SPIDERS! AACCKK!!

[mudhen]

Spiders don't bother me, unless they bite. I stay out of their way, they stay out of mine.
I took a course on arachnids at university. They are pretty facinating creatures.

BTW, bayouchica , another fabulous picture! I'm first in line for when you publish your first book of photographs!! (you are soooo talented!)

 

[Bubba]

Wegotzchickens, I kill black widows without hesitation. They are one of two that I will kill non stop. All the rest of them I leave them be, if there web is in the way I knock it down and they eventually move.

A black widow bite could indeed kill your chickens. Thou the birds will try to eat them I assume (My birds attack anything smaller than them that moves) DE will rid your coup of spiders and whatnot. I just got done spreading it around the outside of the house. My hands are white from it

Bubba

 

[yearofthedog]

I hope I don't creep anyone out(but I know I will!). I love, love, LOVE spiders!

I have a tattoo of a black widow, I love them so much! And, I have a small collection of "pet" widows that I keep, 4 of them of varying ages, from infant straight out of the sac(now a healthy juvenile) to about 2 years old. I know it's a strange hobby, but I've been keeping them for more than 10 years...

Most people don't realize how clean spiders are! They eat many undesirable pests and contrary to popular belief, black widows specifically are not aggressive.. They will run before they bite.

And, yes, just in case your wondering, I've been bit by a black widow twice and no, not by any of my "pets" past and present!

 

[wegotchickens]

yearofthedog, you don't creep me out because I've always tried to get along with beneficial bugs.
I've always liked various praying mantis that inhabited my garden spaces.

But the BW's are a little different, since they're poisonous. I knew I had one last year, but it was just one. And I did kinda get the feeling she knew me because she didn't run away when I worked in the garden, but just watched me. Now, though, with the peeps, I have more concerns. I suspect they'd get pecked before they could bite any of my girls. And the BW's do hide when I tap on the walls of each raised bed before I work in the beds itself. Since I usually work there during free-range time, I'm hoping that keeps everyone safe...
Is a BW bite as bad as a Brown Recluse bite?

Bubba, I do have DE and am ready to use it if the BW's get out of hand. I don't mind just one BW in each bed, but now that I'm getting one in each CORNER of the beds it is starting to worry me a little. I try to live in peace with all God's creatures, but part of peace is balance and I'm afraid I'll need to regulate that a little.
I'd mail some to yearofthedog if I could!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I get a lot of spiders the make webs in the corners of my chicken coops. It really helps to keep the fly population down a whole lot! They are pretty much just natural sticky traps!

 

[Ferrn]

I am SO GLAD to know that I am not the only one who feeds the garden spiders. Now my boys enjoy feeding them too!!

jen

 

[yearofthedog]

Quote:
A black widow bite is far less severe than a brown recluse. Those are truly SCARY spiders! I've heard some horror stories about the brown recluse bite...

The black widow bite, to me, is not much worse than a bee sting, the only difference(in my experience) is that I got some bad abdominal cramping for a couple of days from my bite.

wegotchickens, I'm happy that you have a healthy respect for black widows

and don't kill on sight!

But, for those of you that do, I'm okay with that too(though it does make me a little sad)!

 

[Zenbirder]

I also am a spider fan, at any one time there are quite a few in my hose living peacefully with me. There are some types I gather and take outside, depends on the size and agression. I rescued a tarantula from the hens last week, I am pretty sure they would have killed it. It was a HUGE one for around here, very beautiful. I took it 1/4 mile up the wash to where the chickens don't go. This morning I again walked into the support string for one of my orb web weavers in the back yard, and no I don't particularly like walking into webs either. I think I can go move one tall potted plant to a spot she can latch on to and solve the problem of me walking into it daily. These spiders are coveted (by spider lovers) around here. Many people I know feed them. They get quite big with stunning webs and we call them "Monkey spiders", I don't know what their real name is.

 

[Patchofheaven]

My sister-in-law who is also a self proclaimed "OCD Neat Freak" will not remove a spider web from the inside of her home. She swears that it is bad luck, she is also English - does anyone else think that this would be bad luck? Or is it an English thing?

I'm not superstitious, if there are cob webs, spider webs or anything else that doesn't belong in my house - it's cleaned and removed from the house.

 

[Don B]

I just told my wife that tomorrow we are going to walk around the yard carrying chickens and hunt down the spiders! She HATES spiders, and uses up can after can of the wasp and hornet spray to kill the huge Banana spiders we have. She uses that particular spray because she says it makes the spiders die a quick and painful death. She enjoys seeing them writhe in agony as she moves on to the next web.

...wait a minute... what kind of woman am I married to, anyway?