Posted on 10/04/2010 1:12:42 PM PDT by lowbridge
Students in a San Diego elementary school are getting a lesson in arachnophobia.
Dozens of venomous black widow spiders have been found infesting classrooms in Pete W. Ross Elementary School, San Diego's KGTV reported.
"The spiders... are coming out now from the bookshelves and the doorways and even up in the rafters," April Robertson, a third grade teacher at the school, told the station.
We had quite the (outside) infestation here in N. Ga, and at our property in Alabama for the past couple of years. I think the cold winter knocked the numbers down some.
Black widow webs are very obvious - they have a haphazard design and are very strong. I’ve heard of the best ways to get them is to go looking for them at night with a flashlight and smoosh them.
Growing up in SC Colorado I have several stories concerning these spiders. A very close friend of my parents was bitten on the back of his scrotum while he was using an old fashioned outhouse. I guess he swelled up like nobody’s business. He recovered as he was the proud father of two daughters.
One fall day I grabbed a coat out of my parent’s mud room and put it on. Having allergies, I always keep old used kleenexes in the pockets. Well, I reached in a pocked and felt legs tickling on my palm. I withdrew my hand and had the largest female widow on it! I wasn’t bit but I completely freaked out screaming my head off. Luckily, the room was @ 45 degrees so I suspect the cold temp kept her from zinging me. Whew!!!! Now, that I live in KS, we have to keep an eye out for the recluse. I hate em. They seem more numerous than the widow’s growing up.
AAAAAAHHHH!
Me too! They are all over the place, in our garage, in our backyard. It seems like I’m constantly killing them.
Yecchhhh I HATE spiders!!!
My first aid instructor told me that they can be as dangerous as rattler venom.
Racist! If black holes are racist, I’m sure black widows are racist too! Bigot! /heavy sarc
Sorry,I started reading this thread!
You’re on to something. When I was growing up in Arizona, I hated spiders and was a bit obsessive about killing black widows. (I would go around the yard at night with a flashlight—I was always afraid our dog would be bitten.) My favorite method for killing them was to spray the spider with hair spray and then shoot hair spray through a lighter to fry them. Back then normal pesticides didn’t work and I always heard diazinon was required for black widows and scorpions. I did a google search and it appears the EPA has banned diazinon use by consumers. Perhaps licensed exterminators still have it.
Demon WP works well. I think Diazinon was another, but I think it was banned
http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Wp-Envelope-Packets-Envolopes/dp/B002Y6DNCK
"I just need to know one thing: where...they...are!
Instead of a flame thrower, I would love to find a cheap method of freezing them with something that doesn’t leave a residue, is not flamable and is cheap. I was thinking about maybe some compressed CO2, but I am not sure how to go about it setting up a method to spray it. Seems like critters that like crevices could be taken out in a second or two with such a device.
My mom lives near the beach in L.A. She has had a large infestation of Black Widows and Brown Widows for the past several months. (The Brown Widows are also poisonous, smaller than the black ones and have a tan-colored hourglass). My country cousin came to visit and spent days physically routing them out of the garage and yards. We went to get spider spray at Lowe’s and were told they were sold out because so many people have been infested. When they started appearing in the house, I finally signed up with Terminex. I am also very arachnaphobic so this has been a challenge! ;-)
Or teachers union members?
I should have never started reading this thread, now I feel like spiders are crawling on me!
Black Widow is a neurologic toxin... Causes the massive release of the neurotransmitter that causes muscle contractions.
You have an ascending charlie horse cramp that won’t relieve.
Typically only deadly in extreme cases...elderly, very young, bad heart or many multiple bites.
Their talking about NEA Union Goons, right?
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