Uninvited Guest

We had an unexpected party crasher this Labor Day weekend! *shudder* Gives you the creeps, doesn't she? Yeah - yuck. I have a strict "no kill" policy when it comes to most pests, preferring to escort them either outdoors if they've wandered inside or away from our immediate surroundings if I feel like they're too close. (Remind me to tell you all about the time I caught a flying squirrel with a plastic trash can and a broom. It had fallen down the chimney into our bedroom and while I was running around the room trying to scoop it up, Dean was standing on our bed yelling "Catch it - there it goes!" and other unhelpful things.) The most notable exceptions to my pest policy are cockroaches and poisonous spiders. Then I have to dispatch them with extreme prejudice.

As luck would have it, Elinor (my child who is terrified of spiders) spotted it. She ran inside screaming for me to come and look. I took one look and said "Yep. That's a black widow." and headed back inside for some bug spray. Dean, of course, didn't believe me until after I sprayed it and flipped it over onto a paper plate so they could all see the red hourglass markings on her belly. Silly man, he should know by now not to doubt me when it comes to identifying venomous creatures!

I left it on the paper plate outside until I was absolutely, positively sure she had passed on. Then I dumped her into a little Gladware container, sealed the lid and put it in the kitchen window. I can't decide whether I'm going to take it to Tilly's science teacher at the middle school or have it mounted and framed. I know that's an odd choice to have to make, but scary as it is, it's got a sort of terrible beauty to it. Plus, Halloween is coming up soon (my favorite holiday - yea!!) and you gotta admit... a REAL black widow spider would make an awesome decoration!

No matter what we end up doing with the spider, I have learned something very important today: Raid ® Wasp & Hornet spray kills spiders!!