# Black widows in our back yard area



## Freespiritedjem (Mar 16, 2006)

DH discovered a female black widow spider a few weeks ago one night while outside in our small backyard area. He carefully caught it in a glass (to show us), and later got rid of it. We hadn't seen anymore, until the other night I went out to water our garden and moved the hose around some of our crops to spot 2-3 of these black spiders hanging out on one side of a neighboring wall, near the ground in this crevice type area. My husband tried getting rid of them. Over the next couple days I've found more on the other side of our house. My husband again tried to get rid of them. Today I found a small baby spider on a web above our shower, which was white, and looked like a baby black widow spider. Any ideas on how to get rid of or control them in a safe way? I'm concerned abou my child getting into contact with them.


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## IntuitiveJamie (Jun 24, 2006)

We have been having this prob. at my house. We just moved into a brand new house that seemingly was already occupied by a whole lotta spiders including the black widow! I almost ran into one that was hanging down in the doorway of my closet. So anyways we have been doing a lot of research and here's what I've come to learn. Only the females are poisoness. And if an adult gets bit by one it's prob. not going to do much. It could, but not super likely. It's the babes and kids you gotta worry about. It can be lethal to a small one. So once I saw two in my house and two on the outside I made the difficult decision to call the exterminator. I was bummed b/c I have been diligent not to use toxic chemicals in my house, but I am more worried about a black widow bite then using chemicals that ppl use all the time. The exterminator said it was eco friendly and would not harm ppl, but of course we got out of the house the night he sprayed anyways. He also told me that you cannot just spray for spiders and hope they run through the poison, you have to find the actual spider and kill it. a lot like following a trail of ants to their nest to kill it. Spiders are not like roaches. They will not just run through the poison then go back to their web and lick their legs to clean themselves, therefore ingesting the stuff and die. You have to find them, their web and their egg sacks. Black widows like hidden places, like deep in cabinents, under awnings, in the garage behind boxes, in boxes etc. You can buy stuff at places like home depot I'm sure, but I didn't want my dh diggin around looking for them so I let the professional do it. If I hadn't seen any on the inside I might not have worried so much but I couldn't handle it once I knew they were inside too. Please be careful. Hope this info helps even though it was not the natural root you were looking for. I have personally spent the last few weeks living spiders which I absolutey hate and am horrified of.


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## bstandlee (May 14, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *takebirthback* 
He also told me that you cannot just spray for spiders and hope they run through the poison, you have to find the actual spider and kill it.

So the bug guy searched out every nook and cranny in your house and tracked down and removed/killed all the webs and black widows in your house? How does he know he got them all?

We have black widows around and I've been wondering what to do. I also found a poisonous centipede in our house the other day. I've been thinking that pest control might be a safer option than chancing my LO gettin bitten by something


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## IntuitiveJamie (Jun 24, 2006)

Yes, that is what he did. But of course he doesn't know if he got them all or not. I have only seen one since then and it was dead on the ground outside one morning.

I am still worried about them but I feel like I did what I could for now. I have also read something about eucalyptus and lime/lemon. They don't like those scents. I read that you can spray all over your door jams and windowsills with a mixture and it might help ward some spiders off. I am going to do that myself using actual lemon and lime as well as Eucalyptus EO. That is about the only natural thing I could find to help keep them out.


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## Freespiritedjem (Mar 16, 2006)

Thanks for the information. I remember seeing it suggested somewhere to put eucalyptus leaves around certain areas to ward spiders in general off. I was thinking that Eucalyptus EO might work too. I think I will try that. We also have been having an ant infestation in one are bathrooms near the bathtub. I heard a while back that they don't like peppermint oil. I got some years before and it didn't do much at my old place, but I started using it here, and it does stop them from coming in for at least a day. So I keep reapplying it to control that issue.

I caught another of the baby spiderlings I found in the house in a jar. I know that the black widow ones are born white, as were the ones I was spotting. I checked pictures of them online against the ones we caught in the jar, and the body doesn't appear as plump as the black widows spiderlings, so at least it looks like those are just some other regular spider. The ones in the yard are definitely black widows though, as my husband has found trying to spray them some on his own. I haven't seen any more around for a couple days now, but I also got a reference of an exterminator a environmentally conscious friend uses for the preschool she owns.


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## simple living mama (May 4, 2005)

We have them too here in the southwest. I pretty much kill the ones in the house and leave the outside ones alone. I taught the kids not to put their shoes on untl the hit them together first. Also not to play around the wood pile and never put there hands in cracks like railroad ties. They like wood and newspaper.

They are pretty shy critters and don't like to hang out where there is a lot of activity.

Here is another link to check out.
http://www.pestinformation.com/spider-control.htm

Here is more:
http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/spiders....
http://www.pestproducts.com/spider.htm#S...
http://www.cleanertoday.com/Spider-traps...


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## momofmine (Jan 8, 2007)

I have a friend who recently found one in their yard also. She did a lot of research, and apparently they are habitat-dependent, not food-dependent, so one thing to do (if you found it outside) is to go back to the spot where you found it and dig up that area, and they won't come back there. And you should kill the one you found. She was also told (this was several weeks ago) that this is the time when the babies appear, so that could be why you've found so many suddenly. But, we can't just kill everything outside. However, I have to say I would probably be freaked out over tons of black widows in my yard too.


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

We found a female black widow recently outside in our small backyard, too. We left her alone. However, she had been REALLY busy laying dozens of egg sacs all over our wood fence in the crevices! All those egg sacs were relocated to a used ziplock bag, which we sealed, and tossed in a dumpster. This past Sunday morning, I was outside washing the windows and I watered the garden, too. I found a few more egg sacs and the female black widow was in the same place. This time, they ALL were disposed of. This is the first year we have been using our backyard every single night and I don't want DD getting bit. I don't actually mind spiders too much, depending on the type and size. LOL I let many of them (daddy long-legs mostly) live inside the house in order to keep the ant population to a minimum.


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## simple living mama (May 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sunnysandiegan* 
LOL I let many of them (daddy long-legs mostly) live inside the house in order to keep the ant population to a minimum.









Me too. I pretty much let any spider that is not a fiddle back or black widow live in my house. I just don't mind them. I like how they catch the mosquitoes. They never seem to get out of hand or create huge webs. Just little tiny ones in the corners.


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