One of These Surprises is Not Fun! (Creepy Alert)

[journey11]

Nice pile of sweet potatoes there! I saw a black widow for the first time when I was on vacation, at a gas station in NC. Right by the pump. We took its pic then squished it! It was maybe the size of a penny, legs included. Was it in your sweet potato patch?

 

[digitS']

I like your sweet potatoes, @so lucky !



Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Very nice sweet potatoes So Lucky. When I grew them most of mine were the size of the one in your hand. So altogether I got one meal out of them. But it was a very filling one meal!

My experience with black widows was like Canes. We had them everywhere, but they're slow and easy to squish. Ours were very round and shiny, and had a very distinct hourglass on their abdomen too. That's interesting about the northern black widow @TheSeedObsesser, I didn't know that.

 

[britesea]

This was a real eye-opener article. I'm planning on buying one of these Extractors. http://www.badspiderbites.com/spider-bite-treatment/

 

[so lucky]

Nice pile of sweet potatoes there! I saw a black widow for the first time when I was on vacation, at a gas station in NC. Right by the pump. We took its pic then squished it! It was maybe the size of a penny, legs included. Was it in your sweet potato patch?

Yes; I think there were several in there. Some smaller ones, and one other large one that didn't have the markings. They accidentally got under my spade, somehow. I had gloves on, or I would have been creeped out. I need to be careful when I move that big pile of vines I left behind--there may still be some hiding in them.
I called the Conservation Department Nature Center to see if they needed a nice shiny new black widow. They said thanks, but they have one already.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Mmmmm...sweet taters

Boo..black widow spiders. Yes, we have them here too. By the droves. any black Widow gets squashed here.

 

[bobbi-j]

We dug up one hill of sweet potatoes out of curiosity today. One nice sized one, and several that were what I would call dill pickle sized. (Probably about the same size as the one in So Lucky's hand). No black widows in with our sweet potatoes, though, thank goodness! We don't have those here in MN. At least not that I'm aware of...

 

[catjac1975]

Continuing in my Sweet Potato Surprise theme, I dug up half the planted area this morning and got these:
View attachment 4514

And this!
View attachment 4515

Underside:
View attachment 4516

I had never seen a black widow before, so it was kind of thrilling, but in a creepy way.
Anyway, I was proud of my sweet potatoes!

You have inspired me to go check my sweets.

 

[so lucky]

I haven't dug mine yet this year. It's supposed to rain the next couple of days. Maybe it will help them grow that last little bit. Hopefully there won't be any more surprises.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Always best to kill first, ask question later.
I have found several here on this property in SC. I had found some before, in SE Kansas when I lived there. I caught those for my high school daughters science project. Her science teacher loved it. We kept it in a glass jar and fed it other bugs.
Anyway, I learned 20 years ago to try to catch and identify whatever critters were lurking on our properties. In TX, I had to deal with scorpions. As we had 3 kinds then, 14 and under, they needed to learn what to watch out for.
Up here, in SC, I am also dealing with copperhead snakes. I have caught 2 of those already. Since 2010.