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folklaur
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| Posted: Sept 12 2008 at 3:34pm | IP Logged
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I wonder, have I mentioned how much I hate it here?!?!?
I can't really say anything else to dh (he feels badly enough, I can't make it worse), so please, please forgive me for using y'all as my venting place.
But...okay....the roaches here are horrible. Everywhere in the Vegas valley. But now - we are finding Black Widow webs in the backyard. Our bug guy has come and resprayed, but a lot of info I am finding says that widows are particularly hard to kill.
BLECH!
I won't let the kids outside. The widows like the rock ladscaping (we can't change it, as we are renting) and that rings the entire backyard. We have found widow webs in their Playhouse, under the patio furniture.
I am a nervous wreck. I dropped a cap w/o realizing it (yes a bottlecap) and when it hit the counter I about jumped out of my skin - I am just that wound up.
(And wow I have to say these houses were built so poorly. Oh, my goodness. We live in a newer, up-scale-like area (I have never lived somewhere like this before - I feel quite out of my element to be honest). The house is not even 10 years old, it is a gated community, and the quality is HORRIBLE. I would be really upset if I owned one of these houses. I can only imagine all the new construction in Phx was the same. Awful. Sliding doors don't close tightly, gaps, cracks....really, it is shoddy. Of course, the older, better built homes are not in great areas.
Anyway. Just needed to say I really, really hate black widow spiders.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 12 2008 at 3:54pm | IP Logged
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Laura,
Black widows are quite prolific here in the deep south. I'm not a fan either!
A few things I've noticed is that because they are shiny black with that distinctive red hourglass they are quite easy to identify and stay away from. Also, I've found that they are most prevalent towards the end of August and mid-September. Knowing that, we spray a citrus (orange) based insecticide around the perimeter of the home vigilantly throughout the late summer months. We fog the garage with the same stuff as well. It is non-toxic to pets and humans, but highly toxic to arachnids and ROACHES which I hate more than I hate spiders!
So, nature lesson topics for your clan might be identification of the black widow spider as well as how to avoid being bitten by one. Hang in there, if spider behavior is true across the board (and I'm not sure if it is since your climate is dry and desert-like, and we're soupy and humid right now) they should be retreating for several months to give you time to prepare your arsenal of weapons!  (always wanted to use that emoticon!)
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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LisaD
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| Posted: Sept 12 2008 at 7:17pm | IP Logged
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We are black widow central here. We also have huge numbers of brown widows, which are more "shy" but more poisonous. We have the bug man spray outside every other month, and that has cut down the population somewhat, but I found four brown widow egg sacks (they are VERY distinctive) on the back gate yesterday. UGH! My kids are trained to never touch a spider, and come tell me right away if there is a spider on or near a toy outside.
Jennifer, I would love to know the name of the insecticide you use to fog your garage. Our garage is horrible. The webs and spiders are absolutely everywhere. Kids are not allowed in the garage, but that is where my washer and dryer are, so I have to venture into Spider World frequently.
I've also lived where roaches are commonplace and found just about everywhere (Hawaii), and we found the best defense there was our cat. She kept the inside of the house very roach-free.
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~Lisa
Mama to dd(99), ds(01), ds(03) and ds(06)
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Sept 12 2008 at 7:34pm | IP Logged
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Ewww.
I grew up in BW and brown recluse territory, but that doesn't mean I like them.
I agree with Lisa. The best defense against most critters is a cat...wish mine would eat crickets (aaaaahhhhh ugggghhhh) instead of dismembering them...
And it is very important to teach everyone to ID spiders, scorpions and snakes that are harmful. Gross, I know. But, essential.
Another good safety tip is to shake out shoes and clothing before getting dressed. Essential desert behavior.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 12 2008 at 8:50pm | IP Logged
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LisaD wrote:
Jennifer, I would love to know the name of the insecticide you use to fog your garage. Our garage is horrible.
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Lisa, We use a pest control service that specializes in the use of safe (organically derived) chemicals like citrus based stuff and pyrethrin based stuff. I know  that sounds so technical. Anyway, my husband just opened up the garage to air it out and here's what the can of fogger says:
Quote:
CB Foggers
Manufactured by Waterbury Companies
PCO Fogger
CB Total Release
**for use in food and non food areas of the homes, food processing plants, restaurants, industrial buildings, schools, warehouses, garages, etc.**
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We actually have never seen a black widow inside (thanks be to God) but lots outside! Identification is easy and a must and my 3yo can do it! We also have brown recluse. Give me the black widow any day of the week. Brown recluse are a whole 'nother game!
We've also found that frequent cleaning of the garage is a must. We purchased those heavy duty steel shelves on casters from Costco and we store everything in the garage on those. Then, we periodically roll them out, and completely empty and sweep out the garage. It does help keep the population low.
We have 2 cats - and I'm sorry to say they haven't gotten the message about roach protection in the job description.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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juststartn
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| Posted: Sept 13 2008 at 1:10pm | IP Logged
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Brown recluses here. Inside, too. I've killed at least two myself. IN MY BEDROOM. We shake the bedding out constantly. And the clothes. And the shoes. Ugh. We're still unpacking, so I've got some boxes here and there (nowhere to put the stuff in them til the VA $$ comes in and we can afford to buy the necessary storage furniture).
DH wants the boxes out of his shop. Well, he brings them over HERE. And leaves them, and I have nowhere to put things, so the boxes sit. I KNOW that the boxes are prime places for the doggone things but I cannot get the boxes out of the house. SIGH.
I vacuum. ALOT.
SIGH
Rachel (who has a lot of sticky traps for the suckers)
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Married DH 4/1/95
Lily 3/11/00
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Sept 18 2008 at 8:18am | IP Logged
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Laura, when we lived in So. CA it was just standard to have them around. Vegas is the same. The kids learn quickly enough to stay away from them. Show the kids what to watch for and tell the younger ones to just stay away from all spiders. Maybe do a unit study on spiders? I know, it stinks, but Vegas is gorgeous in the Spring. The mountain views are fantabulous. Right now is just the worst time of the year. Hang on...it'll get better.
{{{Laura}}}
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~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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monique
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| Posted: Sept 18 2008 at 8:53am | IP Logged
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Sunday morning on the way to church we found a huge black widow in our garage! Thank goodness my husband found it. It had a huge web going all the way up the wall in the corner by the garage door. Thank goodness none of the children got too close. We walk right by there to go around the vehicle to get into it. It scares me to death how close we all had probably been to it. I'm so thankful the baby never got near it. We had a scare about this time last year also. My husband was cleaning up the wood pile and we think he brought one in on his pants because we found it crawling on the floor of our family room....headed towards my daughter who was laying on the floor! She is scared to death of spiders now. I have to admit I had a few bad dreams that night!
So we have a new rule. No one goes out into the garage by themselves! And we have to make sure we shut the door to the garage.
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Monique
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Vanna
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| Posted: Sept 18 2008 at 9:09am | IP Logged
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Shudder.
I feel for you. We deal with brown recluses here.
I have no idea what kind of spider this was but..and I promise I am not exaggerating..just the other day I saw something scamper across the room out of the corner of my eye. I was like, Oh no! A mouse...but it wasn't, it was a spider, almost the size of my hand.
Oh. no. I must of hit that thing a million times before it stopped kicking. Ugh!!
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juststartn
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| Posted: Sept 18 2008 at 2:26pm | IP Logged
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Vanna, maybe a wolf spider?
We've got those here in OK, and I know they have them in KS, too.
Rachel
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Lily 3/11/00
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marihalojen
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| Posted: Sept 18 2008 at 2:51pm | IP Logged
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You'd be better off identifying a Wolf Spider before you try to step on it or whack it. My mother was out in the pig barns one day and stepped on a huge spider. It happened to be a mother and all those itty bitty babies on her back ran out from under her foot. She had knee high barn boots on but still managed to jump clear over a gate and get outside in record time. Nearly gave her a heart attack. Besides, Wolf Spiders are basically harmless.
Now Black Widows we used to keep in mason jars in Grandma's kitchen (my Dad's mom), isn't that odd? They didn't bother me because they're relatively sedate, easy to catch and love to eat other bugs we kids could easily catch. If you drag a pencil through their web it sounds just like a piece of paper ripping. I remember the bug man showing us that trick.
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The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: BLACK WIDOWS! AGH!
