I just had such an experience. I had just got back from work this morning and the wife asked if I'd go out in the yard and fill up her Halloween luminaries with sand. I went outside to my kids sandbox with my three year old and commenced the first part of my honey do list. We filled them up and I then went to the front of the house so she could tell her butler, me, where to strategically place them.

My three year old son stayed in the back yard playing in his sandbox. After a half dozen or so trials at placing the luminaries in such a position as to satisfy her, I went to the back yard again to hang with my boy and goof with him in the sand. I brought my six month old infant son with me. I sat my infant son in one end of the sandbox so he could wiggle his feet. I looked over at my three year old and what did I see? I saw an honest to God female black widow at the collar of his shirt.

This nasty thing had an abdomen the size of a marble and was facing up towards my son's face. I could easily see the red hour glass on it's underbelly. So here lies the problem. I'm balancing my infant son with one hand and grabbing my three year old with the other. I could see a line of silk connecting the black widow to my son's shirt. I said to my three year old in a calm voice, "Dude, don't move." I then put my infant son in the grass and then without thinking snatched this nasty mother with my hand. I hate spiders! I did it without even thinking. I then slammed that bastage to the ground killing it.

If there was an Olympic event for picking your infant son up and then setting him in the grass and then cleanly snatching a deadly spider from your son's chest, I'd have won the gold and set a new world record.

I guess I chose "fight" without even thinking about it. What's really weird is that my three year old never stops moving, ever. I guess he really caught the seriousness of my tone because the little dude didn't move a muscle.

I haven't had a good excuse to drink a beer before noon in a long time. I did today.

Last edited: Sunday, October 30, 2005 at 6:14:28 PM

Do you need your widow back?

OMG, Rogue, I can relate... Maybe? I cant believe that! I have three kids too and you certainly did the right thing. I hate spiders too so you get a gold star for kickin' the arachnids butt!! We have all kinds of crazy critters where Iive too ( wolf spiders all over the size of gerbils). I commend you because I hate spiders more than anything. Yes fight was better than flight. You do anything for your children. :)

Show nice pic! :P

Yah KKB it freaked me out. I just researched it and severe illness from a black widow bite is rare, even for three year old kids. This is something I did not know. What still bugs me though is that I also had my infant son in the sandbox as well.

It's kind of crazy what you'll do for your kids without thinking. That was my first experience. I'm very glad I found it yesterday and not next week. My son's birthday party is Saturday and there's gonna be about 25 kids and adults at my house. Hmm, maybe I should have put it in the in-law suite. XD

^Didn't know that. I still think of Vincent Price talking about Black Widows in the old Alice Cooper song.

Caution -Venomous!

The venom of the black widow spider is 15 times as toxic as the venom of the Prairie Rattlesnake. But only a minute amount of the toxin is injected with a single bite by the spider, so they are rarely fatal. However, the relatively large amount of injected rattlesnake venom results in about 15 to 25 percent mortality among those bitten.

The bite itself is often not painful and may go unnoticed. But the poison injected by the the Black Widow bite can cause abdominal pain similar to appendicitis as well as pain to muscles or the soles of the feet. Other symptoms include alternating salivation and dry-mouth, paralysis of the diaphragm, profuse sweating and swollen eyelids.

Persons younger than 16 and older than 60, especially those with a heart condition, may require a hospital stay. (Heart and lung failure may result in death.) A physician can give specific antivenin or calcium gluconate to relieve pain. Healthy people recover rapidly in two to five days.

For others, clean the site well with soap and water. Apply a cool compress over the bite location and keep the affected limb elevated to about heart level. Aspirin or Tylenol may be used to relieve minor symptoms. Treatment in a medical facility may be necessary for children less than 5 years old or for adults with severe symptoms. Call the Poison Center for additional information. Poison Centers across the country now have a new national emergency phone number - 1-800-222-1222

Be very careful when working around areas where black widow spiders may be established. Take proper precautions-wear gloves and pay attention to where you are working. The reaction to a Black widow bite can be painful, and the victim should go to the doctor immediately for treatment.

To control the black widow, carefully remove all materials where they might hide. They can be cleaned out of an area simply by knocking down the webs, spiders, and round, tan egg sacs with a stick and crushing them underfoot. Removal or destruction of the egg sacks may help control the population. This spider is resistant to many insecticides.

I hate spiders and centipedes. Good man rouge, I can't tell what I would've done because ::checks calander:: I have not had the privelage to have kids yet. Although, if anything like that were to happen to my sister, I know I would have done the same thing. Here is what I tell myself:
If I were to get bit on the finger, that would be a whole hell of a lot easier to cut off the blood flow than if (insert preffered loved one) got bit on the neck. Still creepy though... Very nice!