Black Widow Spiders, experience?

[Indigo]

I am finding them daily in the outside areas of my home. I have found no info on how to discourage their presence in our living space.
Any ideas or help.
Pesticides don't work for them unless you spray the spider directly. I am looking for something to prevent them from setting up shop under my favorite porch chair or in my house wheel.

[Sashahomeschoolmama]

I don't know how to discourage them. I got bitten by one a couple of summers ago and have never felt such pain.

It even made my son, who was still nursing, sick just from drinking my breastmilk.

[SingingMom]

Clear away places that shelter them, if possible. Permit other spiders to prosper.

Encourage cats in your yard. Many cats will play with and destroy spiders. Also, black widows are not fond of movement and noise.

Other than that, I dunno.

We had a HUGE population of black widows in our yard when we bought the house. The house and yard had been used to store a bunch of junk, and when we got rid of the stuff, the area was much less hospitable. Also, widows will tolerate less friendly environments. So a barren yard with weeds, surrounded by junk, was fine with them.

So after we planted some grass and trees, and created a more lush backyard, the place became more friendly to other species of spiders. We still see occasional widows, but we see more orb spinners, wolf spiders, and grass spiders. Of course, we have also added four children to the yard.

What's a house wheel?

[hidesome]

Poison works. So do reptiles. My mother's solution was to say, "gee, I think I saw a black widow spider out by the woodpile." They don't live long in jars owned by 10yr old boys.

[OriginalContessa]

Can you contact an exterminator? I feel for you, spiders are my biggest fear.

[SingingMom]

Reptiles! That's what I need. (How have I survived without some reptiles in the yard?) Now where am I going to get some?

Exterminators don't IME do much for black widows.

[EvilAmy]

Poison works. So do reptiles. My mother's solution was to say, "gee, I think I saw a black widow spider out by the woodpile." They don't live long in jars owned by 10yr old boys.


Especially if that jar gets taken over to a skitish SIL's house. That's where my boy learned how to make a torch out of Raid and a lighter.

[gobucks1013]

I have heard that hedge apples deter spiders from setting up shop wherever you put them. We had some really big, nasty looking spiders of some kind all over the basement of our new house when we moved in last Aug. We put some hedge apples all around the basement and the spider problem went away. I couldn't tell you if they'll work for Black Widows, though. Maybe worth a try.

[hidesome]

Black Widows definitely like moist and dark. Dry and light deter them.

[JudyJudyJudy]

Some people say that eucalyptus helps to deter them.

[Tweet]

Especially if that jar gets taken over to a skitish SIL's house. That's where my boy learned how to make a torch out of Raid and a lighter.


You are practically sending me into a panic.Now I have to worry about Raid and lighters and gross spiders??? It's bad enough that DD1keeps bringing in huge earthworms and slugs.

OP, I don't know..I'd call an exterminator.

[JudyJudyJudy]

Tweet, don't panic. My 9-year-old is calm. He is nothing like all but one of my nephews. :p

[EvilAmy]

Oh no, it was SIL that wigged out and torched it (and she was 39 at the time). DS just thought the whole torch thing was cool in general.

I have to do BW check in my greenhouse on a semi-regular basis. I would let DS keep the lizards he catches in there, but they can also cause a panic when you're not ready to see them perched on a geranium you're about to grab.

[hidesome]

Oh no, it was SIL that wigged out and torched it (and she was 39 at the time). DS just thought the whole torch thing was cool in general.

I have to do BW check in my greenhouse on a semi-regular basis. I would let DS keep the lizards he catches in there, but they can also cause a panic when you're not ready to see them perched on a geranium you're about to grab.

I think if you SIL ever saw an aerosol can explode, she would abandon the practice. BTW, IME, Raid is in the top 1% of the best aerosol can bombs.

[Tweet]

Tweet, don't panic. My 9-year-old is calm. He is nothing like all but one of my nephews. :p


Yeah, but my 4year old is already learning to unlatch windows and push out screens. We've had to buy so many fancy doo dad latches and locks in the last year. I don't want him to ever know what Raid is lol

[Indigo]

Poison works. So do reptiles. My mother's solution was to say, "gee, I think I saw a black widow spider out by the woodpile." They don't live long in jars owned by 10yr old boys.

I have a three year old girl, are these ten year old boys for hire?

[Indigo]

I have a bug guy, he said you can't do much about them with pesticides, so I am looking into other options.
Thi si snot a dark damp quite area they are breeding in. This is my front porch, bright, air and full of furniture that we use daily. They are not hiding. They have glued them sleves to the siding with their eggs, they are under the chairs, in the hose wheel, as the OP should have said, and just about everywhere I turn. I am not put off by bugs, but I have dealt with 12 in the last 5 days. That is way too much with my wee lass about.

[Indigo]

Oh no, it was SIL that wigged out and torched it (and she was 39 at the time). DS just thought the whole torch thing was cool in general.

I have to do BW check in my greenhouse on a semi-regular basis. I would let DS keep the lizards he catches in there, but they can also cause a panic when you're not ready to see them perched on a geranium you're about to grab.

I'd take lizards any day. I have several bright green ones, though they seem to be able to change color. They are cool with me, spiders generally too, but these are too dangerous to be mixing this closely with us. I would be fine to let them be around the exterior of the house, but they hang in the most used portions of the porch. Not just hang, but I hae found 10 egg sacs too.

[vulturemom]

We have these http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=336953 that worked on the spiders (not black widows)we had in our basement. we have 5 that we keep plugged in all the time.

[Indigo]

Hmm now that is a potential. I just want them to set up somewhere besides our porch. Even the garden would be preferable.

[JenniferH]

Black Widows definitely like moist and dark. Dry and light deter them.
I hate to disagree with both of your posts Hidesome, but it is dry as bone here in summer and they thrive from now until October/November. I have to check the play structure and playhouse (both are bright inside) daily before the kids play in them. I do find MORE of them in dark spots, but definitely not moist at all.

We called the exterminator once about them, but they said there is no poison that is currently legal to use by professionals or home owners that will kill them.

I squish them and their egg sacks.

[BoobySnacks]

My MIL swears by the plug in frequency things. I think they are similar to what vulturemom linked. She says that she never ever had spiders or bugs of any sort, even in her garage because of these. I have never seen a bug or spider around either other than flies and bees. I dunno, but I am about to try one to see if they work because we have widows too.

[Indigo]

I would love to know if they work for these spiders before plunking down the money. I would love to have these critters stopped popping up everyday.

[hidesome]

I hate to disagree with both of your posts Hidesome, but it is dry as bone here in summer and they thrive from now until October/November. I have to check the play structure and playhouse (both are bright inside) daily before the kids play in them. I do find MORE of them in dark spots, but definitely not moist at all.

We called the exterminator once about them, but they said there is no poison that is currently legal to use by professionals or home owners that will kill them.

I squish them and their egg sacks.

That is why I said, "like" not "require" or "need". It is dry here and they nest in drain pipes.

[Bohemian]

I would kill them all with my shoe. I do that sort of thing.


Yeah me too but make sure you shake that shoe out first. I saw a show on NGC about black widows and one of the little buggers was hiding in the toe area of the shoe and bit the lady on her big toe.

[EvilAmy]

I think if you SIL ever saw an aerosol can explode, she would abandon the practice. BTW, IME, Raid is in the top 1% of the best aerosol can bombs.
Huh, and I always though WD-40 was the best. After all you have that straw that gives you that smidgen of presicion.

[hidesome]

Huh, and I always though WD-40 was the best. After all you have that straw that gives you that smidgen of presicion.

I'm talking about bombs that go "boom", not flame throwers. WD-40 makes an ok flame thrower (do not try this!), but makes a surprisingly poor bomb (do not try this either!).

[Indigo]

I do smoosh them. I have a weapon just right for the job. I was a total non spider smoosher until this mess. Now I smoosh them all as they look so different depending on gender and age that I have to assume they are all widows right now.

[EvilAmy]

I'm talking about bombs that go "boom", not flame throwers. WD-40 makes an ok flame thrower (do not try this!), but makes a surprisingly poor bomb (do not try this either!).


Good to know. And you know I would never try something like that, at home.

[SingingMom]

Me either. At home. Or where my children could see.

[SingingMom]

(Scribbling notes... WD 40... flame thrower, Raid, bomb...)

[Joshiecat]

I've killed 2 black widows in the house and one out by my hose in the backyard in the past few weeks. I now am in spider massacre mode, if you're a spider in my house and I see you...you're getting squished.

As a kid I was terrified of spiders and was tortured by my cousins. I eventually got to the point where I could relocate them outdoors. Seeing a black widow hanging off my toilet brush put me back into terrified mode.

Josh is fascinated by spiders. I'm having a hard time explaining to him why he can't touch the spiders because I'm so scared he's going to try to pick up a black widow.

[hidesome]

Good to know. And you know I would never try something like that, at home.

I've heard that taking them to a rock quarry is one way to test their effectiveness...that's what I've heard.;)