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S45_fornow...
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 16:26
Never saw one before until last Saturday. Found her hanging out by my mailbox. Taken with an S2-IS. 100% crop, but doesn't do the original justice after being saved to only 90KB.
skade
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 16:30
Great capture! Is this a poisonous spider?
S45_fornow...
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 16:35
Great capture! Is this a poisonous spider?

Yes, they are venomous. I did a little research and their venom is about 15 times that of a common rattlesnake, but it is administered in such a small amount thru their fangs that those bitten rarely die.
dancinec
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 16:36
Excellant capture. Hard to photograph those spiders because of the black color.
S45_fornow...
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 16:41
Here is another:
dancinec
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 16:43
Well that will give some viewers nightmares. Great shot again!
IanC_UK
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 16:44
Ewwww yeauch !

Apparently they not deadly, but cause major swelling !

Nice captures, but a little close for comfort ! lol
RockOne
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 19:00
Wow. Really nice shot
Great capture! Is this a poisonous spider?
Think Redback - same type of spider !
Desertraptor
26th of September 2005 (Mon), 19:12
Yeah you don't want one of these on the toilet seat. :o

Red Back has a very painful bite. I'd imagine since they are similar the Black Widow would not be too pleasant either.
glenhead
27th of September 2005 (Tue), 09:24
The black widow's bite can be fatal without treatment, but it's uncommon to get enough of a jolt to kill. The venom is neurotoxic (it hits the nervous system) and getting enough of it affects the respiratory system. They're pretty common spiders in Houston, so we learned the symptoms to watch for in paramedic school. At the very least, they cause very painful spasm of the abdominal muscles (the ones that make up a "six-pack") - the muscles lock up and stay that way for days. Fortunately, they're extremely shy spiders, and will only bite if cornered or if they feel they're being attacked. (Shy or not, they still don't live long when I find them around my house...)
Mitcon
27th of September 2005 (Tue), 15:27
Red Back is what I first thought of as well, are they related at all I wonder ? Thank you for sharing the image, I don't know much at all about spiders but I do quite like them (as long as they don't crawl on me lol)