stuck my hand right up in her business

Perv. (And yay Apostropher not getting bit!)

I hate those sons of bitches. My uncle lost his arm below the elbow when he was bit on the wrist gathering firewood. My cousin was bit on the leg messing around with some bales of hay in a barn as a kid, and he didn't know to go get help and ended up just laying out there and very nearly died.

I hope you made it suffer.

stuck my hand right up in her business

Only fair of you, since she got all up in your grill.

Eeeeek! Pretty...pretty *scary*.

I'll admit, I have no problem with killing black widows. Ick.

I hope you made it suffer.

You sound a little too into this, Brock. Maybe this is why?

Yeegads! That's so scary!

But seriously, I'm all for killing poisonous spiders when they pose a danger to avuncular limbs and the lives of cousins, but it's not like the black widows are being malicious and deserve punishment. They're just, you know, doing their spider thing. Don't hate the player, Brock, hate the game.

Has it put you off your curds and whey, Becks?

What the fuck is wrong with you, M/tch? For black widows, "doing their spider thing" means MURDERING PEOPLE. Why do you suppose it had built a web under Apostropher's grill cover, if not to try and kill Apostrohpher and his family? As far as I'm concerned unless they are playing in the woods, far away from civilization, black widows deserve to have their legs torn off one by one and their bodies lit on fire.

10: Racist.

I hear you can find lots of black widows in new Orleans these days...lots of black orphans, too.

*braces for the inevitable backlash*

I bought my house 4 years ago and have been selectively killing black widows whenever I find them, usually in my garage, but occasionally in little nooks and crannies in the siding around the outside of my house.

I have been finding fewer and fewer each year. I credit this to my commitment to crushing them whenever I find them. For extra bonus, I crush the egg sacs when I find them. Each one is several hundred black widows that are never born. HA HA !!!!!

However, I leave other, non-harmful-to-humans spiders intact, with the idea that with some spiders around, the black widows will have a harder time re-establishing a presence, as most nooks and crannies already have a spider living there.

One thing about widows, though, is that they pretty much stay where they are. So, to get bit, you really have to molest them where they lurk. They don't come out to get you.

One thing about widows, though, is that they pretty much stay where they are. So, to get bit, you really have to molest them where they lurk. They don't come out to get you.

See, this I hear a lot, and it's just stupid. It would be one thing if they only lurked in places where I never intend to be, like the core of the earth, or Texas. But they don't! They lurk in garages and woodpiles and backyard grills!

To 11, I'm not racist at all--I'm against brown widows as well, not just black ones.

like the core of the earth, or Texas

Heh heh.

or Texas

Phew! You've set my mind at ease. Okay widows, you can stand down from battle stations.

See "murdering" is just a strange description of what happens when somebody dies from a spider bite. It seems to ascribe malevolent intent. I don't have any love for black widows -- also I don't think I've seen one since I've been in NJ, and not for want of poking around in basements and garages and woodpiles -- but I just find it difficult to think of one as a murderer. Same for scorpions.

malevolent intent

You think the biting spider is just being friendly?

18: More like defending its home from enormous giants capable of crushing the spider and all its offspring with a couple of swipes from their massive limbs.

18: I don't think of spiders as having any cognition. Do you?

Oh sure, like Wilbur came up with "RADIANT PIG" all by himself.

Note that Charlotte was no black widow.

Look, I don't really believe spiders necessarily deserve to be tortured. But I don't like them, at least not the poisonous ones, especially not when they're up in my personal shit. And if they don't want to be killed they ought to stay the hell away from me. That's the same deal I've made with the neighbor's cats, and I think it's fair.

Sounds totally reasonable to me. Did you let your neighbor know you were going to dismember and incinerate his kitties if they come around your place?

I carried a black widow out of harms way (and out of the way of harming our volunteers) just the other day. We got on famously.

19: You're just saying that because the widow's black, aren't you? Racist.

21: "RADIANT PIG"? I thought is was just "SOME PIG". Maybe you read a fortified version?

25: But did you carry its eggsack in your mouth? Because otherwise, I think you still only count as acquaintances.

26: eggsackly.

You're just saying that because the widow's black, aren't you?

You know, I should have thought of casting a write-in vote for the black widow during that whole hottie contest nonsense.

Brock, if you dismember any kittens, don't go incinerating them. I hear they can be quite tasty if you roast them with stout, garlic, boullion and mushroom soup.

28: Cat eating will not be tolerated.

29 -- I understand it's a delicacy in some southeast Asian country.

29: Racist.

Did you let your neighbor know you were going to dismember and incinerate his kitties if they come around your place?

Well, like I said, it's only the poisonous ones who will be getting the death sentence. So far they've all looked harmless enough. But I've got my eye on them.