So I have a massive Black Widow right outside my back door, I need to get rid of it due to the fact my dog is always in that area. I honestly do not want to kill it she is absolutely beautiful, but I know that she has just bred with a male that was there last night, meaning there soon will be hundreds of baby Widows. She keeps crawling up into a lamp outside so there is no easy way to remove her without being bitten. My question is, is there any way to safely remove her without hurting her or myself. I cant spray water due to the electrical issue and do not want to use any type of poison. I know this is kinda a odd situation but if anybody has any thoughts it would be much appreciated.
If the dog doesn't mess with her then she will not mess with the dog. I knew a guy who used to put lots of BWs on himself partly to prove the point that the BWs will (usually) only bite when pressed to do so or when tackling prey. I knew people in Louisiana who would sit at the yard table outside and the table had numerous (really big) BWs underneath and they never had any problem with it. If you feel it is necessary move her then trap her carefully (there are a number of ways) and then place her in another area that provides good habitat. Check BW on wikipedia.
It's real cool you don't wanna kill her. I hate that. When people just kill a living creature because it's a nuisance. I think it'd be cool to have a black widow living somewhere close to where I could watch it. Though dogs are known to be curious and the dog has no idea that it can die from being bitten by that spider. I'd suggest maybe fencing off or blocking access to the area where the spider hangs out until it moves on. You could also move the egg sac to somewhere that when the spiders hatch, they won't be living all over your property, causing much more danger for the dog.
I ended up moving the black widow to a field and put her next to a concrete drainage pipe. She was massive, easily the size of a dime with legs and all. She had not yet laid the eggs so hopefully all will be well. Thanks for your input.
I actually used a mix of lemon oil coconut oil and vinegar and put it around the area she was to get her to move out of where she was hiding, put a broom in the web and moved her to a jar. That recipe I found on numerous web sites and figured I would give it a try, seemed to work, but it did take awhile.
I used to worry a lot when I saw black widows. I am renting a room in the basement of a hundred year old house. When I first moved here I moved every black widow I saw outside. Sometimes 3 or 4 a week. Anymore I just ignore them if they ignore me. I did find a pretty huge one hiding in my laundry basket the other day that kind of scared me a little though. It was hiding under the edge where you lift the basket and I didn't see it, then it fell on my shoe when I picked the basket up. I'm a little more vigilant with the laundry now.
I get tired of moving all the recluse look alikes. Enough people move around here that they COULD reasonably be here. But outside they all go.
I think I might be a bad person because when I see a spider, especially one who might bite one of my children, pets or myself I "dispose" of it. When we moved into this house it sat empty for over a year and it was home to many spiders, a couple that could be dangerous. I ended up being bitten by one when I was reaching behind something. It made me sick and the pain in my finger that was bitten was terrible for days. I don't mess with spiders! Be careful when trying to move them!!!
