False widow spider in house window gap - leave or not?

Kermit.de.frog

So I suspected I had a false widow partially in the house but after reading the news today and watching vids it's definitely the spider. It's the right size (they are actually small) with the rigid solid legs and construct and distinguished design on it's bulb back as well as it's funnelly type small web.


I tried today to get rid of it but they are bloody fast! Also not that shy. A few seconds after trying to catch it, it was out of it's hiding gap in the window again.

Never seen that before - normally if I try get a spider out I never see it again.

I hate spiders and definitely have a phobia of them (except Daddy Long Legs) - there are a lot of them in the house and they are great for taking care of big house spiders. So I leave them be hanging in their flimsy webs.

So i'm thinking even if it came in the Daddy Long Legs spiders will kill it anyway. True, not true?

Anyhow what do you suggest?

Should I just leave it alone?

I could kill it but I don't want to do that either really if I can avoid it.

Happy to take any advice.

I'll see if I can get a pic.

tiredblondie

The only thing i can suggest is.......BURN THE HOUSE DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not a chance i'd still be there haha!!

Better Than Christ

They tend to panic when you try to pick them up. Place your hand down flat beside the spider and let him walk onto it. That way he won't feel under attack and (probably) won't bite you.

NickNickleby

I've killed two, over the last few years. I always catch and release spiders over the garden wall. But these guys have a nasty bite, and my understanding is that they're a threat to our native species.
Two weeks ago, I cleaned our shed using one of those battery vacuum cleaners. Released loads of spiders. Amazed myself, cos I'm terrified of them. However, I've learned to overcome my phobia and be the real dad of the house. The rest of them would smoosh all spiders on sight. So, you might call me , spider man. However, unlike Peter Parker, or whatever his name is, a spider bite would more likely make me die of fright, than develop spidey senses.

tk123

I got bitten by a spider last year so nope - I wouldn’t leave it lol! I use the bite/trip to urgent care when it got infected as my excuse to have somebody in the house take spiders outside for me lol

Kermit.de.frog

tk123 wrote: »

I got bitten by a spider last year so nope - I wouldn’t leave it lol! I use the bite/trip to urgent care when it got infected as my excuse to have somebody in the house take spiders outside for me lol

You got bitten in Ireland?

I thought this was exceedingly rare?

I'm getting negative vibes on this fella from our chat.

He hasn't emerged today yet.

NickNickleby

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

You got bitten in Ireland?

I thought this was exceedingly rare?

I'm getting negative vibes on this fella from our chat.

He hasn't emerged today yet.

Good article in yesterday's Irish Times. Apparently their venom has been reevaluate and is now considered to be as venomous as the Black Widow. They're also thought to be much more aggressive, especially the type known as Window Crack Jumping False Widow.

What's that behind you???

tk123

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

You got bitten in Ireland?

I thought this was exceedingly rare?
.

Same here but when I went to get it checked out they had apparently had loads of people in with spider bites (this was August of last year) and the doctor was pretty sure it was a spider bite too. He was South African so I took his word for it since they have tons of dangerous spiders there(!) They drew marks around it where it was red/swelling and told me if it spread past the lines I needed to go back to them/a&e... I hadn’t really been taking it seriously until then(!)

Kermit.de.frog

tk123 wrote: »

Same here but when I went to get it checked out they had apparently had loads of people in with spider bites (this was August of last year) and the doctor was pretty sure it was a spider bite too. He was South African so I took his word for it since they have tons of dangerous spiders there(!) They drew marks around it where it was red/swelling and told me if it spread past the lines I needed to go back to them/a&e... I hadn’t really been taking it seriously until then(!)

Did they speculate on the type of spider?

Also just back to my defensive line of daddy long legs. Would these kill it if came in?

It's just I have seen them wrap up much bigger spiders no probs.

There is one big one in my bedroom, I call him Fred, and he's been taking out the trash through the summer

NickNickleby

Hey Kermit.de.frog,

I'll be serious now, even though I'm a messer at heart😊.


I've seen Daddy Long Legs's taking on fat hairy spiders and vanquishing them. Given the tiny body on the Daddy Long Legs, I was impressed at the David and Goliath outcome. However, I've never seen them taking on a False Widow, nor did I see any evidence of same. In reality, that just means I've never seen it. But I've read that the False Widow IS a threat to our home grown spiders. That's why I've no compunction about despatching them.

When you get the little so and so, check afterwards for the little silk cocoons, and destroy them, if any.

Contrary to my previous report, they dont jump.

tk123

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Did they speculate on the type of spider?

No but at the time false widows were in the news. I didn’t see what bit me and assumed I had been bitten by a fly in the meadow in the park like I had been before and it’d go down as normal... I even laughed when my friend told me to get it checked out - like a eejit! :rolleyes: This just got worse and worse and was then infected.

Irish_peppa

False widows :eek:
Did something happen in Ireland the last year or two that those massive wolf spiders are gone? I used to get all the time in my house but have not seen them in 2 years if not more. Very weird.

NickNickleby

By an amazing coincidence, my wife was outside the back door this morning, and her attention was drawn to a commotion under a window cill. There was a false widow attacking a wasp. I'll have another look at the photos to see if they're worth posting. Anyway, later, I went out to survey and found nothing, until I spotted a small hole. I have to imagine that's where he's living.

Just had a look at the photo, not clear enough, just an obviously shiny body if the photo is magnified.

con747

The study on them is here https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/12/6/402/htm

tk123

DanielTaylor wrote: »

Every Spiders hate the smell of citrus fruits such as lemons, limes and oranges. You can rubbing some lemon peels along the window sills and door frames will put dangrous spiders off entering your room.

Could that potentially keep them from going back outside though lol! I was at the vets there... brought the car next door for car wash to wash away the cobwebs after reading this thread

NickNickleby

tk123 wrote: »

Could that potentially keep them from going back outside though lol! I was at the vets there... brought the car next door for car wash to wash away the cobwebs after reading this thread

For REAL collywobbles, wait till you're driving at 100k and see one crawling up onto the handlebars of your motorbike. And you can't stop because you're on the motorway. As they often say : Dont ask me how I know.

nb, wasnt a false widow, was a money spider :pac::pac::pac:

lucalux

Wouldn't have bothered me too much in the past, until I met a girl who ended up with a huge abcess on her leg from a false widow bite. First doctor didn't recognise it as such and she ended up in hospital for a week.

So I'd be re-homing them elsewhere, away from the house. Like, away away.

Eduard Khil

They have a far worse bite than first thought I'm terrified by spiders almost 40 and spiders and bees make me shudder

whisky_galore

I vacuum up the bastards regularly, I don't care about their rights and no matter how many get sucked up, I won't make a dent in their population. Not petrified of them, I just don't want them or their webs messing up the place. You want to live, don't come crawling in here.

Irish_peppa

whisky_galore wrote: »

I vacuum up the bastards regularly, I don't care about their rights and no matter how many get sucked up, I won't make a dent in their population. Not petrified of them, I just don't want them or their webs messing up the place. You want to live, don't come crawling in here.

ehhh I am thinking you could have a colony now in your Henry Hoover :eek:
I wonder can they make their way out through the pipe. There is oxygen and plenty of food particles in the hoover . Could be a paradise. Would you beleive I found a mouse nest in an old henry hoover. They mice came in and out through the hose and nested in the actual dirt filled bag:eek:

whisky_galore

Irish_peppa wrote: »

ehhh I am thinking you could have a colony now in your Henry Hoover :eek:
I wonder can they make their way out through the pipe. There is oxygen and plenty of food particles in the hoover . Could be a paradise. Would you beleive I found a mouse nest in an old henry hoover. They mice came in and out through the hose and nested in the actual dirt filled bag:eek:

No, it's not a Henry and they're all dead as doornails. Being sucked up and bashed around a clear plastic dust compartment isn't good for their health.

The Master.

I've found a few of these at this stage. I have a shed out the back crudely converted into a man cave and they don't seem to mind making a home in any gap like between two cushions or in a sock or glove. As opposed to the house spiders who stay in the door frames and nooks and crannies out the way.
Found one in the house two days ago. Reddish legs I think was a male. Like many of God's creatures, the females get fat over time and im sure that luckily for us this will impede their ingress into domiciles.
False widows and slugs found on my property are sent straight to hell without passing go.

scilover

I can't imagine sleeping in the house knowing that there is a widow spider in my house. That's just scary to me.

kg703

scilover wrote: »

I can't imagine sleeping in the house knowing that there is a widow spider in my house. That's just scary to me.

Hope you don't live in south county Dub - they are everywhere. Couple of reports of people being bitten around the area, we've found several in our gaff. Three were in the shed, seen another three or four especially over the past few months hiding in doors frames.

Husband is also a severe arachnophobic so thats fun

scilover

kg703 wrote: »

Hope you don't live in south county Dub - they are everywhere. Couple of reports of people being bitten around the area, we've found several in our gaff. Three were in the shed, seen another three or four especially over the past few months hiding in doors frames.

Husband is also a severe arachnophobic so thats fun

....that is a nightmare come to life to me. I would run away to another state if one falls down onto me. Also, isn't the black widow venom quite venomous?

OldBean

Our dog was bitten by a false widow last year and nearly died from it. We'd an awful few weeks while she recovered.

They're on the squish list.

scilover

Just be soooo sure that it is out of the house! It is the most venomous spider! Call pest control or anything if you have to!!

Hellrazer

I had a nasty bite from one of these last year.
2 courses of antibiotics, 2 courses of steroids and I still have 2 marks where the venom travelled down my leg...nasty ****ers!!!

tk123

Hellrazer wrote: »

I had a nasty bite from one of these last year.
2 courses of antibiotics, 2 courses of steroids and I still have 2 marks where the venom travelled down my leg...nasty ****ers!!!

Did you see it!??! I never saw what bit me! ...probably for the best :eek:

Esel

scilover wrote: »

Just be soooo sure that it is out of the house! It is the most venomous spider! Call pest control or anything if you have to!!

That is the Black Widow spider...

Hellrazer

tk123 wrote: »

Did you see it!??! I never saw what bit me! ...probably for the best :eek:

Didn't see it but went back to where I had been working... Replacing the decking... And found loads of them.
Found a really good doctor who was sure it was a false widow bite.

scilover

scilover wrote: »

Just be soooo sure that it is out of the house! It is the most venomous spider! Call pest control or anything if you have to!!

Not only is the black widow far more venomous than it's "false" cousin, it's far from the most venomous spider.

That list appears to list north American spiders only.

Don't be scaremongering now.

watlantic

The Master. wrote: »

False widows and slugs found on my property are sent straight to hell without passing go.

Good on ye. boy. They're an invasive species that first were reported in the late 90s in the east of Ireland and then were hardly seen for a few years. However, they rapidly increased in population in the past 10 years, but now are becoming a plague all over the country. They were 'imported' from the Canary Islands where they have natural enemies, but here they've none and are becoming a plague. They're as useful as the invasive Japanese Knotweed, and what do you do with that ?
BTW ticks (carriers of more than 20 diseases, eg. Lyme disease) are spiders, too. Anyone in defence of ticks ? Would you extract a tick and then set it free in your garden to mate and multiply ?
Anything that might bite me gets to fight my hoover anyway, and the lit fire after that:mad: