About two months ago, I found a black widow spider making herself at home in my garage. I said to myself, Oh no, we will not have this. So I purposed to tell my husband about the little squatter (because I am terrified of spiders). When I brought it up to him, he seemed quite nonchalant about the fact that there was a very poisonous creature setting up shop in our humble abode. After a couple days of avoiding the beast, my seven year old cousin convincingly persuaded me that I needed to rid our garage of the spider (but that is another story entirely for another day).
Well, I grabbed the most potent spray I could find, which just happened to be ant and roach killer, and set out into the garage to kill me a widow. I’m a big fan of the sprays…the farther away I can be from whatever I am trying to get rid of, the better! That’s my opinion. However, I have read that it is best not to use a spray to kill black widows; apparently it is better to squash them. I’m not sure why…and there was no way I was getting close enough to attempt a squash. I’m too scared that I will miss and make it angry.
So, I killed the one in the garage. Then, the next day, I found one making home in the opposite corner of the garage. Furious, I got the same spray, and sprayed the little monster to death. Now, from time to time I still check to make sure there are no more in those areas.
Well, that was then, but last week, I noticed one in my back yard, sitting in a web right under our door! I ran back inside and determined that whatever I needed to do to rid my home of these spiders, I was going to do that day. I did not want them around my house, not even outside! My fear had turned to a cruel hatred of the creepy little guys! So I got on the internet, and googled “how to kill black widows”. Which, as clever as that sounds, was probably a mistake!
Some people say squish them, some don’t squish them, some say spray them, some say don’t spray them, some say get a long stick and bust their egg sacs, some say pour alcohol on them. I mean, there were so many options (many of which, contradicted the suggestion before it). So, I gave that up, and just went back to spraying them with the Raid. Since that day, I have yet to discover any more black widows. But rest assured I check everyday in those same spaces….and a few others as well. I won’t have those around this house!
