[Buzz123]

You mostly only see them at night. They are usually found about a foot out from a wall or bush along sidewalks. Las Vegans have learned to stay near the curb when walking at night. They are also going to be in your backyard on bushes, walls, pillars, behind storage buildings, and attached to equipment like lawn mowers, etc. They'll pick a spot in the garage right near the door, like in the dark corner just inside, or in the door guides. They only come out at night, so take a flashlight and a spray bottle of bug poison, and hit them directly with the spray. You might want to get out of the way, or be ready with a swatter, because they will get drunk on the spray and wonder around. Usually they never crawl on the ground or anything other than their web. They make a very messy web, not one of those geometric designs of artistic spiders, so that's how you know were they are hiding. You can guess where they are and spray in the area, then watch for them to stagger out. I'm not sure if they recover once they sober up so it's best to whack them as long as it's safe. Knock on wood, I've never had a dog get a bite, and as far as I know I've never been bitten by a black widow, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. I know I've had spider bites form gardening etc., and I'm sure that it's true that they crawl on you in bed too, but those aren't dangerous.

[airics]

ok i am now officially freaked out

[kimba01]

Eww...just eww. Just about killed my desire to sit outside at night. Do you think I could get an iguana and have it police the yard? LOL!

This is exactly ONE reason why I have Bugbully! Reason two is those nice little roaches, I mean "water bugs".

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by kimba01

Eww...just eww. Just about killed my desire to sit outside at night. Do you think I could get an iguana and have it police the yard? LOL!

This is exactly ONE reason why I have Bugbully! Reason two is those nice little roaches, I mean "water bugs".

I don't think you have to worry about sitting outside. BW spiders are very shy and they don't crawl around looking for people to bite. If you get bitten it is going to be because you stuck your hand in a place where they like to hide without wearing gloves, or at least looking first. The other way is due to their night time habit of stringing a hasty web between two objects about a foot apart to catch bugs, you might bump into one if you're walking close to a brick wall at night wearing shorts. That's why we Las Vegans develop a habit of walking out a foot or two from the walls at night. I kill some of them, but olecapt is right about how they help keep the bugs down.

[kimba01]

what bugs? besides roaches and widows, I don't see much...well maybe grasshoppers or crickets, and some other little crawlies that aren't too bad...I would rather the other bugs, maybe...and yes, I walk on the curb even in the daylight! lol!

[unf0rgiven6262]

Originally Posted by kimba01

what bugs? besides roaches and widows, I don't see much...well maybe grasshoppers or crickets, and some other little crawlies that aren't too bad...I would rather the other bugs, maybe...and yes, I walk on the curb even in the daylight! lol!

I actually found a baby praying mantis in my apartment the other day. I decided to keep him as a pet. Neat little guys they are.

[philmason]

So the report for the night is that my rosemary bushes are completely clear of these things, after the previous night's spraying. However, both adjacent neighbors still had about 10 visible widows each right on their sidewalk. I'm still blown away by the number of these things in the bushes. I decided to spray their bushes without permission, as I am certain it is safe for the bush. Both neighbors have small children that play outside, so I doubt they even are aware of these things.

What is kind of scary about it is that the webs they spin connect from the sidewalk, maybe at the halfway point, up to the bush. The spiders then lurk in the center of the web. If you were walking down the center of the sidewalk at night, you would definitely get the webs wrapped all around your ankles.

Thanks for the poster earlier in the thread with a similar neighborhood of rosemary bushes, I am not surprised that at some point a HOA has addressed this before. Our neighborhood is the same way, those bushes are in front of 50% of the homes, lining the streets. Perhaps other neighbors have talked to the HOA. I'll self police it =D

[unf0rgiven6262]

Originally Posted by airics

ok i am now officially freaked out

Haha, it's a little unnerving. Especially since I woke up the other night to a big roach crawling on me. Now there's always that thought in the back of my head that it may be a widow.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by philmason

So the report for the night is that my rosemary bushes are completely clear of these things, after the previous night's spraying. However, both adjacent neighbors still had about 10 visible widows each right on their sidewalk. I'm still blown away by the number of these things in the bushes. I decided to spray their bushes without permission, as I am certain it is safe for the bush. Both neighbors have small children that play outside, so I doubt they even are aware of these things.

What is kind of scary about it is that the webs they spin connect from the sidewalk, maybe at the halfway point, up to the bush. The spiders then lurk in the center of the web. If you were walking down the center of the sidewalk at night, you would definitely get the webs wrapped all around your ankles.

Thanks for the poster earlier in the thread with a similar neighborhood of rosemary bushes, I am not surprised that at some point a HOA has addressed this before. Our neighborhood is the same way, those bushes are in front of 50% of the homes, lining the streets. Perhaps other neighbors have talked to the HOA. I'll self police it =D

Sounds like the spider army was getting ready to mount an attack.

[dynimagelv]

ya make ONE Spiderman movie and they think they own the world