WhatThatDogDoin
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So I keep finding these girls in the close vicinity (probably about 4 total) but even tho they are chill spiders I can't risk dogs getting curious. One is in garage under toolbox drawer handle the other is under house shingle but actually has a big setup she only comes at night. We've done vacuum method b4 but this one isn't a shop vac
METROlD
Get some scorpion killer with a straw for close encounters. And call an exterminator to find the nests. It might take multiple visits.
ElectricSlideOrchestra
Contact a professional exterminator.
themobileappisbroken
A shoe will take care of that.
CanIGetSomeExtraSalt
spider sprays will handle this, cleaning up the webs with a broom when you see them helps. keeping leaves and stuff clean
slotheroll
DrewThe3DPrinterGuy
Hooch is crazy.
NotTheSameAnymore
TheMadCropper
Eliminate their food source--Termites probably
FeloniousMonk13
stupidbastardinutah
I find many around the outside of my house every fall. I spray and smash them depending on location. Clean up the webs and try to limit the number of "favorable habitat" places around but, there's only so much I can do. Especially having an extensive garden and neighbors who do nothing to mitigate them or habit they like.
WhatThatDogDoin
Yeah, I'm starting to see a comical amount of them all of a sudden. They usually show themselves at night, so I just did a once over with a halogen and spotted 2 more... we have a formidable garden as well, but for all intents and purposes, theres infinite favorable habitat spots
ThatSonOfaBitch
I have many suggestions, but I emphasize that planetary annihilation is strictly a last resort.
WhatThatDogDoin
Ngl im seriously considering it
eppykaze
Fire, lots of fire
bitchesonmonday
I pice un the countryside and we have a lot of spiders. I just vacuum them up. No need to get up close and it gets the webs too.
TupacAintDead
jamesdeanshat
widows are usually found around houses...where lights are on and flies are, try to keep them outside but they are only as likely to bite you as any other spider (which isn't very likely.) Also bare in mind that spider bites are rarely fatal. Don't let your dogs run under and covered, cobwebby areas and you should be ok.
ballsoutflyer
afambelafonte
https://www.stpetersburg.usf.edu/news/2023/who-is-hunting-the-black-widow-spider.aspx good news: the natural predator of a black widow is a brown widow, so just get some brown widows and set em loose. Also praying mantises. Basically fill your home with creatures that eat black widows and sit back and enjoy your black-widow-free home.
WhatThatDogDoin
It's funny you say that I've been also seeing a huge influx of good sized mantids crawling around too. Turns out their kryptonite is door and window screens.
Hmm, I see a bunch of them very comfortable being close enough that their webs just about touch
WhatThatDogDoin
The lizards outnumber everything else by a long shot but tbh I'm not entirely sure if they even fuck w widow
spontaneous9
I like spiders but those are not cool roommates. Kill every one you find, no exceptions. Destroy any egg sacs. I had a captive one once, to study & write a report for nature study class. Feeding her was hard b/c you have to stick the prey firmly in her web or she won't find it. More than one insect died of starvation walking around in her jar, by avoiding her lines. She got real hungry. One day I stuck an orange & black "blister beetle" in there. She ate it & died of poisoning within minutes.
WhatThatDogDoin
Why you go with beetle
spontaneous9
I was just looking for anything to feed her b/c she hadn't eaten in 2 weeks. Every time I put a housefly or moth in there it escaped her snare, just ended up dying in the jar, uneaten. She won't chase insects around in the jar. They have to struggle in the web. Also I didn't know it was called a blister beetle, or that it was poisonous to eat. It was so fast I couldn't believe it. Maybe the story might be worth knowing if you find one you want to eradicate but don't have a better way to kill it.
WhatThatDogDoin
I never feed the widows but last year did have a non-widow living comfortably by the window I just fed him all the little flies and shit. She would go right for it when it hit web, but really preferred them live and trying to wiggle loose
WhatThatDogDoin
I'm not about to invest in some beetles rn but like 9 times out of 10 if you eat a beetle you're about to be sick
spontaneous9
My best pet spiders are jumping spiders, they're easy to feed & much more entertaining than web-hangers. If I find a pregnant mom in the fall (as is usually the case) I'll put her in a vented jar where she's safe from parasitic wasps & feed her on house flies. She'll set up a tent/ sleeping bag & within a week, the egg sac will be in place. When they hatch in the spring it's always a joyous occasion releasing them to the garden on a warm spring afternoon. The little ones are super cute.