Just Call Me Tenderfoot

After fifteen years of living in upstate New York, I'd forgotten how many things in the west are poisonous. I didn't have to worry about the kids getting bitten by a snake there, because there weren't any poisonous ones where we lived. Ditto spiders.

But now it's a whole new ballgame.

Jack, Poppy, and I went to the village playground this afternoon and met another mom and her two young children there. The mom grew up here, and she and her husband now run their family ranch.

Her little girl--who is going to be in the preschool class with Jack--wanted to go to the preschool playground at the school, which is not currently being used as preschool doesn't start until after Labor Day. So we went over there.

Jack went under the play structure to play with a little spinning thing under there, and came back out announcing there were spider webs under there. I didn't think much of it, but the other mom went under there and asked Jack to show her the spider webs. And then she backed out, saying that was a black widow spider's web with a black widow in it.

Oh. Sure glad someone around here is cognizant of the dangers of this environment.

Black widows are the most venomous spider on the continent. They only bite when disturbed, but I should imagine a bunch of preschoolers would provide sufficient disturbance. Their venom doesn't kill a healthy adult, but it can kill small children.

So. You know. Not the best resident of a preschool playground.

She went into the school to tell the maintenance guy, who appeared with a can of bug spray and presumably took care of it.

Jack took great delight in telling everyone he found the most poisonous spider in the world today. And I'm glad he learned a good lesson without any injury.