Has anyone from the south of England been face to face with a 'false' black widow spider?

Question

I found one of these spiders (false black widow) in my garden. It was hiding under the beams of the front of my house. I am absolutly terrified of spiders, which sounds silly when your a 27 year old scaffolder. lol. I took a picture of it and identified it on-line and yes it was certainly a false black widow. I live in Southampton, England and was aware that they inhabit the south coast but i really did not want to find one in my own garden. As a very keen gardener it has made me slightly paranoid. Has anyone else had the dreaded experience of coming face to face with a spider that 'bites' ?

Answer 1

I'm in the U.S. and I find the real Black Widow all the time. I normally don't kill spiders and try to convince people to do the same because most are very beneficial and harmless, but I will kill a widow if I find one. I use a lot of rocks in my garden and I've found numerous widows under them. However, I don't worry about them unless I uncover one because they are very shy and elusive. They hate to be in the open and they are more afraid of me then I of them.
Good luck with your spider phobia.

Answer 2

Just come across a false widow spider in my kitchen and now worried I might have more. I am up the M3 in Camberley / Farnborough area.

Answer 3

I live in Los Angeles. Plenty of black widows where I live. Last year when I was taking down my tomato cages and gear, I killed a dozen of them (not an exaggeration; I have 12 "tomato boosters" and there was a black widow hiding underneath each one).

Answer 4

Yes I work around the South Coast between Eastbourne & Christchurch and find quite a lot of them. Mind you it was actually my job to find them!

Answer 5

gosh you poor souls I have goose pimples just reading this take care get someone in to get rid?

Answer 6

My mum has, and she's in Devon. Damn spider didn't bite hard enough!