Hi Everyone,

My husband, son and I came home today and when we stepped out of the car, the first thing we saw was the biggest WOLF spider in the history of mankind in our garage. I could identify it and knew it wasnt poisonous so I had my hubby chase it out of the garage.

While inside, my husband was looking at the garbage can which is in the garage and saw a black spider with several egg sacs. IT looked to be at the end of its life cycle, but it was still quite alive. He brought it outside and it was rolled over as he put it in the dirt along with the 1/2 inch egg sacs.

He came in and mentioned that he found a black spider with red markings on its belly. I totally freaked and asked him to see it. IT was most definitely a black widow spider and her egg sacs. There were 4 of them and I really freaked out. Apparently the red ants who are quite ferocious here in TX decided to start eating the black widow and they were crawling all over the egg sacs as well. It was totally nasty. I took a quick look on the internet and it said to step on the sacs because bug spray wont do anything and there is a chance that the ants would not be able to penetrate the sacs, so that was the only way to ensure that they were truly dead.

I have been living here in TX for 8 years and have never seen a black widow although I know they exist here. There is a less than 5% chance of death if bitten, but it sounded really really bad if you were bit because within 1-3 hours its worse than the pain of an apendicitis and you hallucinate, have the sweats, fever etc... Now I am totally freaked out. I feel like moving.

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

Yikes! That is scary. I'm glad you guys found them. Think positively...if this is the first time you've come accross them then try to consider it a freak thing.

Hi Lapbandit,

I wish this would be the case that i would never see another, but they live 3 years and some male impregnated her. IT is a myth that they eat the male after mating,,,,

Babs in TX

YUK.... I totally hate spiders and cant imagine anything that even sounds like a wolf spider, sounds really bad to me. Black widow..... definitely bad. I am not a lover when it comes to the spider world.... hope you got em!

We used to live in Phoenix, and had them all over our house.

When my oldest son (now 23) was a newborn, I went in one morning to pick him up and found a nest with a mama BW spider and multiple egg sacs on the undercarriage of his crib. He really could have become very ill or died from it.

Also, I have been bitten and it's no fun-- weak, thready pulse, sweaty, nausea etc.

i dislike spiders as much as the next squeamish person, but i have lived with the bw, browns, etc all my life and never been bit.

Hi GE,

Up til now, I had never seen one before. I can handle the big ugly harmless ones, but in the last couple of weeks I have had my share of new and interesting creatures living in our newly constructed country ranch house. A few weeks ago, we had a scorpion in our kitchen and then an Iron clad beetle which was kinda cool and then a black widow. Yucch!!!

Babs in TX

Oh my goodness, that does not sound fun at all. The only I thing I hate worse than spiders is roaches. And living in Florida, we have lots of those. No matter how clean we keep the house and how often you have it sprayed, it seems every so often those little buggers come in the front door with you. The worst ones are the ones that fly! Oh how I hate those.

Im all for the live and let live mentality, but not when it involves somehting that could seriously injure me, and possibly kill my dogs. Im afraid to say those spiders would have had a very short life once I saw them.

Sorry for your experience, and I hope that they leave your house.

I lived in Florida for a time and those Palmetto bugs (giant flying roaches) can get as big as a bird. I hated them. And spiders, don't even go there. That was the reason I decided to come back to Ohio. Scorpions, spiders and big bugs do me in. We do have wolf spiders here, but you rarely see them unless you live in a wooded area. Glad you found them in time.

Babs,

Try going to Lowes or Home Depot, a place that sells insecticide (granuales or concentrated liquid) - and do a little investigating on which one kills spiders - esp. BW's. There's usually a list of insects that the product targets.

Seems like I remember seeing a product that kills BW's.. ??

Mike just told me that you can call a Feed Store and they should sell or recommend something.....

GOOD LUCK!!!! I hate those things too!

Honey, that's just life in Texas - (if it doesnt stick or sting, it bites). I don't like those critters either. The tarantulas really freak me out, even though I know they are harmless. I'm ALWAYS on rattler lookout when I go out to our horse pasture. Yes, my husband has killed 2 of 'em out there. Still, I like living here.

Terry

Hi Paula,

I did research online and it appears that most insecticides do not kill BW's and they are nocturnal so its better to look for them at night anyway. Howver, it does appear that a good exterminator can spray for them and limit the population. I am getting someone to come in this week to spray for ants because they are getting bad and then I can address the BW and scorpion issue. My husband sprayed the crap out of the scorpion and he was still alive the next morning. ITs weird but I am not afraid of rattlers as much as I am the BW's because the bite is 15 times more venomous.

To my FLorida friends: I lived in FL for 8 years and I know how big those palmetto bugs get. I had one fly on my head once while I was in bed.

TO the TX folks: I am just getting used to country living. My address is Fort Worth but my house is technically in Parker COunty not far from Aledo. Lots of new construction and my house sits on 1.2 acres and I have not cleared the back due to cost and the fact that I like trees and privacy.

Babs in TX

Hey babs I live in Collin County and our subdivision is a newer one. We have had a tremendous problem with BW spiders in the whole subdivision with with some folks being bit and requiring hospitalization. I personnally kill at least six a year around my house.

My husband and I spider hunt at night with a flashlight. We start that in May because the first egg sacs can be laid that early in the year. Once you learn to recognize their web then they are easy to spot. Their web is a completely disorganized tangle. But it usually has very few strands so they are really easy to overlook. Weep holes around the foundation are a favorite hangout. Anyplace that can get a breeze blowing through it (like where two walls meet outside) are good places to look. Under the rim of seating of outdoor furniture, under the wall hangar for garden hoses.

We even had a BW hide in the metal handle of a shovel that was on our patio against the wall this year. Took some work to kill that bugger but we got her.

Yes they can kill a large dog in a matter of a few minutes.

Good luck with trying to eradicate them.

Myra

When we lived in FL I was sitting on our front porch swing and looked over to find 100's on tiny baby BW spiders apparently had JUST hatched! SQUIRM!!!!

Hebie jebies just thinking about it!!!

My hubby (boyfriend @ the time) got bit on his face! on the nose to be exact...It was awful!!! swollen giant knot he felt Ill and it took forever to go away!

That was in FLA.

The last time I seen a BW spider was in Mississippi last march camping~ my hubby flipped a log to make room for our tent and there was a HUGE one under it! we didn't camp near that log! LOL

You live in TX same as I, I have not seen ANY spiders in my house but I do pay for pest control service, they even come if we get ants in the yard.

Something you may consider even if just for a few months.

Nana~

I would call the exterminators before they come out this week, and explain about the BW. Chances are when they send the guy out to deal with the ants, they can spray for the spiders too, at not much difference in cost. A big part of the charge for being sprayed is just them coming out. I have our place sprayed every other month, now just precautionary, originally to eliminate the spider population! But during the spring we get tons of box elder bugs, and elm bugs in the neighborhood, and he sprays my property borders for the bugs at the same time, and I never see a difference in the charges on my bill. Might be worth a phone call. Also, he told me you can usually tell whether a web belongs to a BW because their webs are VERY sticky, most spider webs are not. Has proven to be true, with what i have found outside occasionally. Good Luck, and I hope youlearn to love your new home!

Kat