I get what you're saying here, and think you have a valid opinion. If I thought I were putting my kids at any risk then I wouldn't be doing it. Actually, I feel like I'm lessening their spider danger. Black widows are everywhere here, their chance of running into one is high. Now even Jade sees the spider and says, "Spider bite! Make Jade sick!" Granted, black widows are not aggressive spiders, so their chances of being bitten are low, but still, I'm glad they recognize the potential danger.

This spider in a taped up jar is by far not the most dangerous thing in my house. We have 350 pounds of dog that could easily kill a child if they so decided. I'm trusting that they won't, they're very gentle dogs, but they could, and it does happen. Indi has real tools (saws, hammers, nails, screwdrivers, etc.) that he plays and builds with. He cuts vegetables with sharp knives. We have a pool with a big fence, but he's very smart and I'm sure he could find a way over it if he really wanted to.

He's four and half and he understands the proper way to use those things, so it's no more a risk to him than it is to me. Jade can't understand, so we take measures to ensure her safety. Like keeping Ursula in a non-breakable jar that she can't open in a place that she can't get to. ;)

Btw, we put Triton in with Ursula and he got eaten. :evil:

YUK!

Why do I keep reading this thread??

Thanks NA for the info! I had no idea they weren't as dangerous as all that.

Heehee! Putting this at the end of the post won me over. ;) I love me some nature carnage.

I think it's awesome that you're teaching Indy how to use sharp objects. Here's to real world learning! :cheers:

What she said!


[omg wtf is wrong with me! I keep clicking on this stupid thread! It's almost like There's a monster at the end of this book!]

Come over to our place on most any weekend and you will get to see a baby mouse or two get devoured.

This thread has led me to reading lots of stuff on the internet about poisonous spiders. I'm still trying to verify some facts, but apparently there are only 2 dangerously poisonous spiders in North America - the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse. Neither are very deadly, but neither bite can be very fun to deal with. Black Widows are most dangerous to cats and horses - their venom can kill either of them.

It's been fascinating reading! There is lots of unwarranted fear surrounding spiders. I certainly share that fear at times.

I've been bitten by an Arizona Desert Recluse (cousin to the brown recluse). It was not fun. I didn't get very sick, as it was on my ankle, but I do still have a scar. A friend of mine got bitten on her stomach and was sick for nearly a month. It ate away at her flesh and she still has an indent about the size of a silver dollar under her belly button.

So I have no fondness for brown recluses, but I do love me some bugs. (As long as they aren't crawling on me or hopping around!)

Black Widow venom affects the nervous system while Recluse venom acts directly on the tissue immediately surrounding the bite which then heal slowly or not at all.

And, then there are those who are really paranoid about spiders.

Brown recluse spiders are majorly nasty. My former business partner got bit by one and it ate a hole the size of a chicken egg in his leg before he even noticed it.

I need to take some pictures of this year's porch spiders