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Monday, November 15, 2010

Black Widow in the Laundry Room!!

Yesterday when Meg got up she found a Black Widow spider in the laundry room. They are common around here though we have never found any in the house, likely came in on the recycling bin. I removed him and let it go outside. Many of you might ask why I did not kill it? As a nature photographer nature might never be interfered with, it is my way. BTW Black Widows are poisonous but not much of a threat when they are minding to their business and you are minding your own business.

We built 3 make shift cold frames on Sunday. One of CPVC piping that is light and 30" x 96". Another was the freebee one we used 4 old window sashes placed on left over concrete blocks (Swiss Chard). The last one I used some leftover 2 x 8s and bought 7 pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe and 24 conduit straps, it ended up being 6' x 10' and about 5 foot tall. All the plastic was left overs from handyman projects too!
It was dark by the time we finished building cold frames so I do not have any photos of them yet.

Everyday for the past four days we had seen this Chinese Praying Mantis on the screens of our porch.
The art studio tour was fun! I bought an original water color of a Trout Lily, it was small 5 x 7. Realized today that my avatar is of a Trout Lily... 

Given I'm on the new mac the work flow for creating photos until I get it figured out it terribly slow. Trying Gimp it seems ok but finding the image to put in it in Iphoto with 400 other images pretty well sucks. at this point.
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10 comments:

  1. Catherine@AGardenerinProgress10:41 PM

    I'm not sure I would've been so kind to the Black Widow if it got into our house.
    We don't get Praying Mantises here either, they are pretty cool looking.
    I have a mac and love it. I photo can be a pain to find pictures in. I can't seem to figure out a way to organize them easily. Hope you get it all figured out.

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  2. Hazel11:03 PM

    In Oz we have poisonous red back spiders which are in the black widow family. If you asked me I could probably find quite a few on the property for you. They are quite shy and frequent dark spaces, like empty plant pots and rubbish piles where they spin lots of vertical strands of web. As you say, they mind their own business and it is a matter of knowing their habits and taking precautions such as turning things over before grabbing them, or wearing gloves. We even have a humorous song, 'There was a redback on the toilet seat'. They rarely come inside. I am glad you didn't kill your black widow.

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  3. Shady Gardener11:30 PM

    Well... I'm glad I don't have to deal with Black Widow spiders. A few snakes in the yard are enough for me. :-) I love your praying mantis photo! Hope you give us progress reports on your cold frame and the good food you'll be growing.

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  4. Carol7:25 AM

    Lucky Black Widow . . . no other spiders had to mourn her loss . . . the mates she has already killed and consumed would have been lost by another. I admire your respect Randy. I wish I could overcome my fear of these creepy crawly things. I know you are right but in the house . . . perhaps she will let others know of your kindness and they will all stay out now. Another assassin . . . great shot of the mantis. I just make folders in Iphoto and sort by names . . . hummingbirds, trees etc. I do not know what Gimp is. You will grow to love your mac . . . I would predict. :>)

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  5. Southern Lady8:52 AM

    Black widows are very common here in our yard. I have found one in the house once when we first moved in. It was under the ledge of the bottom step. I think it came in the front door a couple of feet away. Fortunately they are not agressive spiders and only bite if you directly touch them and try to harm them. Carla

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  6. Janet, The Queen of Seaford9:33 AM

    A Black Widow in the laundry room? Hmmm....well, never doing laundry again. there --problem solved.
    Very nice cold frame. Just veggies or early spring ornamentals as well?

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  7. Gardener on Sherlock Street11:27 AM

    We've had black widows in the garage. I'm not willing to share my space with them.
    Very nice praying mantis. Love them. Hope your cold frames keeping you gardening into the winter.

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  8. Curbstone Valley Farm11:49 AM

    Great Mantid pic! We occasionally find widows in the house. The last one we found was lurking over the cat's water bowl. I'm with you, send them back outside where they belong. I think ours sneak in mostly on the firewood.

    I like your cold frame structure. It's similar to the hoops we have over our raised beds. Good for plastic cover as a cold frame, but also works well with floating row covers later in the season too.

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  9. Caroline Gill6:24 AM

    That praying mantis photograph is AMAZING! What a picture! What an unusual house guest, too.

    As for the Black Widow, well, SCARY ... but I would have wanted it to preserve its liberty, too.

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  10. tina8:38 AM

    Awesome shot of the praying mantis! Lucky black widow spider to come into your house for sure.

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