Black Widow

[Dale]

There is also a "Brown Widow" just a color difference. Also males are less chunky looking like the one in the pic.

When I moved to FL, the school I started working at was brand new, built in the middle of a cow field. We obviously disturbed an area that Widows called home as they quickly set up camp in all of the window sills. And of course being the Science Guy, I inherited all of the cool looking spiders the students caught those first few days. My desk was covered with plastic cups containing live specimens.

A year later, I knocked back a bunch of bushes next to my house resulting in my garage being infested with well over 50 of them just 2 days later. While I LOVE reptiles, I don't share the same affinity for our 8 legged friends. Still though I will toss one outside rather than step on it if I can.

 

[jamay]

Cool! I remember during a period of doing agency work, I was in a grape-packing line when the girl in front of me found a very active black widow in the fruit. We had virtually no room to move between the conveyor belts but I did a vertical take-off up and over the line to get away!

Hahahaha, that's a good story. Even worse would be knocking people out of the way to save yourself!

 

[Shorty6]

I would have to move far far away if I saw a black widow in my house. I am a big sissy when it comes to spiders. I nearly got myself in a car accident once when I saw a spider on the door. I jumped halfway into the passenger seat! Not a proud moment.

I have a better one, a spider came rapelling (I guess that's the word) down from my rear view mirror and almost right into my face. I screamed loud enough to wake the neightbors and jump out of my car...while it was in drive.

Good this my boyfriend was in the passenger seat and was able to grab the steering wheel. Oh, this was just in front of my house, thank god I wasn't on a main road.

 

[Nanci]

I was in the car today and there was a tiny brown spider on the window. I tried to help him out of the car, but he ended up rapelling down onto my leg and disappearing. While I was driving, of course.

 

[ghosthousecorns]

I fear black widows less than the 'hobo spiders' we get here in Oregon. Where I used to live in Grants Pass the hobo's were everywhere. They are fast, I believe they can go like 6mph. I don't think they are as poisonous but still very nasty if you get bitten.
I am so used to black widows they just don't faze me, since I do landscaping. They are always inside the valve boxes where the irrigation valves are. If I have to work on a valve I just use my pruners to frighten them into a corner, they are more afraid of you...