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Black widows uncovered in Chagrin sewer
(by Barbara Christian - September 11, 2008)
Black widows uncovered in Chagrin sewer
By BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Mark Davis, foreman with the Chagrin Falls Utilities Department, was in for a surprise last week when he flipped a manhole cover on Bradley Street and found a black widow spider staring him in the face.
Mr. Davis said he was sure he had found a black widow almost immediately, because it bore the telltale hourglass marking on its back. A second, immature black widow was collected along with the larger one, as well as two other arachnids, he said.
The close encounter occurred when a homeowner reported a problem with his sewer. When it could not be solved on private property, the utility department crew arrived at the public sewer line on the street to unravel the mystery. Instead they found another.
The department did sort out the sewer issue for the homeowner, and it had nothing to do with spiders.
But Mr. Davis became so interested in his find that he researched the black widow and all of its less-than-charming attributes, including cannibalism of its own. He learned that, contrary to popular belief, black widows are found all over in the United States, from coast to coast and north to south. But the do not stay in places like Ohio in the winter. It's too cold.
Mr. Davis obtained enough knowledge on the subject to argue the point with a specialist at the Penitentiary Glen Nature Center in Willoughby, where the two bugs may take up residence. When the specialist said the spiders could not be black widows, because it's too late in the year for them, Mr. Davis countered that, while the outdoor temperature will soon be too cold, "it is just right inside a sewer." He said the spiders found a home in the sewer, a place that is dark, moist and at an unfluctuating 55 degrees.
Currently, the spiders are being kept in separate glass jars, because the cannibalistic black widows would devour each other otherwise, he said. Rather, the large one would do away with the immature spider in quick order.
In fact, Mr. Davis said he saw it firsthand. He watched the large black widow attack then do away with the two smaller spiders which also had come out with the manhole cover.
But if pranksters are up for hunting black widows in time for Halloween, Mr. Davis said, it's not easy to get a hold of one of the unusual sewer-dwelling arachnids. First, they would have to know how to flip a 100-pound manhold cover, he said. "It's not easy."
Although the black widow's venom is much more potent than that of rattlesnakes, cobras or coral snakes, according to scientific references, the amount injected by the spider's tiny needle is very small. Deaths caused by their injection in healthy adults are relatively rare, but they produce unpleasant symptoms, including severe muscle pain, cramps, vomiting, nausea and difficulty in breathing.
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