Comments on: river spiders http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/ a place where nature, photography and writing meet Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:48:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: burning silo http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/comment-page-1/#comment-28248 burning silo Sun, 28 Jan 2007 05:40:32 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/#comment-28248 Julia - As you've gathered, there are Black Widows in Oregon. I guess they are common enough, although perhaps not so frequently found as in California. Btw, they do have another venomous spider in Oregon - the Hobo spider. Tell your husband *not* to pick up one of those though! There's a web page about them on this Oregon Department of Agriculture site. It says that people sometimes mistake the Hobo spider's bite for that of the Recluse spider, but that the Recluse is not found in Oregon. http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/ippm_spider.shtml Thanks for writing about your experiences with Black Widow spiders. I'd heard they aren't as dangerous as some people say, and do know someone who got bitten by one and was sick for a couple of days but then okay, but I was curious about how strong a reaction a person might have if bitten. Glad you enjoyed visiting my blog! Julia – As you’ve gathered, there are Black Widows in Oregon. I guess they are common enough, although perhaps not so frequently found as in California. Btw, they do have another venomous spider in Oregon – the Hobo spider. Tell your husband *not* to pick up one of those though! There’s a web page about them on this Oregon Department of Agriculture site. It says that people sometimes mistake the Hobo spider’s bite for that of the Recluse spider, but that the Recluse is not found in Oregon.
http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/ippm_spider.shtml
Thanks for writing about your experiences with Black Widow spiders. I’d heard they aren’t as dangerous as some people say, and do know someone who got bitten by one and was sick for a couple of days but then okay, but I was curious about how strong a reaction a person might have if bitten.
Glad you enjoyed visiting my blog!

]]> By: Julia Russell http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/comment-page-1/#comment-28234 Julia Russell Sun, 28 Jan 2007 03:35:00 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/#comment-28234 I happened on to this site by accident. My husband and I just moved to Oregon and I had not seen any Black Widows. We're from California where they are very common. I was trying to find out if Oregon had them as well. I guess you answered my question. I read your description of the one at the water (I've never seen that before either). However before I stumbled onto your page I found this one at http://kaston.transy.edu/widow.html. It showed three different types of Widows. The one you described with a seperated hour glass (the website says) is a "Northern Black Widow". "New England and adjacent Canada south to Florida, and west to eastern Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. More common in the northern part of the range". I wonder if this is the area this widow came from. If it is, I wonder if it is common for this species to be so comfortable around water. I have a phobia of Black Widows. They scare me. My husband pickes them up with his bare hands and lets them crawl on him.(I definetly don't advise it.) Yuk! He has been bitten a few times. However he has never been bit when picking them up though. The first time was in bed. It bit his leg. He was sick for three days. He vomited a couple of times and had a stomach ache. He thought it was the flu until he seen the bite. A round nasty hole. He has been bit a couple of times since but doesn't get sick anymore. I too have been bitten by one. I felt it bite, but never seen it. I'm pretty sure it was a Widow. A couple of days later there was a perfectly round hole in the side of my right breast where I felt the sting. It looked just like a bullet hole. It was very deep. I still have the scar. I only had an upset stomach. I'm sorry for rambling on but Black Widows are still fasinating even though I fear them so much. I have tried to photograph them but could never get the right angle. Your photos are great. - Julia I happened on to this site by accident. My husband and I just moved to Oregon and I had not seen any Black Widows. We’re from California where they are very common. I was trying to find out if Oregon had them as well. I guess you answered my question. I read your description of the one at the water (I’ve never seen that before either). However before I stumbled onto your page I found this one at http://kaston.transy.edu/widow.html. It showed three different types of Widows. The one you described with a seperated hour glass (the website says) is a “Northern Black Widow”. “New England and adjacent Canada south to Florida, and west to eastern Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. More common in the northern part of the range”. I wonder if this is the area this widow came from. If it is, I wonder if it is common for this species to be so comfortable around water. I have a phobia of Black Widows. They scare me. My husband pickes them up with his bare hands and lets them crawl on him.(I definetly don’t advise it.) Yuk! He has been bitten a few times. However he has never been bit when picking them up though. The first time was in bed. It bit his leg. He was sick for three days. He vomited a couple of times and had a stomach ache. He thought it was the flu until he seen the bite. A round nasty hole. He has been bit a couple of times since but doesn’t get sick anymore. I too have been bitten by one. I felt it bite, but never seen it. I’m pretty sure it was a Widow. A couple of days later there was a perfectly round hole in the side of my right breast where I felt the sting. It looked just like a bullet hole. It was very deep. I still have the scar. I only had an upset stomach. I’m sorry for rambling on but Black Widows are still fasinating even though I fear them so much. I have tried to photograph them but could never get the right angle. Your photos are great. – Julia

]]> By: burning silo http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/comment-page-1/#comment-9574 burning silo Fri, 10 Nov 2006 01:03:12 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/#comment-9574 Mark - One of the things I find a little difficult about traveling is keeping in mind that there may be venomous spiders, snakes, scorpions, etc... around. Up here in Ontario, we have only one species of venomous snake and it is so rare and in such a restricted range that I'd feel elated if I ever manage to set eyes on one. When I've traveled on the west coast, my friends occasionally warn me about spiders, and the signboards at almost all hiking trailheads have posters warning of the danger of rattlesnakes -- and also for mountain lions. Perhaps I should post some photos of warning signs seen along the way as they're kind of interesting. - kara - Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the spider photos! Mark – One of the things I find a little difficult about traveling is keeping in mind that there may be venomous spiders, snakes, scorpions, etc… around. Up here in Ontario, we have only one species of venomous snake and it is so rare and in such a restricted range that I’d feel elated if I ever manage to set eyes on one. When I’ve traveled on the west coast, my friends occasionally warn me about spiders, and the signboards at almost all hiking trailheads have posters warning of the danger of rattlesnakes — and also for mountain lions. Perhaps I should post some photos of warning signs seen along the way as they’re kind of interesting.
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kara – Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the spider photos!

]]> By: burning silo http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/comment-page-1/#comment-9573 burning silo Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:56:03 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2006/11/09/river-spiders/#comment-9573 Here's a follow-up on the Black Widow spider's behaviour. I've just received a response to my email sent to David Shorthouse at the <a href="http://canadianarachnology.dyndns.org/" rel="nofollow">Canadian Arachnology</a> website. He writes: <blockquote>You are correct, widows do not drink water; they do indeed get all the fluid they need from their prey items. I suspect however they might also get some water intake by sucking up dew droplets from their webs in the early morning hours. Similarly, orbweavers get quite a bit of water when they consume their webs each morning. My best guess for the very unusual behavior you captured is that the widow is/was parasitized by a nematode, which would also explain its collapsed abdomen. Very often the behavior of spiders infected by these creatures, which can take up almost the entire volume of their abdomens, shifts dramatically to seek out standing water.</blockquote> Pretty interesting stuff and not at all what I might have guessed! Here’s a follow-up on the Black Widow spider’s behaviour. I’ve just received a response to my email sent to David Shorthouse at the Canadian Arachnology website. He writes:

You are correct, widows do not drink water; they do indeed get all the fluid they need from their prey items. I suspect however they might also get some water intake by sucking up dew droplets from their webs in the early morning hours. Similarly, orbweavers get quite a bit of water when they consume their webs each morning.

My best guess for the very unusual behavior you captured is that the widow is/was parasitized by a nematode, which would also explain its collapsed abdomen. Very often the behavior of spiders infected by these creatures, which can take up almost the entire volume of their abdomens, shifts dramatically to seek out standing water.

Pretty interesting stuff and not at all what I might have guessed!

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