Word of warning

[rockm]

I don't know how applicable this is to most people, BUT you might want to check underneath your outdoor bonsai for, well, black widow spiders....

I narrowly missed being nailed by a very VERY large one whilst lifting my big oak tree's pot. I had noticed the signature "crazy ass" Black Widow web on a couple of trees nearby a month ago, but since there are a lot of other spiders in the back I didn't really give it much thought. I SHOULD have...

As I put my fingers under the pot's bottom surface to lift it, a Black Widow bigger than my thumbnail darted out and took a stab at my hand. I think it noticed my finger was attached to a very large owner and it retreated. The damn thing had made a nest in the bottom drainhole of the oak's pot from what I could see.

Anyway, after a quick a trip to Home Depot for "Spider Killer" and I got to watch the thing curl up and die in front of me (which sounds ghoulish, but I really needed to positively know the damn thing was dead and I hope she didn't leave younguns behind...).

I don't know if the particularly mild winter and early heat around here has allowed an increase in the Black Widow population, but I've never seen one of such size in my area. There also seems to be a bumper crop of plain old garden spiders this year too...

 

[Thomas J.]

For me it's grasshoppers, very large and hungry grasshoppers that love to eat any kind of vegetation. So far none around the bonsai but lots in the front area in my landscaped shrubbery. More than I've seen since living in this area since 2002. It'll be war when they move to the back where the bonsai are.

As for the black widows, they were a common site when I lived San Diego. Used to crawl around the living room floor while the kids were down there watching TV. Here in my area it's more of the brown recluse that we have to watch out for. I've seen them do some pretty nasty damage to peoples body parts such as hands and legs.

 

[TheSteve]

Until they learn to grow gills, I don't think they'll be an issue here this year... Besides, I'm pretty sure the slugs will eat them the way they have been everything else...

 

[coh]

It's a good reminder to be careful when picking up pots...as there can be all kinds of critters hiding under them - spiders, bees, snakes...

We don't seem to have black widows up here...but I lived in Virginia for 5 years, rural area outside of Richmond. Quickly learned not to pick anything up outside without gloves...rocks, logs, pots, whatever. We had black widows everywhere. Interesting thing is that they don't all look like the "classical" black widow with the jet black abdomen and red hourglass underneath. Some are browner, some have different kinds of red markings (especially the immature ones).

Fortunately we never saw them in the house, though they were often found hanging in corners under eaves both on the house and garage. I've got some really good photos somewhere...

Chris

Edited to add photo - a BIG widow that was hanging out on our garage. It is the classic shape and jet black, but the red markings are on the top of the abdomen, and not hourglass-shaped.

 

[rockm]

Snakes don't bother me. Nothing around here that's all that dangerous (copperheads) and I understand them, having been an amatuer herpetologist back in my high school days. I mistakenly picked up a baby black snake that turned up on my bonsai a few years back--it was a combination of not wearing my glasses and baby black snakes having a mottled twig-looking pattern. The snake chomped my thumb, but I was none the worse for wear.

Black widows, however, CAN inflict a nasty bite. We have brown recluses too. They're not a walk in the park. Spiders just give me the heebie jeebies.

 

[Klytus]

Do you have to check under the rim of the bowl like the Australians do?

It's like the thing most should know about the wandering continent.

 

[Ron Dennis]

At the Alabama Bonsai Society Show in May, one of our members, Brian Van Fleet, was doing a demo on a junimper. He was examining the tree before starting the demo when I saw something moving in the tree--that right a black widow. Shears can be an execution device!

 

[Fangorn]

While moving some my trees under my bench recently because of the threat of hail I came across a tree frog. Hopefully they'll help keep all the nasty stuff away

 

[rockm]

"It is the classic shape and jet black, but the red markings are on the top of the abdomen, and not hourglass-shaped."

Interesting, kind of. The one under my tree had three red dots above and three red dots below its abdomen. No hourglass...A little research says it is (was) a Northern Black Widow -- lactodectus variolus.

 

[coh]

Spiders just give me the heebie jeebies.

Yeah, me too - though I'm not as bad about them as I used to be. I think the exposure to so many large spiders in Virginia worked to desensitize me to some extent.

One of the (few) benefits to living in the frozen north - very few dangerous critters. In 8 years up here I haven't encountered a black widow, brown recluse, tick...and only garter and water snakes (no copperheads or cottonmouths). Not sure if the winters are worth the trade-off, though!

 

[bougie nights]

A recovering arachniphobe myself, I share the overall sentiment in this thread. When I lived in Oklahoma, I was unfortunate enough to have bitten by a brown recluse. I did not realize it at the time, but I had a small boil on my wrist which i dismissed as an infected mosquito bite or ingrown hair...
It festered and I tried to lance it, but it wouldn't drain. The next day I woke up, I felt a throbbing numbness in my hand and was horrified to see that it had swelled up so bad, it almost looked like an inflated rubber glove and the boil was hideous. My sergeant, a native Texan said he was sure it was a recluse bite and took me to the hospital. The medical staff agreed with this diagnosis and immediately went to work. I'll spare you all of the gross details, but when they were done, I had a gaping pit in my wrist and I had to have it packed with gauze daily for about two weeks.
Lucky for me, those spiders are not very common where I live now, but I am cautious about where I put my hands!

 

[Attila Soos]

I would not worry too much about black widows. My backyard has thousands of them, they are everywhere. Southern California is their favorite habitat.
Of course, you don't want to stick your fingers in dark hollows, that would be foolish. When handling firewood or logs stored outside, one should wear gloves. But they never showed any aggression in my presence. When I see a large one in my backyard, I point it out to my kids, and remind them to leave it alone. If I don't want to see them in certain parts of my yard or my house, I just clean off their web, and they go away. I would also never kill any of them, I think that's wrong. All you have to do, is to keep your structures and trees free of their webs, so that they can move their nests elsewhere. But there is no reason to kill them.

On the other hand, brown recluse is a different story - I am glad that they don't live here in So. California.

(Overall, USA is not nearly as bad as Australia - where your backyard may have a dozen creatures, all capable of killing you..)

 

[Attila Soos]

I was unfortunate enough to have bitten by a brown recluse.

I've always heard about these horrible bites, but you are the first one that can account of them first hand. It must have been a horrible experience.

Black widows, however, are not nearly as bad, as far as causing damage. I was bitten once, about 6 years ago, it was my fault, of course. There was a sharp pain that lasted about 10 minutes (like being stung with a needle), and then just a pin-sized puncture that disappeared in one day.

 

[Ron Dennis]

I've always heard about these horrible bites, but you are the first one that can account of them first hand. It must have been a horrible experience.

Black widows, however, are not nearly as bad, as far as causing damage.

I have known people that were bitten by the black widow and while the bite it usually not life threatening to young healthy adults it can be for young children and older adults. A family member (grandfather) bitten by a black widow suffered tremendously. This person was older being in their later 70's and living on a farm in the deep south was not near the type of medical facilties that are equipped to handle spider bites of this nature. Several days later, as was his custom, my dad went to check on his parents. realized what had happened and took him to appropiate medical help (about 90 miles away), the bite and the effects were severe.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/black-widow-spider-bite

 

[JamesMay]

A recovering arachniphobe myself, I share the overall sentiment in this thread. When I lived in Oklahoma, I was unfortunate enough to have bitten by a brown recluse.

Epic story.

We get the occasional black widow in my neck of the woods but I have yet to see a brown recluse.

 

[Attila Soos]

I have known people that were bitten by the black widow

Yes, some people can have severe reactions. But the same applies when being stung by a bee. With bee stings, some feel only pain, other have severe reactions, even life-threatening.

 

[milehigh_7]

Not sure about SoCal being their favorite haunt... They are literally EVERYWHERE here in Vegas. If you have a car you have not driven in a few weeks I promise it will have the Satan Spawn in abundance. I used to have them in all around my house and as spiders are the one thing I fear in life, I am ever vigilant. About two years ago our neighborhood was colonized by Raspberry Crazy Ants. Feel free to Google them because you would not believe anything I would tell you. Let's just say I no longer have spiders.

I was looking at one of my oaks and there was some kind of beetle on the soil. Well the ants swarmed it and while it did try to fly away, it did not live long enough to do so. I also had fire ants trying to make a beachhead in my yard. I watched the crazy ants go down into the red ant hole, bring out the red ants and kill them all. I no longer have red ants either...

They even messed up my air conditioner last summer... We are trying to control them but it is easier said than done.

 

[Alex DeRuiter]

I was wondering if I really saw one or if I was just imagining it. I saw one in my greenhouse (which I don't really use anymore anyway) but I figured it just looked like a black widow. Now I'm starting to wonder if it really was. It had the typical fat abdomen and I'm pretty sure I saw some red on it. I don't know how common they are in Michigan, but I suppose it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks for the warning.

 

[rockm]

"I would also never kill any of them, I think that's wrong. All you have to do, is to keep your structures and trees free of their webs, so that they can move their nests elsewhere. But there is no reason to kill them."

Um, Okaay. You're seriously going to get high and mighty about killing a dangerous animal that wound up in a very bad place?

What are you going to do if one nests IN your bonsai pot--like inside the drain hole. That's where this one had sheltered and waited for its web outside the pot to snag prey. I removed the web numerous times from around the pot and the stand the tree is on. The spider remained.

I pick that pot up every few days to turn it. I ask others to help me move it. Hands have to go underneath it. Sorry, I ain't gonna put on gloves to move a pot. The spider is out of place and in a dangerous position for anyone helping me. Capturing it and moving it would be kinda risky. I have no idea of a safe way to capture such a small quick animal. It had attempted to bite me once mistaking me for prey, even though it realized its mistake. Doesn't mean it would make that same concession twice. I respect it for its capabilities and for what it is.

Familiarity breeds contempt. Overfamiliar sentimentality in tight quarters with a venomous animal is dangerous no matter how you minimize it.

I've seen this attitude with people that handle dangerous snakes. Seen a couple get painful bites because they got too comfortable with them.

I don't kill snakes outright just for being snakes as many people do, even the venomous ones I've run into. I know how to handle snakes. Even so, if there were a copperhead in someone's basement or other place that presented a clear and present danger, I'd kill it too.

FWIW, I counted at least a dozen big garden spiders weaving orb webs among my trees. I've not done anything to them and like having them around.

 

[Attila Soos]

Not sure about SoCal being their favorite haunt... .

I should have thought about the one place worse than California....
I am sure that Arizona, New Mex and Texas are not far behind.