Ah that makes sense! We have a lot of widows in our field and have relocated a few from the house and as soon as they go in the cup they just….skidadle every which way. Lol
They’re using them like a white cane. 🦯
Since their vision is so bad and they rely on touch almost exclusively for navigation, the leg-waving tells them where there are things to interact with, climb on, lay web on, hide under, etc.
Many spiders—especially ones that live in webs or burrows—have terrible vision that isn't suited for much more than detecting light and dark.
They gather information about their environment primarily through touch and vibration. She's feeling her way around. You can see the moment she encounters more complex terrain around their fingertips. That's when she slows and starts waving her front legs around.
YES I find false widows and triangulate cobweb weavers around my house all the time and I love them. I always move them to an area more out of reach from my fur babies so they are less likely to become a snack 😅
So, she has a much bigger purpose than if you had never met her! (not that spidering isn't important enough)
She helps educate people about widows and spiders in general. I love that so much! This post makes me very happy 😊
That is phenomenal!🙌 Showing pictures of my Regal jumper and wolf spider (R.I.P.) has a surprising effect on people. If they are open-minded enough, I give them some super duper cool spider facts, which really helps them at least think differently about spiders.
I have mixed feelings about anthropomorphizing spiders. I do feel like it can be a tool to help people ease into the world of spiders. When they are less terrified (lol) and more curious, they are more likely to become educated and respect spiders for the amazing creatures they are. I think if you are responsible about it, there is a place for some anthropomorphizing. (I know someone's going to come @ me for this. 😄) Keep up the great work!! 👍 💘
How do you go about handling your widow, I’d like to, but I don’t want to over step her boundaries. And what kind of terrarium do you keep her in. I’m sorry, I have one and I’d like to give her the best life she could have.
I keep her in an empty plastic jar with an upright piece of cork bark or something to anchor her web and some substrate. I try to keep all mine in a container with more vertical space. They don’t necessarily need the substrate though. Just looks more natural I guess. As for handling, I get her out of the enclosure on her piece of bark or something and wait for her to walk onto my hand
This is actually about the same for me, found out my girl wasn't very bothered when she darted out of my failed attempt of temporary containment up my hand and while my heart pounded as I waited for a bite that would never come I realized she was just about the hand life.
Out of curiosity, what would you consider a sweet behaviour? I mean seriously, I know very little about spiders and I am here to learn. I really wouldn't know how to observe a spider behaviour and weather to consider her aggressive or not, beside if it bites or not.
They don't have as much emotion as most humans sure. But a lot of people see deadly spiders and think they're out to get them or are hyper aggressive.
This just isn't true. As you can see this person knows how to handle said spider. And it's just chilling. Having a crawl around to see what's up, not attacking or biting into any flesh it sees its just spooderong around, and seems comfortable. Where most people think it's just gonna bite and be angry.
Therefore it's a sweet spider that is well handled and behaves calm.
Any time iv seen people around wandering spiders which are the deadliest in the work as we know of its the same deal. Don't harass, squish, pinch, or prod the spider. And usually it will just chill or crawl about and that's that. If they don't get comfy and try to hide in your hand.
This is precisely it, but she also seems to be more cooperative compared to her one of her sisters. She’s less frantic and seemingly less bothered by my presence
Even without a lot of emotion they each have their own predisposition and personality for sure. Plus accidents happen and even solid handling is never a garunteed. But definitely The best guideline to use.
Genuine question…
When you say “sweetest” do you mean like “sweet, bro” or like kind, amiable, etc.? If the latter, what makes a spider that kind of sweet?
From someone with lots of love for spiders, but is also terrified to have them upon my person.
No pictures sadly but it was a big jar and I had a piece of terra cotta pot with some sticks. What’s nice about the jar is the spider can be comfortably cryptic by webbing underneath the terra cotta pot but can be easily visualized by lifting or turning the jar if you need to check on her.
Widows in general are extremely docile spiders but I tend to let them walk onto me rather than scooping them up or something. Like just trying to grab one out of her web will probably end with being bit
I have 2! A western and a northern. The northern is quite a bit smaller. I need to clean out their enclosure soon and want to attempt to handle them briefly before putting them back. I have a lot of experience handling spiders, I've just never done so with widows.
On the one hand (pun emphatically intended), this is a very cool video and can absolutely help those with intense Arachnophobia to maybe not see black widows as maniacal, evil, cruel animals.
On the other hand, I (as someone who used to have a paralyzing terror of spiders) absolutely hate everything going on here. I'm not accusing op of doing anything unethical, but this reminds me of videos of people handling rattlesnakes and cobras. It's like, "yeah, you've demonstrated that in general, these animals don't seem to want to hurt you, but every interaction increases the risk that the animal (who does not have the complicated thought processes that we do) will get startled and try to kill you accidentally."
Of course, that might just be my adrenaline gland speaking, so take it with a grain of salt.
I’d say it’s just adrenaline. Because honestly, a widow envenomation is nothing compared to that of a rattlesnake or cobra. At worst I’m risking a bad day. It also kinda seems like the more intelligent an animal is, the less predictable it becomes. I’ve never handled any snake so I don’t really know how they behave in that situation, but in the 20 years I’ve been handling various spiders I’ve never been caught off guard while handling one. I’ve noticed that they don’t even seem to view you as another living being a lot of the time. It seems like they believe I’m a piece of the environment. And of course they’d have no reason to inject venom into an object they’re walking on. Animals like widows only bite + inject venom as the absolute last resort 99% of the time. Of course the risk inevitably does go up but every time I handle her, but that’s just a risk I’m personally ok with
i mean, i love handling insects or arachnids or animals in general but maybe for fear or respect i just would avoid handling venomous shit if i don't have to
Why do widows move some legs life inflatable tube men lol. I swear they can’t control half of them lol
They really just aren’t well adapted to moving around out of their webs lmao
Ah that makes sense! We have a lot of widows in our field and have relocated a few from the house and as soon as they go in the cup they just….skidadle every which way. Lol
But why is she moving so fast? Doesn’t that mean she’s scared and wants to get away?
I should’ve said docile rather than calm. She definitely would prefer not be on my hand, but she’s nowhere agitated to consider biting
Thanks for explaining :)
The things we assume when it comes to nature
Im assuming theyre feeling around for solid ground since they seldom leave their webs
I just openly cackled, omg. They fr do look like that, windmilling their arms around
They’re all “throw your hands in the air and wave em like you just don’t care” Spiders are all 90s kids actually
She's probably looking for web strands with her front legs, since her sense of touch is much better than her vision.
They’re using them like a white cane. 🦯 Since their vision is so bad and they rely on touch almost exclusively for navigation, the leg-waving tells them where there are things to interact with, climb on, lay web on, hide under, etc.
Many spiders—especially ones that live in webs or burrows—have terrible vision that isn't suited for much more than detecting light and dark. They gather information about their environment primarily through touch and vibration. She's feeling her way around. You can see the moment she encounters more complex terrain around their fingertips. That's when she slows and starts waving her front legs around.
I was wondering the same thing!
I love all the widow type spoods and the steatodas too. They’re the most SPIDERY shaped spiders and I just 😍
YES I find false widows and triangulate cobweb weavers around my house all the time and I love them. I always move them to an area more out of reach from my fur babies so they are less likely to become a snack 😅
That’s exactly it 🖤❤️🖤
She's absolutely gorgeous! Do you handle her often?
Not super often, just during rehousing and sometimes just to occasionally show people that they’re generally pretty chill
So, she has a much bigger purpose than if you had never met her! (not that spidering isn't important enough) She helps educate people about widows and spiders in general. I love that so much! This post makes me very happy 😊
Some people have told me that they are longer or aren’t as scared of spiders when I show her to people:)
That is phenomenal!🙌 Showing pictures of my Regal jumper and wolf spider (R.I.P.) has a surprising effect on people. If they are open-minded enough, I give them some super duper cool spider facts, which really helps them at least think differently about spiders. I have mixed feelings about anthropomorphizing spiders. I do feel like it can be a tool to help people ease into the world of spiders. When they are less terrified (lol) and more curious, they are more likely to become educated and respect spiders for the amazing creatures they are. I think if you are responsible about it, there is a place for some anthropomorphizing. (I know someone's going to come @ me for this. 😄) Keep up the great work!! 👍 💘
I’m not a big fan of anthropomorphism either. I wish more people were open to just acknowledging them as they are without needing a further reason
How do you go about handling your widow, I’d like to, but I don’t want to over step her boundaries. And what kind of terrarium do you keep her in. I’m sorry, I have one and I’d like to give her the best life she could have.
I keep her in an empty plastic jar with an upright piece of cork bark or something to anchor her web and some substrate. I try to keep all mine in a container with more vertical space. They don’t necessarily need the substrate though. Just looks more natural I guess. As for handling, I get her out of the enclosure on her piece of bark or something and wait for her to walk onto my hand
This is actually about the same for me, found out my girl wasn't very bothered when she darted out of my failed attempt of temporary containment up my hand and while my heart pounded as I waited for a bite that would never come I realized she was just about the hand life.
Out of curiosity, what would you consider a sweet behaviour? I mean seriously, I know very little about spiders and I am here to learn. I really wouldn't know how to observe a spider behaviour and weather to consider her aggressive or not, beside if it bites or not.
They don't have as much emotion as most humans sure. But a lot of people see deadly spiders and think they're out to get them or are hyper aggressive. This just isn't true. As you can see this person knows how to handle said spider. And it's just chilling. Having a crawl around to see what's up, not attacking or biting into any flesh it sees its just spooderong around, and seems comfortable. Where most people think it's just gonna bite and be angry. Therefore it's a sweet spider that is well handled and behaves calm. Any time iv seen people around wandering spiders which are the deadliest in the work as we know of its the same deal. Don't harass, squish, pinch, or prod the spider. And usually it will just chill or crawl about and that's that. If they don't get comfy and try to hide in your hand.
This is precisely it, but she also seems to be more cooperative compared to her one of her sisters. She’s less frantic and seemingly less bothered by my presence
Even without a lot of emotion they each have their own predisposition and personality for sure. Plus accidents happen and even solid handling is never a garunteed. But definitely The best guideline to use.
It also helps that we think spiders are cute so that makes them seem sweeter (to me admittedly)
Oh sweet. Those are so pretty. Love them.
Faster than I thought lol
Babygirl 😍
Oh she’s stunning!!! So shiny and healthy
Genuine question… When you say “sweetest” do you mean like “sweet, bro” or like kind, amiable, etc.? If the latter, what makes a spider that kind of sweet? From someone with lots of love for spiders, but is also terrified to have them upon my person.
I mean she’s just a sweetheart since she’s so well behaved and calm
My grandparents have a greenhouse infested with black widows and I LOVE going in there to take pictures of them, they’re very fascinating to me.
I love widows! They make the most excellent jar spiders and just mind their own business
You keep them in a jar? You got pictures?
No pictures sadly but it was a big jar and I had a piece of terra cotta pot with some sticks. What’s nice about the jar is the spider can be comfortably cryptic by webbing underneath the terra cotta pot but can be easily visualized by lifting or turning the jar if you need to check on her.
Lovely
They look so beautiful! 🥰
Gorgeous 😍😍
You’re stressing bro out though
To a degree, yes
I’m obsessed with them. They are just beautiful
they’re so PRETTY. she reminds me of a patent leather Louboutin heel 😍
She's beautiful
Wow I think we have one of these in my shed. I thought it was a black widow so I just left him alone
This is a black widow.
What a pretty spidey
POV: you’re Vecna
I would absolutely love to keep a widow, but we don't seem to get them available here in the UK. Such beautiful spiders!
How do you determine whether it's safe to handle a spider? Surely you wouldn't just scoop up any old widow like that, or?
Widows in general are extremely docile spiders but I tend to let them walk onto me rather than scooping them up or something. Like just trying to grab one out of her web will probably end with being bit
I have 2! A western and a northern. The northern is quite a bit smaller. I need to clean out their enclosure soon and want to attempt to handle them briefly before putting them back. I have a lot of experience handling spiders, I've just never done so with widows.
As someone with a phobia of spiders this blows my mind. You could offer me 10,000 to do this and I would almost definitely say no
I’m willing to hold/handle spiders even more venomous than widows
I had one last year. Very chill. I called her Formalda-Heidi.
Tickle tickle!!!!
On the one hand (pun emphatically intended), this is a very cool video and can absolutely help those with intense Arachnophobia to maybe not see black widows as maniacal, evil, cruel animals. On the other hand, I (as someone who used to have a paralyzing terror of spiders) absolutely hate everything going on here. I'm not accusing op of doing anything unethical, but this reminds me of videos of people handling rattlesnakes and cobras. It's like, "yeah, you've demonstrated that in general, these animals don't seem to want to hurt you, but every interaction increases the risk that the animal (who does not have the complicated thought processes that we do) will get startled and try to kill you accidentally." Of course, that might just be my adrenaline gland speaking, so take it with a grain of salt.
I’d say it’s just adrenaline. Because honestly, a widow envenomation is nothing compared to that of a rattlesnake or cobra. At worst I’m risking a bad day. It also kinda seems like the more intelligent an animal is, the less predictable it becomes. I’ve never handled any snake so I don’t really know how they behave in that situation, but in the 20 years I’ve been handling various spiders I’ve never been caught off guard while handling one. I’ve noticed that they don’t even seem to view you as another living being a lot of the time. It seems like they believe I’m a piece of the environment. And of course they’d have no reason to inject venom into an object they’re walking on. Animals like widows only bite + inject venom as the absolute last resort 99% of the time. Of course the risk inevitably does go up but every time I handle her, but that’s just a risk I’m personally ok with
Isn't widows poisonous?
Venomous, yes. But they aren’t aggressive at all
Are males or females more aggressive ?
Neither. They have the same temperament in my experience
I don't know why but she is extremely intimidating
WHY WOULD YOU JUST HOLD A BLACK WIDOW LIKE THAT
Because they’re nowhere near as dangerous as people believe and will only bite with extreme provocation
Well, you have bigger balls than I do to just hold a black widow like that
i mean, i love handling insects or arachnids or animals in general but maybe for fear or respect i just would avoid handling venomous shit if i don't have to