Ophelia II (This post contains spiders)

[mistressofmuses]

Well, just the one spider actually. At least in pictures.

Last year, my mom and Taylor found a very nice big black widow in the house. She had set up a web in the main floor bathroom, and they left her there and named her Ophelia. (Named after Morticia's sister in the Addams Family. My aunt has two black widows in her barn that she named Morticia and Wednesday.)

Ophelia disappeared from the bathroom and next appeared right next to Taylor's computer. That was slightly too close for comfort, so they relocated Ophelia to the basement.

This year they've found a couple smaller black widows in the house. There was the one in the kitchen that was relocated outside in preparation for the cat last month.

And then, while I was over at my mom and Taylor's house this most recent time, my mom drew my attention to the wet bar sink...


A black widow in the sink!

I scooped her into a jar.


She wasn't completely delighted. And boy is she fast!

I gifted her to Alex. We named her Ophelia II, because while I have no proof that she is actually the original Ophelia's offspring, she could be.


I set up a habitat for her. Spare coconut fiber substrate from Berry Mad's habitat, some sticks, a couple rocks, a sideways glass flowerpot as a hide in case she wanted a dark spot.

She did not want a dark spot, and immediately set to building a web between two of the sticks.

I put a couple crickets into the habitat.


And she caught one! :D

She also looks quite a bit rounder than she did when I first caught her, so I'm guessing being well-fed is part of the classic widow shape.

We're assembling quite the collection of arthropods.

Comments

[scarlipswolfwife]

Lovely! Definitely not something I could keep myself, but I'm glad to see that you've got Ophelia II taken care of there. I'm pretty sure I once saw a black widow in/around my aunt's mailbox one time, and I managed to get the mail before she crawled way too close to my hand. She moved on after that - probably I scared her as much as she freaked me out. I'm always happy to be kind and patient with Anansi's Own, as long as they don't *touch* me or look like they could be a harm to my furkids in any way.

[mistressofmuses]

I haven't seen black widows all that many times. We saw them down in New Mexico a couple of times, and I know that I had people who told me they encountered them in their yards or basements and stuff here, but we just never seemed to see them.

I know they really are pretty docile in general, but still worth being cautious around. (And definitely to keep the other pets safe, who likely don't realize they should not touch!)

I don't mind spiders in general, though. I'm almost always the designated spider relocater of any given group.

[omens]

You seem to get so many black widows! as someone who considered a Colorado move in 2022/23, I'm kinda distantly horrified at what could have been :DDD I'm such a baby about spiders! Ophelia is such a great name & it's wild that you could see the difference in her roundness after a good meal. They're so interesting (thru the screen lol)

[mistressofmuses]

We really don't get nearly as many as this makes it seem! I definitely knew people when I was a kid who said they had them in their yards/basements or whatnot, but I just plain never saw them, despite our yard being pretty ideal for them. We saw them in New Mexico on trips there sometimes, but these ones (the one last year and the two younger ones this year) are the first we've personally encountered here. But it is three in two years in one house!

Ha, I am glad that I'm not disturbed by spiders. It means I'm always useful as the designated spider relocater! I'll let her keep being interesting through the screen, haha. (And with ones that do have the potential to do harm, like black widows, they certainly deserve to be treated with caution and care!)

[omens]

You've just been spider lucky!! That's so funny :D I live with a spider relocater - I yell about a spider and he's like "are you talking about GREGORY?!"

[mistressofmuses]

I have been spider-lucky, haha. I'm glad you do have a designated spider relocater, so your eight legged roommates can be peacefully elsewhere, lol.

[olivermoss]

Wow, I've never seen a black widow, I don't think. You are creating quite a collection!

[mistressofmuses]

I don't think I saw one (outside of captivity) until I was in high school, and those were in New Mexico. I'd hear them mentioned as a threat when I was a kid, but even the people who claimed they saw them all the time never managed to produce them when I was around, haha.

She's neat to watch! Very fast. Made a really impressive web across the whole enclosure.

Many invertebrates! Not entirely planned, but I'm happy about them!