Black Widows

Alert…this just in on my news feed: More black widow spiders being reported in the Denver area this year.

The other night as I turned out the light, I saw a little black spider navigating the wall under the window. My first thought was, ”I hope I don’t get bit.” That was followed by, ”Turn the light back on and swat it.”

I was able to sleep soundly, even though the possible window widow was in hiding. My larger question has always been, ”Who is going to turn a spider upside down to view the underside of its abdomen in a search for the reddish hourglass shape identifying the widow?” That was a larger question, wasn’t it?

The spider and I both lived, me none-the-wiser.