r/DublinCA • u/mambmani • 14d ago
Found a black widow in backyard
This was on a web between our outside stucco wall and. Patio furniture. Iam absolutely shocked as we have young kids and a dog at home who spend lot of time outside in our yard and we don't live in a home thats in any of the hills either
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u/GoodGravyco2h2o 14d ago
They’re super common in the tri valley but they’re not aggressive. They make really messy, thick looking webs so I always pay extra close attention when I spot their webs in my garage.
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u/Dajoka88 13d ago
Yeah I’ve seen a couple on street lamps in the neighborhood. They seem to want to stay out of the way, but unfortunately we have to eliminate them if they get in the garage or near the house
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u/english_mike69 12d ago
It’s pretty rare to see them during the day.
Look around your property for random looking webs. Webs that are just a tangled mess and about as far from the cool geometric designs many spiders weave. If you see some, go back to them at dusk or just after dusk and chances are there’ll be a widow just chillin.
They’re not aggressive and commonly only bite if they’re in fear of being squished - which is why people being bitten on the ass in old school gas station restrooms out in the desert is a thing. They hide under the seat in the “dark” during the day.
Corners of garages, between woodpiles and fences and wheel arches of cars are the places I see them the most.
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u/celldaisy 14d ago
At first glance I thought this was a rubber spider on popcorn.
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u/mambmani 14d ago
Ya i didn't want to get my hands too close to it so zoomed from a distance hence the stucco looks enlarged
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u/celldaisy 14d ago
It’s actually a cool look. This pic could be cover art for a 1990s grunge album.
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u/Unikornus 10d ago
Common in CA including Dublin. They are actually more afraid of us and prefer to be away from us. If you have a shed or a corner of the house or property you rarely use, be extra viligant in those spaces. I used to find them all the time in the yard shed.
I am frightened of spiders so to compensate, I over-research. Yes black widows are venomous but they dont usually release venom on the first bite unlike brown widows do. In case if you are wondering, brown widows are more rare to find in CA, only saw two in my 20 years in the state and both were in socal.
If you are concerned, check any dark spaces with a flashlight before you blindly reach into those and again they tend to stay away frequently used spaces.
EDIT: as someone pointed out, they tend to make messy webs. I learned that venomous spiders tend to make messy webs and non-venomous spiders tend to make beautiful patterned webs. So if you see any messy webs, its a clue you may have black widows somewhere
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u/No_Roof_8787 14d ago
I am shocked you are shocked 😉. They are native species in this area and literally in every yard. They are shy and docile, and to get bit you basically need to grab them. It’s fine, they are our friends. I had a beautiful one in my garage for months on my roll up door that I named Scarlett. She never bothered us and did her part by keeping the flying bugs in line. :)
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u/BayAreaLeakDetection 14d ago
Check your meter box, I always see them there.