Spiders to beware of

By Al Lowe
Contributor

First off - here in Northwestern Ontario - not to worry. There are no poisonious spiders here. Once in a while, one may arrive in a boxcar, or an ordinary car, or in a load of tropical fruit, but, other than that, we are happily free of this worry.
Actually, there are only two venomous spiders in the main part of North America anyway.
The first of these is the Black Widow. This is a fair-sized spider. The body (not including legs) is about a centimeter long, this being the female. The male is about a third of that. Female spiders are always a lot bigger than males.
As its name suggests, this animal is black. It does, however, have a red mark on the underside of its abdomen. This bright red mark is in the shape of an hourglass, and is the special ‘trademark’ of the Black Widow.
Not really common anywhere, the Black Widow is found in all of the United States, and the very southern part of Canada. As I said, it does not occur in Northern Ontario at all.
Most folk will tell you that this spider’s bite is fatal. It may be, but only once in a while, and then usually with elderly people, very small children or those who are already sick. There are less than 10 deaths per year in the United States.
However, the bite of the Black Widow can make you really uncomfortable for a day or two. The venom can cause fever, chills and nausea. You will likely get pains in your back and legs, and you may have trouble breathing. You will know for sure that you have run into something unpleasant.
This spider does not go around biting people for no reason. Like most other animals, it bites to defend itself, or to protect its young. If you should come across one, leave it alone!
The other poisonous North American spider is the Tarantula. There are about 300 species of this arachnid, of which less than a third appear in North America, very few in the United States.
North American Tarantulas cause a reaction, when they bite, much the same as a bee sting, - quite painful for a while, a red spot for a day or two, and that’s about all. Some of those in South America are, however, really deadly. Sometimes they get into those big bunches of bananas - the “deadly black Tarantula” of the song Day - Oh.
Now this is a big, big spider. Body alone may be over 5 cm. long. With legs, it may span 15 cm. (6 inches for you unmetrics).
The northern Tarantulas usually live in dry areas - deserts or other arid places. They make tunnels in the sandy soil. The tunnel is a true home. The Tarantula lives, breeds and operates from its safety. Like all spiders, they must shed their skin about 4 times a year. The old skins are just left out on the soil, to dry up and blow away.
Tarantulas are predators, and are quite capable of killing and eating small birds, mice and toads, as well as their regular diet of all kinds of insects. They last a long time too. Some species live for over 20 years.
Here’s something for you, too. Ancient lore tells us that, in a part of Italy near Taranto, the devotees of Bacchus (the God of wind and parties) used to do some very spirited and suggestive dancing. The Christians tried to ban this behaviour, but the dancers said they had to dance that way to get rid of poison from the spiders. Hence we have the very lively and athletic Italian dance, the Tarantella.