My lease is up, do I relocate my fave. spider outside? Will it kill him?

[henslee]

He's about as big a quarter, legs included. His web is high and out of the way. I've grown fond of him and don't want the new tenant to kill him. I live in Southern California... Its been cold lately. He's brown with brown and tan legs and maybe expecting.

[CatWoman]

1. If HE truly is expecting

perhaps you'd better keep him. He may make you a bundle (of cash) :D

[amazona]

2. tee hee just what I was thinking

I always thought the larger ones were the females in spiders. Sometimes much larger.

The odds are about nil that a new tenant is going to tolerate a huge cobweb with a quarter-sized spider in it who "might" be fixing to produce a bunch of itty bitty baby spiders. I vote to move the spider outside, maybe to a protected shed or something. Spiders seem to love sheds.

[Occulus]

3. Well,

spiders produce LOTS and LOTS of babies. I would suggest, if you want to keep it, you contact your local nature center or DNR or other knowledgable official and ask them how to safely move it. If you have a university nearby, you may want to look into talking to someone on the biology department staff; they'll likely be able to point you to someone there who studies arachnids.

Hope this helped.

[henslee]

4. Biology departments? Arachnid expert at a local University? Hmmm.

I think I saw this movie.

[SoCalDem]

5. If it's a wolf spider, just put it outside near some shelter

It would probably not wnat to locate the new web where YOU would want it..

or you could find a new home for it in an aquarium at an elementary school.. They are fun to watch, and they eat bugs too..

I had one in my greenhouse window for a long time..

[marzipanni]

6. I think spiders would do fine in a sheltered place in So.Cal

We have various long term spider tenants in our back yard in No.Cal.
One lives under an overturned bucket- (s)he's dark brown, looks like a black widow but without the red hourglass mark on her abdomen.
Does your spider have an egg case she's guarding?

[henslee]

8. me too, gonna stick her in garage.... she has an egg case.

I have a photo of her but not sure how to post it... its in iphoto.

Sometimes she's in her web, sometimes she curls up in a corner nook.
i just think spiders are so elegant.

[Capn Sunshine]

9. Uh, hey....that's a BROWN RECLUSE

VERY DANGEROUS highly TOXIC bite that causes neurological damage and is fatal to small animals and children



many variations but the best description I've heard is "Like a black widow, only brown"

check California spiders here:
http://www.calpoison.org/public/spiders.html

[marzipanni]

10. Thanks for the concern, Capn

I got your pm and came back here. The spider under the bucket is VERY DARK brown, but we all leave it alone, just to be cautious.

Just call Blond Morticia...I have a black widow pet in a jar. To feed her, I catch a fly in a plastic bag, use tweezers to catch its wing, then slip it under the jar lid. She spun a ragged web on a small branch, and has an egg case but nothing will come of it since she has been alone for almost 4 months.

[Cleita]

7. Do you have a yard, with some bushes?

Or maybe a cinder block retaining wall with openings between the blocks? Relocate him there. He likes the dark. All spiders do. I would'nt worry about the cold. He follows the rules of nature and will either die or hide someplace where he can sping his web and be comfortable.

[Myra]

11. henslee I think you have to

He'll die either from the cleaning crew between
tenants, or the new tenants. You're giving him
a chance. Maybe you can put him out in a safe
protected little nook. Then you can say your
goodbyes. You've done all you can a parent,
and now he must leave the nest.

Or you could take him to the new place with you.
But that would mean you're insane.
:)