Picnic Pests?

  We have a very nice outdoor grill that is used mainly for emergency cooking such as after hurricanes.  At times like that, the electricity is often out for weeks on end.  The grill is more of a necessity than a luxury.  Since it is easier for me to just cook indoors most times, the grill sits idle for months at a time.  It has a nice cover that keeps it protected from the rain and salt air.  When we want to use it, the cover comes off and the grill is hauled to the middle of the garden area.  Here we can sit in the comfort of our lawn chairs and dine upon fine grilled food. We did this over the holiday weekend.  Mark and Robbie, our son-in-law, pulled off the cover and lugged the grill out into the grassy area of the Herb Garden.  There they cleaned the gratings and lit the grill. After a bit, their steaks were done to perfection and they enjoyed a fine meal.  Since Darling Daughter and I were eating vegetarian, we fixed our meal indoors.  All was well with the world.

  Today while I was out picking figs, I noticed something slightly amiss about the grill.  After a closer inspection, I realized that things could have gone horribly wrong with that Independence Day meal.  Without noticing, the guys had toted the grill with their hands nigh on top of a bunch of Brown Widow Spider eggs!  Oh, that could have been bad!  Not that those egg cases would have caused problems but where there are eggs, there has to be spiders.  Sure enough, I found several adult spiders along with the egg cases.

  I am just so thankful that no one received any nasty bites from these critters.  Brown Widows, like Black Widows, can pack a powerful punch.  It always pays to be observant when messing around in any areas that are not often occupied.  The grill had set idle for months which allowed the spiders the chance to move in and take over.  Although, I managed to kill the adults and squish the eggs, for the next few days, I will most likely be a bit antsy about poking the hands in any crevices or dark spaces.  I am still pondering whether I should spray around places like the woodpile and tool shed.  Brown Widows are not on my list of favorite critters and I could definitely do without their presence!