The grandson went to Afghanistan, spiders bug him, however this one is here in Texas, anyone seen one before?

Spiders give me the creeps to.
On Google one of the species that looks similar is a male Southern Black Widow. I'd swat it, then stomp on it and flush it down the toilet.

https://spideridentifications....

Black Widows are very shiny; that one is not.

It's a male widow. Very different from the female in size and appearance. No need to stomp, swat or flush, they are timid and essentially harmless.

Here's one in my yard next door to Texas.

NMoasis said: No need to stomp, swat or flush, they are timid and essentially harmless.

My bad, I thought they were poisonous.

Too late, that boy was ON my grandson, Marine, he paused long enough for a picture, chuckl, and end of matter. ALL spiders are poisonous to one degree or another, thanx, I do concur with male BWidow.

If I saw a spider like that on me I'd be screaming so loud you'd probably hear me....

I like spiders...

Saw something on YouTube some time ago, where this guy was handling his "pet" black widow. She was crawling all over his hand and everything…no thanks.

Johannian said: Saw something on YouTube some time ago, where this guy was handling his "pet" black widow. She was crawling all over his hand and everything…no thanks.

Some people are just downright weird.

I like spiders and even kept a big one one summer (as an adult, not when a kid either). But I also respect what they can do and wouldn't risk something like that ever.

Agreed, Nancy. I'm actually a pretty big fan of spiders myself. But around here, widows are especially dangerous to pets, and we have two dogs, so I kill each and every one I see.

But yeah, I dug out this hole a few years ago and made places for funnel spiders to dwell. Sure enough, I ended up getting five funnel spiders in the hole and they sure were fun to watch when something landed on their web. I mainly did that to encourage competition for the black widows, but I can't say it wasn't fun.

Not crazy about spiders, but they do keep roaches, flies, mosquitos etc. down. Mostly I do not care for their webs when I walk face first into them. Especially love Orb webs, beautiful art! I live in the woods, mostly oak, hickory, maple so have learned to live with instead of . I plant extra in my gadren so I can have enough. My neighbors are squirrels, coons, possums, groundhogs,deer, turkey, turkey vultures, birds of all kinds, coyotes, grey wolves and a cougar, Clyde who visits me every 3-4 weeks, spiders, wasps, hornets. I did move into their home! Been here over 43 years, never been bitten/ stung by anyone. Move slowly and never turn your back, run when faced with a predator. You become prey when you do that. Just give spiders their space!

We have more than our share of spiders here but I'm happy to leave them to catch other bugs in their webs but not happy to have cobwebs all around the verandah and pergola. I spray with peppermint oil in water in those areas and that keeps them away without killing them. They don't like the smell, but I do. Simple job every couple of weeks. Seems to keep mosquitoes away as well.

My 'pet' Zipper spider disappeared for the second time. Idk if she went to look for a mate, pick a new place to web or to die. I would think she'd just die right there near her web when her time was done.