Charlotte, is that you?!

Can you identify the genius species of this particular Arachnid?  ~Jeopardy Music~ .........

Time is UP!  It is the Latrodectus mactans.   Or, more commonly referred to as the Southern Black Widow.

Shorty and I bought some White Oleanders to plant down at the beach house.  You know, something that would distract from the disheveled yard, weed infested lot, and just to make the post hurricane landscape look a little happier.    We picked out five three gallon plants and dug holes in the oyster filled sand.  It brightened up the place right away!  Nothing like a some green plants to distract from the collapsing homes around you. (That is another story another time)

So, as you all know...when you plant new stuff....you have to water it ALL THE TIME.  Oleanders are known for their "heartiness" and that is why we decided on them.    

So....while I am watering the new shrubs for the 3rd time in one day...I notice a strange looking critter on one of the leaves.  I then notice it is a spider...then I notice that it is red and black....mmmmm....could this be a BLACK WIDOW?  So, I knock the sucker off the leaf and try to flip it over to look for the infamous red hourglass.  Sure enough!  There it is!

I think to myself..."I really need a picture of this!"  You know....so I can put it on my blog. ;)

So, I yell up to Shorty there is a Black Widow...I run to get my point and shoot.....return to the scene and she is gone.  NICE!  My inability to do the responsible thing and just kill it is beginning to worry me.  Oh well.  It won't bother us.

So, a few hours go by and I go back to the home of the crazy venomous spider.  There she is!!  I yell upstairs for someone to come down and look.  With the camera of course.  ;)  Minnie comes down and helps me corral "Charlotte" so I could take her picture...then to of course squash her.

Got this grainy pic.  I couldn't get one of the hourglass.  

After reading about their bites...I am relieved I found her again and killed the dang spider.  

Also glad Shorty was there to remind me not to touch it.  If he wouldn't have told me...we would have had a new pet.  I just love to touch spiders.  ;)  

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