WILL IT BITE?! - Black Widow Challenge

- I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to freely handle the Black Widow Spider. Are you ready? - Let's do it. - Here we go. One two. Three. (adventure music) What's going on, guys? Who's ready to catch some spiders? - Am. - Yeah? Well. So right now, we're in Tucson, Arizona. And as you can see, we are right outside the house. Do you know what lives in houses in Arizona? Black

widow

spiders. And right now, we're going to use this little container and this stick and try to find one. Are you ready? - Well. - Now, you're probably thinking, really, Coyote, are you going to find a Black Widow Spider right outside your house?

I have seen websites everywhere. See this? Everything here on the edges of these rocks? Those cobwebs are most likely made by a Black Widow. And what we're going to do is move around the house, look in the plants, look in the cracks, look in the gutters, and I guarantee it won't take me long to find one of these poisonous spiders. Come on. Now, I might start picking up rocks like this, searching for them, but I'm hoping to find one that's already hanging naturally in your web. This real open rock structure like this is absolutely perfect for them. - So, Coyote, why aren't we like in the desert looking for Black Widows?

Why do we look around our house? - Black

widow

s are actually attracted to houses. Can you imagine why? What do spiders eat? Other errors. Insects are attracted to lights, so when there are lights on at night and insects come in, spiders have a chance to feast. That's why I'm looking here around the edge of the house. - And that would worry a lot of people. - Oh, yes, well, people, as we know, fear of spiders, arachnophobia, people are absolutely terrified of spiders and Black Widows specifically because of the potency of their venom. Watch this. Oh, there is one!

Oh! - Did you see one? - I totally saw it, there's no way you could have seen it, this is definitely a Black Widow website right here. She was hanging right on the edge of this rock. Wait. They're actually very fast when they launch, yeah, no, it's up there. Yes, 100%, that's a Black Widow hole right there. Well, not actually in the house, but just a couple of meters from it. All right, let's go down here and keep looking. Let's get one. Let's take a look at the fire pit here. - You told me you had a good feeling about the fire pit. - I see some websites.

Ah, I see one right there. - You have a? - Yes Yes Yes yes Yes. Oh, he's going back there. Wait a second. Ah, there it is, right there. Check it out. Okay, let me put it in the container. Oh, it goes towards my thumb. Well. Let's see if she gets in there. Go! Go! Go. Yes! - Ha ha! - Here we go. He put a little air into the container and there you have it. That's a female

black

widow. Exactly what we were looking for. Indeed, right here in the fire pit, it is a dangerous place to leave your net there.

Wow, okay, now I'll show you why this is an arachnid that you should only admire from a safe distance and not necessarily be afraid of. What I'm about to do here is prove that Black Widow doesn't want to

bite

you. In fact, I'm going to freely handle this spider. - Oh boy. - Are you ready for this? - You told us you would try this if we found a Black Widow. - Well, I didn't tell you at the beginning of the episode, I know I told you and I know I told Mario and I told him to really refute that Black Widow is only there to

bite

you, I'm going to cut it out. she walks on my hands and arms and hopefully doesn't bite.

Now, you can see that she's lying down there, playing dead, curled up in a little ball. That's a defense mechanism, especially when there's nowhere to escape. I

will

point out that there is no one in the last 10 years who has died from a Black Widow bite. The bite is very painful, it can cause stomach cramps, it can cause vomiting, it can cause dry mouth, a lot of pain for several hours, so I don't want to be bitten. Either way, I admit I'm nervous, I don't have arachnophobia, which we know is the fear of spiders, but when you look at the Widow, your heart definitely races.

I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to freely handle the Black Widow Spider. Are you ready? - Let's do it. - Here we go. One two. Three. (intense music) Oh God. She reached the edge of my finger. Good, now she goes down my arm. In fact, she has woven a small thread of web, as if she were attached to me. Oh, I thought she was about to bite. Now, one thing that most people don't know about the

black

widow spider is that if they inflict a bite, that bite is often just a warning and they are not actually injecting as much venom as they would, for example, in a prey. article.

They are not looking to kill you as a human, they are simply looking to scare you so they can finally escape. Can you see that? She's just entangling my arms with a spider web. She's almost invisible to the eye but I can feel her on top of me, entangling me. She makes me a little nervous, I'm covering myself in cobwebs right now. In fact, let me put it back on the stick. Oh oh oh. - That seems dangerous. - I scared her there. I'm going to put it on the stick here. I have to get some of this web off my arm.

There you go. It's very sticky and every time I move my arm, I can feel that web pulling and pulling on it and what I'm afraid of is that it

will

get scared and then take a bite. Now she this is a woman. Females are larger than males and have that quintessential red hourglass shape on their abdomen. That is the easiest way to identify one of these spiders. You know it has a very dark coloration like that large, bulbous abdomen. -Do you think she is calm enough to return to your hand? - The question is, am I calm enough to let her return to my hand?

Yes, let's see. - So why doesn't the spider bite you? -The spider doesn't bite me because I'm not pressing her body, ooh, now I can't see her, where is she? - On your thumb. - Going around that side. And, as long as she doesn't apply pressure, I hope she stays calm and doesn't bite me. Alright, she feels very comfortable right there on the edge of my thumb, I'm going to keep my hand incredibly still. You may notice that the tone of my voice has changed slightly. That's because she's right on the edge of my thumb. Can you see that? - Mm-hmm. -She feels hidden right there, she is comfortable, she is in the crook of my thumb and, without me speaking very loudly next to her, she simply thinks, she is fine, I am hidden, I was captured from my network .

Don't worry, darling, we'll get you back on the net, there's nothing to fear. Now, I would never recommend that you go out and try to get a Black Widow. If you see a Black Widow outside your house, you should not be afraid of it. Remember, these arachnids eat the insect pests out there. It could be mosquitoes, it could be moths, whatever it is, the spider has no interest in biting you. Often the way a bite occurs is when someone accidentally grabs the spider and is bitten. Now, let's say you walk through a Black Widow's web and find her with you, don't panic.

The best thing to do is just stay calm, try to pick up a stick, something like this, let the spider crawl onto the stick, and then put it back into the environment. I'm sure many of you who have arachnophobia are watching me handle this spider right now and just shrinking in your seats. And I won't lie, my mouth is going dry and I'm trying my hardest not to shake her hand right now, even though I'm incredibly nervous. I'm going to turn my hand very slowly. There you go, honey. Do not move. Check it out. That is one of the most venomous spiders in the United States.

And it's gently grasped right there, at the edge of my hand. I would definitely say this was pretty intense. Freely handle the only Black Widow Spider. I'm Coyote Peterson. Be brave, stay wild, see you at the next location. I've said it before and I can't say it enough. Never try to freely handle a Black Widow. Like all spiders, they are poisonous and a bite from this specific species is incredibly painful. If you see a Black Widow hanging on a web near your residence, simply admire it from a safe distance and everything will be fine. Ok, after taking the macro photos, the most important part: letting the spider return to its web.

Are you ready? - Yes. (creepy music) - If you thought driving Black Widow was intense, be sure to go back and watch the episode where I freely drove the famous Bark Scorpion. And don't forget, subscribe so you can join me and the team at our next location. (bear growls) (eagle squawks)