Black Widows

[BrianS]

I collected these last weekend



This a tiny juvenile. Note how much more brightly colored they are when young.

 

[Joe]

have you ever got bitten by one? i'm just wondering.

Joe

 

[MicroMantis]

you will be sorry... I don't like to keep animals that can kill me, especialymultiple ones.

 

[Ian]

Yeah, I mean lets just go out and collect some cute little spiders, the worst they can do is kill me...

 

[Rick]

Unlikely a black widow will kill you. Make you very sick and really cause some damage to the bite area but thats it.

 

[MicroMantis]

I get reactions to insect bites, a fire ant bite me once on my wrist and it got to the point to where I couldn't wiggle my fingers. So, for me, yeah, I have to be carefull.

 

[Rick]

Well if you are allergic then a simple bee sting can kill you. I was talking about those that do not have allergies to insect bites/stings.

 

[Jesse]

Latrodectus venom is very different from wasp/ant venom, and either way in order to have a true allergic response to either you must have prior exposure to the venom, so the first time you are bit by a black widow you would have a normal response. You are much more likely to be dangerously allergic to the anti-venin because of the serum (which you are likely to have been exposed to in some way previously in your life).

 

[Rick]

Latrodectus venom is very different from wasp/ant venom, and either way in order to have a true allergic response to either you must have prior exposure to the venom, so the first time you are bit by a black widow you would have a normal response. You are much more likely to be dangerously allergic to the anti-venin because of the serum (which you are likely to have been exposed to in some way previously in your life).

I wasn't saying the two venoms were the same. I was just using it as an example.

 

[Jesse]

I wasn't saying the two venoms were the same. I was just using it as an example.

I know, I was just adding info that I thought would be interesting to know. I wasn't picking on anyone, sorry if it came across that way.

 

[BrianS]

You guys, I've been keeping them for 20+ years and have never been bitten (knock on wood). I keep other animals much more dangerous than these widows. For instance....I have a Rattlesnake and several of the world's most toxic scorpions. Out of all my kritters I worry less about the widows. I have already sold 6 widows and have more people wanting them so I guess I need to go on another collecting trip lol

 

[Macano]

We get lots of black widows inside our place here. I hate them. I like jumping spiders, which we get lots of also (outside, at least), but all it took was waking up one morning and finding a widow on our bed comforter and they went onto my hit list. We've found 6 inside our place this month alone. Resilient buggers, the more we kill, the more we seem to find!

 

[dakota]

hey i like black widows, can i have one? i also like black and yellow orb spiders.

 

[Chris Dickie]

I think the statistics are something like a 5% chance of death for a healthy adult from a black widow

the fact that anyone in the US (except some states) can own any animal is pretty stupid in my opinion, in the UK we have the Dangerous Wild Animals Act which means you need a license which must be aproved by a vet inspection and i think twice yearly vet checks after that to keep anything regarded as dangerous eg venemous snakes, highly venemous inverts etc. It also covers mammals so that people can't keep tigers in their flats as one guy in New Yok was!

Right, time for me to step off my soap box

P.S. I don't mind people keeping things as long as they keep them properly. I wouldn't keep anything like these myself though.

 

[Leah]

Most cities dont allow keeping of dangerous/venomous animals inside the city limits, and permits are required to keep them outside with certain inspection and veterinary stipulations as well. THere is nothing you can do about those who choose to disregard the rules, as I am sure was the case with the Tiger in NY.

 

[Chris Dickie]

Sorry if I've got it wrong but I've been told before by some Americans that they don't need licences and it would be stupid to have licences

I'll tell more about tiger-man after I do a search, think it was some time last year, lol, how do you hide a tiger in a flat?

 

[Leah]

Many people (regardless of country of origin) are clueless about permit requirements.. kind of like a lot of people here.

It does depend where you live, but most medium sized (and large) cities do have dangerous animal restrictions. It often takes someone to cross the line and have a tiger in their apartment to get these rules in effect, however.

I have no idea how you'd hide a tiger in an apartment, but that kind of thing isnt that uncommon. I dont see how you could have 500 dogs or cats in a house either, but several times a year, that is on the news too. Or 147 horses in a field... etc.