Today I had to make a quick drastic decision...

[Legendary_Bibo]

I was doing the yard work this morning and I was using a weed whacker and I was trimming some grass around our bush and a black widow landed on my leg. It already looked angry so I had to decide whether or not to us the weed whacker to kill it, but at the same time hitting my own leg.

I hate spiders...

[Yarui]

I have heard that black widows aren't actually as deadly to healthy adults as many people think they are, just extremely painful. I probably would have just reached down and flicked it off of me as quickly as possible hoping it wouldn't have time to bite, but I'm sure if it is actually happening and you are freaking out it isn't so easy to think things through rationally before acting.

Also, how do you judge whether or not a spider looks angry?

[Legendary_Bibo]

By looking at their stance. It doesn't make sense, but it did to me at the time. Luckily my weed whacker had low string and managed to blow off the spider, or else I'd have my leg all cut up. :)

Thinking back now and googling Black Widows, it probably wasn't the smartest decision...

[djheadley]

Unless you are allergic to Black Widow venom or have a compromised immune system, one bite shouldn't kill you. Yes, I've been bitten by a black Widow. I have also been bitten by a Brown Recluse (I have 2 purple scars on my leg to prove it) and a Wolf Spider (kind of like a mosquito bite).

If you are really that afraid of spiders then maybe you should live in a city.

Yes, I live in the country and mostly prefer the spiders to mosquitoes.

[Linye]

Where you in shorts?

[blur xc]

Yes, I live in the country and mostly prefer the spiders to mosquitoes.

spiders eat mosquitos, among other pests the compete w/ humams for thier existance.

You could live in the desert- southwest US, where the climate is too dry for mosquitos to thrive - or fleas, in fact, most bugs... very low bug population, except for ants...we have plenty of those...

But you have to get used to the color brown, dirt, dust, tumbleweeds, etc...


BM

[witeshark17]

Glad it turned out okay!

[Legendary_Bibo]

spiders eat mosquitos, among other pests the compete w/ humams for thier existance.

You could live in the desert- southwest US, where the climate is too dry for mosquitos to thrive - or fleas, in fact, most bugs... very low bug population, except for ants...we have plenty of those...

But you have to get used to the color brown, dirt, dust, tumbleweeds, etc...


BM

I live in Arizona. mosquitoes are still an issue because of people who don't clean their pools (i.e. my neighbors). You get used to the dirt, but tumbleweeds are awesome, where I live we shouldn't really see them, but the one time I saw a tumbleweed it was huge! It took down three people and myself before it went into the street and hit a car. They're heavy by the way.

[chriswyatt]

Well at least you didn't freak out over a harmless house spider ;)

[earthpigg]

It doesn't make sense, but it did to me at the time. Luckily my weed whacker had low string and managed to blow off the spider, or else I'd have my leg all cut up. :)

Thinking back now and googling Black Widows, it probably wasn't the smartest decision...

I tend to appreciate extreme decision making, and find your incredibly hostile response to a cuddly critter to be amusing.

(not that i would emulate it, myself)

[ubunterooster]

I was doing the yard work this morning and I was using a weed whacker and I was trimming some grass around our bush and a black widow landed on my leg. It already looked angry so I had to decide whether or not to us the weed whacker to kill it, but at the same time hitting my own leg.

I hate spiders...
Kill it! Kill it at all costs!

[chriswyatt]

Am I the only one who thinks spiders are kind of cute then? I once kept a house spider as a pet, he was called Max. :roll:

Then I decided it was kind of cruel and set him free in the backyard.

[ubunterooster]

Am I the only one who thinks spiders are kind of cute then? I once kept a house spider as a pet, he was called Max. :roll:

Then I decided it was kind of cruel and set him free in the backyard.
I raised some to feed my birds once, but never saw them as cute...

[Nano Geek]

Fortunately we don't have many spiders where I live...just cockroaches. *shudder*

[chriswyatt]

I guess I'm a bit weird then, I just quite like the way they nervously scuttle around to be honest, I think they come across as vulnerable rather than threatening. Bugs me when people kill them, I was always telling off my ex for squashing them.

[Timmer1240]

Alls well that ends well!I hate those venomous evil vile little creatures!They must be terminated by whatever means necessary!

[kaldor]

Newfoundland has an earwig problem. Many of us have phobias of them (myself included) and hate them. My house is by the forest and I get a load of them during the winter. After I woke up to find 2 big ones on my pillow and wall next to my bed, I called in an exterminator who sprayed down the entire property. Within 2 weeks, they were back again.

So...

I went outside and caught like 15 spiders in the garden and let them loose in my bathrooms, kitchen and bedroom. Haven't seen an earwig in roughly 5 months now.

Spiders are incredibly useful!

[tjwoosta]

I weed wack in shorts and sandals all the time. Ive hit my feet and legs quite a few times over the years and it really doesnt do that much damage, usually doesnt even bleed. I definately wouldn't stick my finger in it or anything, but quickly brushing against your leg would be a hell of a lot better then a black widow bite. Asuming of course that your talking about the kind with the string and not the spinning blade.

[Legendary_Bibo]

I weed wack in shorts and sandals all the time. Ive hit my feet and legs quite a few times over the years and it really doesnt do that much damage, usually doesnt even bleed. I definately wouldn't stick my finger in it or anything, but quickly brushing against your leg would be a hell of a lot better then a black widow bite. Asuming of course that your talking about the kind with the string and not the spinning blade.

String, I'm not that stupid. :D

[NightwishFan]

I used to be an arachnophobe so I do not blame your reaction. I am much more rational now, but I still am not friends to the kind. :)

Granted not the scariest brutes in the world but we have two critters of the arachnid type here in Pennsylvania who are sadly quite common.

The first is harmless, if not beneficial, and I refuse to expel or harm them. Though I have seen unnaturally large specimens of this type here, who are at least twice as large as the article states they should be (I will get pictures if I can). Probably due to nuclear waste or something. ;/ I dubbed one "Shelob" due to its size (at least as big as a tarantula, perhaps a bit smaller). As I said, is quite unnatural for the type.

The second is an uncommon species, but as I said, uncommon or not, I run into them often. :O Now this one is something I would consider harming and would definitely expel.

Number 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia
Number 2 :( : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_spider

Edit: Bibo, we both made Vanity Avatar Logos for our forums name. :D Cool.

[nothingspecial]

Spiders are the living incarnation of evil itself and must be destroyed before they take over the planet.

It`s just that someone else will have to kill them because if I ever see one I run away and will not come back untill someone else has dealt with it.

[forrestcupp]

It already looked angry so I had to decide whether or not to us the weed whacker to kill it, but at the same time hitting my own leg.

I hate spiders...You really couldn't think of any other way to kill the spider without cutting up your leg with a weed whip? :)

I don't think that would have even crossed my mind. I may have hit the spider with the weed whip while it was turned off, but I don't think I would have thought about actually cutting my leg up.


I guess I'm a bit weird then, I just quite like the way they nervously scuttle around to be honest, I think they come across as vulnerable rather than threatening. Bugs me when people kill them, I was always telling off my ex for squashing them.Some people kill spiders, not because they are afraid of them, but because they don't want spider webs all over their house. Also, some spiders bite you while you're sleeping, and even if they're not poisonous, it's still pretty annoying, like a mosquito bite.

I've heard the statistic that the average human swallows 8 spiders in his sleep in a year. Thankfully, I just found out that this is one of the false facts that Lisa Holst came up with in 1993 to prove that people will believe anything they read in email.

[gnomeuser]

Unless you are allergic to Black Widow venom or have a compromised immune system, one bite shouldn't kill you. Yes, I've been bitten by a black Widow. I have also been bitten by a Brown Recluse (I have 2 purple scars on my leg to prove it) and a Wolf Spider (kind of like a mosquito bite).

If you are really that afraid of spiders then maybe you should live in a city.

Yes, I live in the country and mostly prefer the spiders to mosquitoes.

That does it's I am never ever going remotely near Missouri. I've heard enough.

[Viva]

All spiders are cool, but I'd keep the large ones away.

[Viva]

Am I the only one who thinks spiders are kind of cute then? I once kept a house spider as a pet, he was called Max. :roll:

Then I decided it was kind of cruel and set him free in the backyard.

Not just you, Spiders are really cute. We have diminutive brown-coloured spiders here. They're considered lucky too, I was told that you'd get a new dress if a spider lands on an existing one.