Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There seems to be a black widow under every board,rock,brick I
move. I spend most of my time outdoors and see more windows than
any other spiders, so why so many? Are they prey for anything,
what do they eat? There must be some reason they thrive here.

Let me guess, you live in the desert SouthWest, or other warm southern states ? It's just a fact of life- widows abound in warm, dry locales. California, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada are literally crawling with them, and with the rate of reproduction they have ( by the hundreds ), they really can't be completely controlled. Just kill them as you see them. You do have one thing in your favor however, they are usually shy, and reluctant to bite, so unless you're hurting them or threatening their eggsacs, they generally try to avoid people, dropping to the ground or hiding in their retreats when disturbed. Also, they almost never leave their webs, unless they are destroyed. But I would still check my clothes, bedding, and shoes for them.

Don't mindlessly kill them whenever you see them... Simply keep a cautious eye out for them and give them their due repect and you shouldn't have a problem... If however you have children around that play outside, you will want to try to control the population... (but kill the spiders, not the children...)

Definately don't stick your hands in dark corners, or go poking around under bushes... Widows tend to stay close to the ground in low lying shrubs or even abandon rodent holes... watch these areas...

No I live in western NC and theres about a foot of snow on the
ground right now, but it still gets blazing alot of the year.
Thanks for the reply, I guess widows are everwhere in the south
and west.

Yes, that's why I also said "other warm southern states". Tennessee for instance is full of them. It simply goes with the territory as they say.