Backyard surprise Black widow startles Severna Park family

By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer

Published 11/14/08

Jason Drecchio found something he wasn't expecting while doing yard work recently: a black widow spider.

"I was collecting sticks from the yard, and I wanted to use the wheelbarrow," said Jason, a 14-year-old freshman at Severna Park High School. "When I turned it over, I saw the spider."

He knew right away the shiny black spider with the red hourglass marking was not your usual spider.

So he ran to get his dad, Marshall Drecchio, and described what he saw.

As luck would have it, Mr. Drecchio had just seen a TV special on spiders the day before - so he knew they were dealing with a black...

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Wow! - November 18, 2008

What a total non shocker!! Widows are fairly common around here. I bet most have seen them without even knowing it. Not all have the famous black and red pattern. Also I don?t agree with the widow being the most dangerous spider in the US. A brown Recluse beats it out hands down in my book. Both can kill but rarely do but the recluse is more likely to bite and leaves permanent damage where a widow will likely not leave a permanent effect. A recluse?s venom causes the flesh to die and putrefy. It?s not pretty.

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K. Overman - arnold, MD - Karma: Bad

They are here too - November 15, 2008

We found one in our closet by the front door a week ago. Lets just say, it was a total shocker to go to grab my shoes and see it in the corner. If a scientist wants it, they might be able to scrape some of it off my shoe.

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Johnathan Locke - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Good