. It couldn't be seen from a standing postion. Second one was in a storage area in a window seat.
Just use bug spray when you see one, you don't want them breeding.
Learn to recognize the type of web they make.
Always check dark little spots, inside pipe left out in the yard, ie an old piece of big O, in-ground sprinkler control boxes, wood piles, below the bottom edge of siding
I figured that for sure after finding my first half dozen and being new to the OK that I'd get bit for sure at some time. Been here 22 years and I haven't.

[Lizard]

You could just leave them alone. Spiders aren't really going to go out of their way to attack you, and they are quite beneficial in controlling other insects in the home and garden.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/pes ... ex-eng.php
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/spiders.html