I almost shit my pants
Well, I just got done taking pictures of this huge Black Widow Spider and I was pretty nervous during the whole thing.
This bastard was a couple inches long with all of its legs and it gave me the heebie-jeebies the whole time because I was getting super close and trying to make it move around so I can get different views of it.
The venom from these spiders is about 15 times more potent than a rattlesnake and has been known to kill children and elderly. I read that they don't bite unless provoked, and well... I was provoking the shit out of this thing.
I have done some pretty stupid things to get pictures and I think this is definitely in the top 5. One of the other stupid things I did to get a shot was hang out of a window to get a shot of a lion that was hunting a zebra and was walking past our jeep on a safari.
Another stupid idea was to have a staring contest with a baboon while standing in the street. Luckily I won the staring contest and it just walked about 5 feet from me and then turned and walked away.
You only live once though right? So I guess when you don't get hurt and you get the shot, it is worth it.
I decided that it might be a good idea to grab a piece of a dead flower plant and scoop the black widow up in it and have it "sit" on the leaves.
Well that pissed the spider off and I was able to get this shot of it as it ran towards my camera. Now just imagine having your face in the viewfinder of a camera, taking macro shots within a few inches of an extremely venomous spider as it is running towards you.
Ya, I about shit my pants at this point because I lost site of it and have no clue where it went. You know that feeling you get when it feels like something is crawling on you? Ya, well I have had that feeling for a while now. Luckily, I haven't felt any excruciating pain or any problems breathing, so I know it didn't get on me and bite me. Time to call the exterminator though and have them come kill it with fire.
You had me at "I almost shit my pants" LOL!
Wicked shots my friend, unreal! And wtf, you grab a leaf to make your photoshoot with a black widow more artsy?! That's next level!! I'm chuckling!!
lol. I do some stupid things sometimes just to get a shot. Here is the baboon that almost charged me and got just a few feet away.
*Goosebumps! I'm so glad you won that staring contest!
Wow. Great photos, per the norm.
I have a pair of 20mm ammo boxes rigged as saddle bags on one of my motorcycles. They are really cool, and air tight so they work really well. One day I went into one of them for a wrench that lives in the box which was sitting on the ground with the lid ajar. I casually reached in and felt the web. It was a black widow about the size of yours. SHIT. It appeared agitated and I jumped back without getting bit. I got a spray can of 'spider death', sprayed the box absolutely full (from a safe distance) and sealed the top for at least a month. You can bet I look carefully now...
I have a couple of those "I didn't die so it was fun" stories too. Adrenaline is my friend.
I've come close to getting bit by different things doing something similar. Good thing it didn't get you.
Holy crap.
Better make sure there aren't any more. I would normally let nature be but, when it's something that could kill me, I am inclined to kill it with fire! Be safe, man!
I just got off the phone with the exterminator. They are gonna come by on Monday and take care of all of the spiders.
Glad to hear it!
Ever since seeing the movie Arachnophobia and having 3 other brother mess with me constantly... ya I ain’t no fan of spiders. I get a web on me and I start getting all weird. I run into black widows a lot at work. They love those cool humid underground electrical vaults and enclosures.
Those are some awesome photos!! Great shot of that hour glass on he bell.
Risking your life for Hive. 😜😜
Thanks man. Ya, that movie was awesome back in the day. I tried watching it recently and it was horrible. lol
DAHAHAHA! I can’t believe Jeff Daniels was in that. From that to this...
Those spiders were so life like. 😉😉
Nice shots!
I grew up with them all over the property and would play with them. I'd poke at them and piss them off till they are spitting mad. Also had a collection of them in an old aquarium outside for a while and kept adding to it as I found them. They ate each other. Ahh good times. I don't see them much this part of the north, it isn't quite dry and warm enough. I have only seen a handful in the past 10 years. Have to say I miss having them around.
That sounds like fun. We used to catch camel spiders in Iraq and have them fight each other in an old aquarium.
Excellent pictures, well worth the risk. I’ve never seen one of them in real life.
Thanks. I've seen plenty of them, just never this close.
Too close for comfort, but some great shots! The things we do for art...
Can't say I have ever seen one here in coastal Western Washington, but we had quite a few of them when I lived down in Texas... and I always just gave them a w-i-d-e berth.
Ya, when I lived in Texas they were all over the place. Along with those pesky scorpions.
IIIIIIH i m also not the biggest fan :P ...but great animals and photo shots!
Great set of pics and a real tale to tell!
Aaaaa this was brave of you! Oh my.... The pictures look great. I'm sure your pulse and andrenaline levels were sky rocketing!
Thanks. Ya, it was a bit scary getting these shots.
I can imagine😱
So relatable... this is the scariest part when it comes to insects... you keep getting that feeling that it's entered inside your shirt until you really take them off to check. Loved the shots 💥
Oh yes, that's really scary. I feel the fear 😜
Twitter account alex_d_281 was registered to Hive account anthonyadavisii!
What is wrong with you?
Fuck that!
OMFG! Glad to see you are still alive!
lol. For now, until I do something stupid to get another shot
They are beautiful - pity you have to kill it
No I am more the put it outside type =- I only kill flies and mosquitoes
Really nice shots of the spider with a very clear view of the hourglass and everything. One of my earliest blog posts was of a black widow spider eating a praying mantis on my back porch, so I can appreciate how difficult it is to get a good shot of one of these and how close you need to get. With something suspended in the air like this it's challenging sometimes getting it to focus properly. I had to turn off the auto focus and do mine manually to get something close to good. Everything I've ever read about praying mantis is that they actually hunt and eat black widows, so I called the post "fallen hero" since he obviously perished while trying to eat one. When I lived in San Diego I used to sort of keep other spiders and insects like the mantis that eat spiders as pets, then kill all the black widows that I saw. Just killing them won't keep them away for long. You have to cultivate competitors in that ecological niche which will keep them away long term. I actually watched a daddy long legs eat a house spider once, so I left those alone inside as well. Never had much of a problem with widows or house spiders after I started doing that.
Shame the subject ended up being exterminated........but I can imagine the situation with face/lens close to spider and the urge to get just a few more shots :). Nice pix!
Lets see the pic of the house when you were done!