<p>I thought it was a mutated spider from a lab...no idea if it was a black widow</p>
<p>It was a mutated spider from Columbia University</p>
<p>take everything out of your bedroom light it on fire--call and have someone tent ur house and spray--buy new funiture and youre done.</p>
<p>Just jump into bed without a care...I would do that.</p>
<p>you're just everywhere shaddix</p>
<p>I'm gifted like that...and quite abusive with the controls...</p>
<p>
[quote]
From what you described I know for certain that it is a black widow.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Bull. Unless you can see it directly, you can't know what kind of spider it is.</p>
<p>Sen. Someguy,</p>
<p>It is not likely to be a widow. Most widows aren't taken to bedrooms.</p>
<p>On that note, I find it funny how people are so freaked out about spider bites from spiders that aren't even common in their area.</p>
<p>But, indulge me: Was the abdomen much larger than the cephalothorax? Did the spider have relatively long, spindly legs, and was it a VERY shiny black? Even if it is, there are false widows, male black widows (who pose little threat), and other spiders that resemble the widow.</p>
<p>Oh, and if it moved well, it was probably not a widow. Most widows have trouble with movement outside of their nests. </p>
<p>Another way to tell if you have widows is to test the strength of the webs you find. Widows have VERY STRONG silk that they use to build very catty-wumpus webs.</p>
<p>FIND the spider and gently assist it out of your home. It is one of god's creatures and must be handeled with care.</p>
<p>This thread is making me very paranoid. lol.</p>
<p>I feel like something is crawling on me.</p>
<p>Eww.</p>
<p>you just need a large can of raid....that should solve it</p>
<p>Guys, this isn't a Sydney Funnel Web Spider for heaven's sake. It's, at worst, a widow. More than likely, it's a common house spider.</p>
<p>Seriously, cowboy up, grow a spine, and get on with life. I regularly encounter far more venemous creatures where I live than a lonely widow spider. Yes, they're dangerous. But, you're almost certainly not going to die from a bite. You're more likely to die in the car on the way to buy the can of Raid than from the spider itself.</p>
<p>So get over it, move on, live life, accept that the spider was there, and just keep a newspaper handy for next time.</p>
<p>Yea honestly. You would think he encounted a fer-de-lance or a taipan.</p>
<p>UCLAri thank you for your first post, I'm now almost 99% positive that that wasn't a widow (the shape did not look anything like the pictures I've seen or the way you've described). Thank you very much, I just freaked because I know getting bit yields one of the most painful experiences in the World.</p>
<p>Sen. Someguy,</p>
<p>It's bad, but there is an antivenin available nowadays, and it is therefore almost certainly not lethal.</p>
<p>Like I said, you're more likely to end up maiming yourself in a car accident on the way to the store to buy all those poisons (which will poison YOU as well), than just smushing it or letting it go on its way. </p>
<p>But I'm glad you're calm.</p>
<p>just hope that it doesn't crawl in your ear and lay eggs while you're sleeping... :) Good night</p>
<p>The black widow is just as dangerous as the funnel web. Its venom attacks the nervous system and its bite is something to take seriously. I just thought that the poor, lethal things deserved some respect, because they're as deadly as spiders get.</p>
<p>No they are not. Very few people die of the bites. From 1950-89, fewer than 100 died from a black widow bite.</p>
<p>Ah, but few people die from spider bites in general. In fact, only very few spiders are even capable of causing death, which makes the black widow (and other potentially lethal spiders) one of the deadliest spiders. The funnel spider has caused no deaths at all since the antivenom was introduced.</p>
<p>EDIT: Actually, the funnel spider has only caused 13 recorded deaths. Ever. Ha.</p>
<p>No one replied. No one cares. Oh, well.</p>
<p>look at it this way if you did get bit by a black widow most hospitals have anti-venom. The problem is that some people are allergic to the anti-venom and die. soooooooo. </p>
<p>Quote: just hope that it doesn't crawl in your ear and lay eggs while you're sleeping</p>
<p>I asked my mom(former spokesperson for stanford hospital) if this was possible and she said that she only new of one case where an insect had entered into someones ear and got stuck there. So it is possible.</p>