Day 147 -- Boil a Black Widow and her Egg Sac

“Why do I hate spiders? …. who doesn't? ” 
― Steven Erikson

I like that spiders help keep bugs under control.  But honestly, they totally freak me out!  I found this one today when I took the top of my sprinkler box off.  A female black widow has a bite more toxic than a rattlesnake.   They can make 4-9 egg sacs each summer and each sac can contain 100-400 eggs.

Can we say….CREEPY!!!!

I didn't want to smash the egg sac because I didn't want 400 baby black widows crawling around.  A friend suggested boiling hot water.  It totally worked, but I'm still keeping an eye on the egg sac because I want to make sure those babies are dead!

This photo is unedited in any way.  This baby was HUGE!  With legs uncurled it was as big as a quarter.  The egg sac as big around as my thumb…

By far the creepiest first for me.