Monday, June 30, 2008

Itsy, bitsy spider climed up a water spout.



And that is usually a good spot for a spider. We don't like them in our house and always carefully escort spiders to the doorway. Our policy is that good spiders, like good dogs and cats, enjoy being outdoors.

That was how we came to have have these two sample spiders - both of them black wider spiders. I"m not really too excited about black widows even when they're minding their own business. They may get the idea that everything they see is theirs.



Edward's kids found a couple of black widow spiders in their yard so they were anxious to "bottle them" up. They didn't even stop to think that the spiders might not be nice to each other. Only minutes after putting them in their new home, one spider was seriously disabled and was beginning to feel "tied up".

2 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! I am seriously arachniphobic. Reminds me of a time in 6th grade when a girl brought in a jar with a black widow for her science report. She had put a daddy-long-leg spider in there as well. We watched that jar all recess waiting to see them fight (we were told they were mortal enemies). They never even went near each other.

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  2. Today, while we were at the Natural History Museum, we saw a living black window inside an exhibit. I asked one of the workers how harmful they are to small children. He reported that he breeds them and showed me where he has been bit 5 times. He said he was living proof, that you feel flu like symptoms and then are fine after being bit. He also stated that nobody has died in over 30 years from a black widow. Not sure if he is a great source of information, but I will still be on the look out for them in my yard.

    I am glad that the boys weren't handling the spiders, only watching the torture.

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