Black widow?

ustmd · Jul 1, 2011

Black Widow,

But do not panic. You should be aware of them, but as the Poison Control website points out:

"How dangerous are black widow spider bites?
If a black widow spider bites a person, do not panic! No one in the United States has died from a black widow spider bite in over 10 years. Very often the black widow will not inject any venom into the bite and no serious symptoms develop. Wash the wound well with soap and water to help prevent infection. "

CPCS: Spider Bites

I anm much more worried about the bite from a borwn recluse spider. Their bites turn necrotic in a hurry and there is no good treatment.

ragkar · Jul 1, 2011

Brad Blazer's comment reminded me of a trivia. During WW2 the cross hairs on the Norden bomb sight were black widow threads.

If you are bit, take the spider corpse to your doctor. He won't believe you otherwise.

Pilot · Jul 1, 2011

In the summer of 1974 I had a summer job in Marysville, CA. Rented an apartment for the summer that had a fenced in patio. My wife let our 4 year old son play out there; what could happen, it was fenced and no one could see thru the fence?

One day she noticed one of the spider webs had a black widow. Then looking some more, they were all over the place, a dozen or more that we could see. Management called an exterminator, but my son didn't play out there any more.

phiferpharm · Jul 1, 2011

Had a friend of my son working over at my place helping re-screen my porch and put latice up around my deck. He got nailed by a Black Widow and we ended up at the emergency room with him. I've found several since and tried with mixed success to clear them from under the deck.

donn12 · Jul 2, 2011

I'm not worried about it. I am almost never out there without gloves. Spiders do't bother me at all but since there are Black Widows out there they will get smashed.