Another clue is an extremely sticky, thick-feeling web. Messy too, as others
mentioned. We grew up in black widow country - saw a lot of them, caught
some in a jar until mom found out grin, and none of us 10 kids was ever
bit by one. The aggressive house spiders are worse around here for biting,
and they leave a nasty spot.

The black widow will eat a lot of bugs for you and isn't as big a threat, in
my opinion, as people think.

Mac Knight
http://www.macknight.addr.com

"Judy and Dave G" wrote in message
...
Hi all

Today I found my second black widow spider. Found one last year, also.

My front yard has about a 4 foot slope at the edge. About 4 years ago, we
took out the grass, found some large rocks on the farm, and terraced using
the stones, 2 per layer. Turned out great. Last spring when I was
cleaning
up and replacing mulch, I found a black spider with 3 red dots on it.
Everyone said it was not a black widow. I looked it up and, sure enough,
it
is. Today I found another. Just behind the rocks and not into the dirt,
but under the mulch.

The book says they only bite to protect their young, or to kill their
mate.
I guess I can say that must be true, because I had that lady pinched
between
my fingers and the rock when I saw her.

I hate to wear garden gloves, but maybe I am gonna have to get used to it!

Yuck.

Judy