I have! They are native so what the heck. Get a wide mouth clear container(so you can see where she is),a stiff piece of thin heavy stock paper(card stock with high gloss fliers in the mail work well) Pop the jar over the spider,wait for her to run away from the opening,lift the jar slightly( just enough for the paper) and cover the hole.She can't get through card stock so press the paper firmly over the hole and dump her out in the back 40 somewhere. PJ

Oh, boy, Pam. I used to have them all over the place out west. God made a whole bunch of them living out there where they won't bother you. I promise, HE won't mind missing one. ; - ) She will be difficult to capture, and if you've ever seen someone bitten by one....... well, its just not worth it. Now if you had a whooper under your roof, I WOULD try to capture that one. In fact, I'd come help!! ; - )
J.D.

I don't think I've ever seen a black widow spider.

What are those black furry looking spiders that get on your car but don't have hour glasses?

Never had a black widow in my yard - or just haven't seen them.

The little black furry spiders are probably jumping spiders. Here is a link with lots and lots of photos of different types of furry little (some not so little) jumping spiders. You'll have to scroll down to see the different pictures. I didn't know they had an attraction to cars. ;-) I usually see them in my garden or lawn.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia - Jumping Spider Pictures

PPB,
She is not fuzzy at all, rather a very glossy black, slender legged spider and this one is larger than black widows I've seen in the past ... about 2 inches from front to back legs. I did not see her hourglass, but I'm sure it's there.

Jeff wants to just kill her so I have to overcome my fear and move her myself. PJ, will you come do it for me? (just joking)

Pam

If her abdomen is very big, then she is about to lay her eggs. Good luck and be careful!! J.D.

Pam, please kill it, she could move somewhere that you won't be able to see her and accidently disturb her and she could bite you
I don't like killing a lot of things but I do kill Black Widows and not think twice
I just relocated the other spiders, not those

Ewww..and I don't have a phobia about spiders, yet Ive never seen a BW...I agree with jolana...sorry everyone who loves these creatures..Im just not willing to take a chance with me or my grandson..or her having babies and have millions around or in my house....Dont touch or get close in case she jumps...(I dont even know if BW's jump or not..I just know they are bad!) .. just spray!
Good luck Pam!!
Dena

Yes, they jump. My BIL was pointing to one on a wall next to her eggs when she jumped out and bit him on the finger. Excruciating pain and several days in the hospital (he nearly died). Sooooooooooo, that probably prejudices my opinion some.

I don't mind the jumping spiders, wolf spiders, etc, but Garfield and I are buds when it comes to BW's - I have LOTS of spider marks on my wall. ; - )

J.D.

Denise, thanks! Looks sorta like the one with green spots/eyes. But no green. Seems like there is some white also. Annnnyyyywayyy. Whatever. I get black furry car spiders. They are not large and not ferocious and never have any scary marks, so I've come to live with them.

Good merciful heavens, JD, you have had some terrible black widow spider experiences. I'm sorry about that. Sucks when nature bites your (not YOURs, but you know...) finger and sends you to the hospital.

I don't see how it is that I've lived here all my life and never seen a black widow. (who will visit me in the hospital whilst I'm on life support now???)

Well, I chickened out. I had the can of wasp spray so I didn't have to get too close, but I just couldn't bring myself to get near enough to spray. Y'all are scaring me even worse ;-) I do know that the bite affects the nerve endings and causes excruciating pain, but to nearly die!!! I'm gonna be a grand mom in January! I guess I'll let Jeff bomb her.

Pam

You would be fine - they don't jump that far. The wasp spray is good stuff. It acts quickly. Didn't mean to scare you. Just another opinion.
J.D.

Ya'll quit killing stuff! What if, oh, there I go, what if... They eat bad bugs. Let me get on my soapbox!
I'm not sure I've even seen one. If I have I've let them go their own way. I only kill big roaches that fly into my house and fire ants. And an occassional house fly but who can kill those darn things? They can see you coming from any direction!

BTW there are very, very few cases of death from black widow. They hurt and most people seek help for the pain. There is even an antivenom for them.

I have tons of spiders in & outside and I dont bother any of them. I do barrel through webs but if I can help it I just duck under them.
I have moved a few to the front where the whiteflies live and they are happily eating whiteflies now-my own method of pest control.
Tally HO!

Ms Tally, please please please come and take it back to Galveston with you. I am a serious arachnophobe.

Pam

Pam, I'm calling Garfield now.
; - )

"BTW there are very, very few cases of death from black widow." Unless, of course, you count their unfortunate mates. lol!

I've come across a few that I knew absolutely without a doubt were black widows. Nothing exciting to report, I relocated a couple to better places, and the others I just left alone.

I do prefer not to use rustic outhouses at campgrounds, simply because that's one of their favorite hang outs. Those and Brown Recluses.

Sally

I've learned enough to leave outdoor spiders alone, but if I found a black widow indoors or on the house, I'd have to relocate it to the bottom of my shoe. I know they eat bad bugs, but to me, a black widow IS a bad bug.

When I first moved to Bastrop, I found two scorpions, and moved them both to the top of the hill. Then, I was stung in bed in the middle of the night, and they have become shoe squash ever since.

I live spiders, and most bugs, and I hate to harm them. But, the feelings are not always reciprocal.

Goodness! I hope you have killed that spider by now.

I don't hurt many bugs, except for the things on my tomatoes. Wasps and mud-daubbers have free run of the place. But I draw the line at Black Widows and Brown Recluse spiders. Both like to live in our houses, and they are BAAAAADDDDD bugs!

Once, I lived at my farm, close to Gatesville. I was there alone during the week, and it was in the boonies! Nothing between me and town, except 21 miles of lonesome road.

I was preparing for bed one evening, and went to fill the bath tub. I heard a soft "plump" noise, and out of the corner of my eye, something moved. Yikes! a Tarantula was in my bathroom!

I know when I have to confront danger! So, I got the spray stuff- this happened to be foam bug spray- and I started spraying him.

He finally wound up under a big chest of drawers that I couldn't move. I spent the night huddled in my bed, being miserable, because I couldn't take a chance on getting in the tub. AND I couldn't sleep for worrying that he was in the house.

DH just said the spray made them grow. I got some different spray!

Get rid of that thing. It isn't worth being scared all the time, and what if it sneaks up and bites you when you can't see it?!!!

Janie

If I saw a tarantula in my home, I would faint dead away. Gone. He'd probably crawl all over me. And yes, I know tarantula bites/stings aren't really any more dangerous than a bee sting, but it's the CREEPY factor that gets me. I'm not even really afraid of being bitten--it's that they might *crawl on me* with all those spindly, segmented, pointy, crunchy legs that creeps me right out. Of course, if I'm in my bathroom drawing a bath, chances are good he's seeing MY legs, too, and he might be as creeped out as I am! LOL

So, how 'bout it, Pam? Did the BW live or die? Did you survive?

She is still out there, I have seen her hourglass, so it's a positive ID. I just haven't been tending that part of the garden. Hubby says he will take care of her for me, maybe this weekend. We are currently working opposite shifts so I'm not home when he is to 'urge' him on! It is amazing how well Tylenol PM works for insomnia ;-)
I don't wish ill will on any creature, but frankly I am not insured and a hospital visit would be bad for my checkbook. Where are those brave ladies who want to help rescue her?

Pam

They lay eggs and the eggs hatch out real fast. You could have a cazillion baby BWs before DH can get to it! They could be all over your house!

Just take courage in one hand(a can of wasp and hornet spray, or raid, or whatever) and maybe a stiff drink in the other hand and spray her! Then get rid of the nest before it hatches. Raid usually turns things upside down on contact.

BTW, does anyone know? What is a male BW called? Are the males marked the same as the female? Or is only the female marked with the violin, and only she is recognized as a BW?

Janie

'Adult males are harmless to humans, about half the female's size, with smaller bodies, and longer legs and usually have yellow and red bands and spots over the back as do the immature stages.' from DesertUSA.com at link below.

Be careful with the wasp/bug spray - it is death to plants too!!!! (not that I would have ever inadvertently soaked the eleagnus in my front yard - I just 'heard') ; - )

Here is a link that might be useful: Black widow spider info

I grew up around LOTS of BW (they do love the desert!) and didn't get bitten. I relocated quite a few over the years. PJ

Males are also called black widows.
I love tarantulas, they are just sooo cool.
I forgot about scorpions, they aren't really a bug are they? One stung me once so I have to say I would step on any others I saw. Dang but that hurt for weeks! I now feel guilty about trying to kill the fire ants because I noticed the back is full of antlions! I used to love those things when I was a kid. If I kill the ants what will they eat?
Luckily for the bugs at my house I'm too busy to use chemicals or bother to try and kill them. I will look at the poor salvia in the front & think I need to do something about the whitefly and then get distracted by all the plants sitting around waiting to get planted and forget the whitefly. Luckily spiders love them.
Send me the BW's, they can eat whitefly all day. There are actually several people that raise & sell them too! You could be rich and not even know it.
Now can we take BW's, scorpions, ruellia & other pests to the farmers market & sell them?
Tally HO!

Well, it's done. I survived and she didn't. I don't feel happy about this but I do feel relief that I won't bump into her and get bitten. Let's never speak of it again, please.

Pam

Thanks, ya'll. I know this post was awhile ago, but now I know I gotta kill the spider. Pains me too. I'm the one that catches spiders in the house and lets them go outside, but apparently this one kills, hospitals, JUMPING?!?!?! Holy Cats!! And I'm told that white, Cocoa Puff thing is an egg sac and (of course), she's set up right next to my front door. So I'm getting out the spray.... (and I swear I hear taps in the background...)

Good luck to you!

I have watched spiders catch and kill scorpions. I dont mind the bug help they give, but some are bad so they die. Same with snakes around here. Most are cool, but I dispatch the evil ones my multitasking wife might overlook. I do not know of any good scorpions.

Five acres of pastureland adjoining me was developed last year causing rats and mice to relocate to my place. I am so glad I pardoned 2 large snakes when I came across them. If my wife ever see's them she will insist I show her the bodies before moving back from the hotel.

HAVE A HEART AND NEVER KILL ANY LIVING CREATURE. THEY HAVE JUST AS MUCH RIGHT TO LIVE AS YOU DO. PLEASE RELOCATE THEM. IF YOU CAN TAKE THE TIME TO LEAVE COMMENTS THEN GOOGLE WHERE TO RELOCATE THEM. LET THEM ALL LIVE THEIR SHORT LIVES AND LEAVE NATURE ALONE AS IT TAKES CARE OF ITSELF. GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING WITH HIS CREATION.

Hi eyekeeplookingup,

Please read my original post from 10 + years ago.

"We have a large black widow living outside near where I garden. She is
living on the house and scoots up under some trim work. I am obsessively
afraid of spiders and she needs to move to a new location where I don't
see her. I've seen her 'messy web' there for a month or more, but had
not seen the actual spider until yesterday evening, and now I can't
sleep for thinking about her out there (waiting to bite me...told you I
was obsessive). How do I move her, glass jar and plate? Where would she
and I be happier? We have wooded areas and grassy areas. I do not wish
her any ill will and will not kill her outright, but she has to go
somewhere else."

I did try to relocate her, unfortunately my fear of being bitten overcame my desire to allow her to live. I agree with your comments and did not just seek to destroy one of God's creatures. No reason to shout :-)

Well well if you give me your address eyeskeeplookingup,I'll bring you a few buckets of Fireants. Look just above your one and only post to houzz. That's me talking about pardoning 2 large rat snakes in July 2017. One month later in August 2017,I posted about my dog's brush with death from Cottonmouth bite. I didn't pardon the Cottonmouth but if you like,I will bring the next one to you along with the Fireants. I'm glad I don't have to live next door to you and explain why some things don't need to live in my yard. I'm not taking the risk of handling them and have no intention of hiring somone to handle them. If you think me cold and harsh with view to venomous snakes,you don't even want to know what I think about the parents arrested this week for chaining their kids up.

I wonder why someone would create a profile just to yell at us?

Pam, it's a mystery. We are all doing the best we can to treat the earth and it's creatures well as evidenced by the original post and the replies. Sometimes people peruse various sites looking for a place to state their views. They create numerous profiles in order to post anonymously. They probably mean well, but such tactics don't ordinarily accomplish what they are hoping for.

"They create numerous profiles in order to post anonymously."

Oh me rose,I've often suspected that was happening. What every is the case I notice far less in Tx Gardn than on THS. At times I think about moving on altogeather because it's increasingly less injoyable for me. Tx Gardn is a breath of fresh air thanks to all the regulars.

PK, I know this is an old thread....but wanted to tell you about my black widows. ;) There is a steel table in one spot of my yard. My husband's friend built it when he was doing a lot of welding. I keep my clay flower pots stacked underneath it. Black widow spiders live in the flower pots. I don't know how many....I've seen two or three. When I need a pot, I check to see if a spider is in it. If there is, I put it back and get another. I know you wouldn't be surprised knowing I do that.

I was bit by one several years ago ... we were sitting on the back patio that evening, and I felt a pinprick on my arm. Figured it was an ant or something. A few hours later, I started feeling awful — feverish, nauseated, achy. And my arm had a nice red wound with bullseye around it. I’ve been bitten by Brown Recluses before (still have a pinky nail that won’t grow back from a bite in ‘13), so figured it was that again. My husband looked closer at the chair I was in, and sure enough, in the area under the arm of the rattan chair, there she was. Black Widow in her web. Ugh. I was sick for a couple of days.

(And yes, he killed it. He was very worried about me, and wasn’t feeling sympathetic towards the spider at the moment.)

O/T, but speaking of relocating wildlife:

I went out back one day and my Beagle was barking at something on the ground. I walked over and nearly stepped right on a coiled up Rattlesnake. I backed away slowly and called animal control. A guy came out and was able to pick her up and take her to his truck. I turned my back for a second to shut the gate and heard a gunshot! He killed her in my front yard! I was so upset and asked him why?! He said our town policy is they relocate any snake except Rattlers. I was near tears, I never kill snakes. He claimed that Rattlers tend to go back to where they were found and that she was most likely laying eggs under our deck — and in her kind of woozy state, is why she didn’t strike at me.

Well, he was right about the egg part. I had baby Rattlers come out from under the deck a couple of weeks later.

Ahh. I didn’t know that! I wonder why it was a couple of weeks before I saw babies? Maybe they weren’t Rattlers, and it was just a coincidence? We relocated them ourselves, I wasn’t calling that guy again!

It still upsets me that he shot her. I was stunned.

Rattlesnakes really scare me! I had the same experience when calling animal control to have a cottonmouth 'rescued' from my yard. Very upsetting!

Marilyn, I always found them in my pots. I can now recognize their 'messy' web. I haven't seen any here but I got a recluse bite on my shin while working in the yard one spring here. I never saw it. I still have a dark sunken scar where the bite was. My mini skirt wearing days are over anyway :-)

I just kill them. I used to have quite bit of them around the house when we built the house. Now... now so much. I am much more terrified of brown recluse spiders.

I just relocated one last night! Unfortunately I've had three appear IN MY HOUSE! This one was on the wall in the hall. Totally huge and weird that it came indoors. I've only been here four months so it must be indicative of some sort of issue with other bugs maybe in the attic or ?? Don't know. I have a spider catcher with a footlong pole. I placed it gently over the large black widow, then slid the door that's flush with the floor to shut her inside. Then I carried her several blocks away and put her in an area tucked by a low wall and some weeds. Good luck, spider. I am not into killing bugs, but since moving in I have taken lethal measures with others - more than I've had to my whole life. :-( My biggest fear is I'm pretty sure it can kill a small animal. And my cat saw it last night so I had to act quick.