So I moved my parts truck (again) over the weekend, and got a bit of a surprise when I pulled off the passenger side wheel:



Here's a closeup:



As far as I could tell by the spider's size and the red hourglass on the underside of its belly it was a female black widow. I've only seen one of these before, and they are CREEPY. They're shiny like Darth Vader and move real slowly and deliberately - I'd say they make tarantulas look like cute and cuddly pet material...

Anyhow, here's a couple more pictures I took of the truck during the move. The first is a detail of what's left of the decal on the driver's door. Pretty faded and flaked away, but still cool looking:



And here's the truck, after the move was finished:

 

Oh yeah, that's a Black Widow all right. Fairly common around here. They like dark, secluded spots like that, and in the crawl space of your house. Legend has it they eat Raid for lunch, too. LOL Just be careful around them. Their bite will definitely make you ill.

 

Yeah If its got the hour glass its a black widow. We got em all over the place in northern california. They dont bother you much, they run if they can. Thats a big one though, dont pet it.

 

LOL... I can send you some more of them if you want, there all over AZ...
I hate it when I find the scorpians... Trying to make them move on...

 

Man, I hope you killed that thing.....

I was bitten by a spider (type not known) 20 years ago....caused me much pain and grief. Still flares up once in a while. They may have a purpose on earth, but I don't know what it is.....did I mention I HATE SPIDERS!!!!!

Black widows and recluse spiders LOVE old car bodies and tires. Especially tires......
Stay safe out there.......

 

Thanks, now my back and legs are itchy.

 

You too....lol.

 

Believe me, the thought never crossed my mind...

 

When I read your thread title I was thinking snake, I hate snakes!

of course I dont like the black widows either and we have plenty of them around here, I'm always smashing them. I also find them at work under manhole lids all the time.

here is a different spider I found last summer in a wash,

I didn't know we had them around here either so I had to take him back to the office for an introduction with the office staff

thats a reallly cool door logo too, if you uncover more of it post pictures.

 

Spiders are good for squishin'.

I've caught a few widows and put them in jars to scare the wifey.


Badger, what part of Central Coast are you from specifically?

 

Whoa - you could put a leash on that one! I came across a couple of hairy spiders that looked like the one in your photo in my basement last winter. But they were smaller, about the size of a 50-cent piece. They were also creepy, but they didn't seem too threatening... after I discovered them they quickly ran away.

Hey POS-F500 - I live a few hours north of you in Santa Cruz County. And you're a brave man. If I pulled that trick with my wife, I'd surely be sleeping out in the truck WITH the spiders...

 

Damn you guys! My head was itching when I saw those spiders!

 

Maybe it's a sign.......goin' to the dark side?
I hate spiders....
w

 

When I saw the title I thought I was going to find a picture of my mother in law!

 

The only good spider is a dead spider...