Spider patrol
We have black widows on our porch.
I killed one of them, and felt really bad about it. The next night I went out and inspected, and I'm pretty sure that there are 3 juveniles that have made their webs out there. I have to go and check again, but they look like juvenile black widows to me.
For the record, the bite of a black widow is rarely fatal (<1%) for healthy adult humans. In fact, it does not generally kill dogs (except small ones, exceptionally old or exceptionally young, or sick ones) although it does make life difficult for them for a little while. They are, however, generally a death sentence for a cat that tries to catch or eat them. They also do NOT always eat their mates. This behavior was observed in captivity, where the mate did not have anywhere to go and she mistakes him for prey. In their natural habitat, the males just leave after mating generally. Males and juveniles rarely bite. Black widows are actually very shy creatures, and prefer to avoid any kind of confrontation. They bite when cornered, and given their typically preferred sorts of spots to make homes, that will happen.
They eat mosquitoes and other kinds of nuisance insects. Some of their natural predators are praying mantises (mantids?) and several species of wasp.
I realize that I still have to kill them, as they pose a danger to my "family" members, I just wish I could relocate them somewhere instead. Mine is a generally spider-friendly household.
I killed one of them, and felt really bad about it. The next night I went out and inspected, and I'm pretty sure that there are 3 juveniles that have made their webs out there. I have to go and check again, but they look like juvenile black widows to me.
For the record, the bite of a black widow is rarely fatal (<1%) for healthy adult humans. In fact, it does not generally kill dogs (except small ones, exceptionally old or exceptionally young, or sick ones) although it does make life difficult for them for a little while. They are, however, generally a death sentence for a cat that tries to catch or eat them. They also do NOT always eat their mates. This behavior was observed in captivity, where the mate did not have anywhere to go and she mistakes him for prey. In their natural habitat, the males just leave after mating generally. Males and juveniles rarely bite. Black widows are actually very shy creatures, and prefer to avoid any kind of confrontation. They bite when cornered, and given their typically preferred sorts of spots to make homes, that will happen.
They eat mosquitoes and other kinds of nuisance insects. Some of their natural predators are praying mantises (mantids?) and several species of wasp.
I realize that I still have to kill them, as they pose a danger to my "family" members, I just wish I could relocate them somewhere instead. Mine is a generally spider-friendly household.