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Black Widows and Children

July 14th, 2008 by Mommie

This morning, around 6:30 am, I came downstairs with the baby to check my e-mail and Mommieshome. What did I see crawling across the floor but what I believe to be a black widow spider. Turns out my husband had killed one just the night before as well, so that made two. My husband then banned my son from coming downstairs until we can figure out where they are coming from. It got me to thinking, what are the risks of a black widow bite to a child or infant?

One good thing is that black widows really only attack when they are threatened, like if you disturb their web. Of course children (especially toddlers) are curious and are sure to make the spider react in a negative manner.

Bites to children or infants are indeed much more serious than to adults, anyone could have told you that. The symptoms of a bite are as follows:
-bite mark, usually two fang marks, swollen and red
-muscle cramps
-fever and chills
-nausea
-headache
-shock

If your child is bitten by a black widow spider, seek medical help immediately and ice the bite in the meantime.

Needless to say, spiders straight creep me out. I am one of those screaming girls when it comes to them. But now I need to worry about the little ones too!

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10 Responses

Jessnboys writes:
July 14th, 2008 at 10:42 am

I once had a black widow fall out of the pants I was wearing!! Yuck!! Needless to say we did a bug bomb and found a bunch of baby black widows. It was also in our finished basement where this happened.

I hope you don’t find anymore!

~Jess~
Eric (5)
Isaac (2)
Baby # 3 EDD 10.9.08!
m/c 6/04 @ 5w, 6/07 @ 5w and 11/07 @ 10w
My blog: http://jessthemama.blogspot.com
Irene writes:
July 14th, 2008 at 8:15 pm

EW!!!!

I hate spiders…what a scary sight to start your morning with. I hope that was the last black widow you see. I would have been screaming too, and reaching for the nearest shoe to squish him with. Yuck!
Surfer J writes:
July 15th, 2008 at 12:32 am

A doctor I did a lot of research with told me that there were no documented cases of a black widow bite killing anyone. They are indeed more dangerous for children than adults, though. Most adults will probably get a stomach ache and not really think about it. Children should be taken to a doctor immediately, as you suggested.
Michelle writes:
July 15th, 2008 at 6:29 am

They usually come from basements or anywhere there would be dampness. They like cool. I have seen them in my basement. Last year, one black widow, had an egg sac in it’s web. It was in my basement near the window. You will think I am nuts, but I let them live. Once the sac “hatched” and all the little babies came out—they traveled up the wall and out the window never to be seen again by me and the mother left as well.

If a spider is in it’s own corner and not bothering me or anyone. I usually let them live. However, if I see too many, then they have to go. But I let the occasional spiders live as long as it is not a threat. They help keep other things out of the house. Like flies, and miscellaneous other summer bugs.
Collin Williams writes:
July 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am

There are something like 11,000 spiders per acre so the fact you’ve only seen 2 isn’t quite so bad. I used to live in this house that had the worst spider problem I had ever seen. In the 2 years I lived there, I killed around 150 spiders (yes, I kept score… what?). Mostly wolf spiders. But I did kill 3 black widows, and 1 brown recluse (as well as 2 other species I didn’t know). I let the Daddy Long legs live… because I like them… I even gave them names…

Outside of my mild insanity, your spiders could be coming up from a basement or out of a dark space if the area has recently been disturbed. Also, if there is a nearby development of any kind (or some other activity (like trees coming down) where the property is disturbed, Spiders will move on (so will rats, mice, and skunks). They could be coming from something like that.

Collin
Rejectsociety.com
delilah writes:
July 15th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

I live in Ohio and we don’t have black widows here. Last year someone found on in a bag of grapes in the grocery store and it made front page news. Isn’t that funny? The way everyone talked about them – I thought they would kill you dead if you got bitten.
Reflexes writes:
July 15th, 2008 at 5:24 pm

just last summer here in Australia…we saw some red back spiders in our garage and back yard about 6 of them. they say that this red back’s are very poisonous…so with no hesitation we called the pest control specialist.

nice blog…this is my first time here…and thanks for the ec drop.

Reflexes
marviepons writes:
July 15th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

well, im not a girl but spiders creep me out too..
Mike @ Celtophilia writes:
July 16th, 2008 at 7:03 am

I’m not sure where you’re at, but in GA we seem to be having some sort of infestation of black widows this year. All my wife’s friends have said they’ve been seeing more than normal, and we’ve found three in our yard so far and one in the bathtub with the kids! Flying insect spray seems to dispatch them nicely, as well as the standard squishing method.

One of them was so big I wanted to keep it for an insect collection, but my wife refused. The colors on them are very pretty, but she was too freaked out.

Our house has always been overrun with cobweb spiders, but we just squash them or catch and release depending on where they show up.
Krissy writes:
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:47 am

Black widow spiders and black widow bites should be taken very seriously. They are the most venomous spiders in North America. Someone wrote that there are no documented deaths from black widows–but there are. While their venom isn’t usually fatal to healthy adults, it is more likely to be fatal to babies, children, the elderly, the infirm, etc. From what I’ve read, baby black widow spiders are venomous too.