• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Latrodectus mactans/black widow spiders sell, release, kill?

What to do with Latrodectus mactans / black widows

  • Total voters
    17
M

medic

New member
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Kernersville, NC
I live in NC and I seem to have a plethora of black widow spiders. I don't mind them outside, but I am starting to find them in my house :( I hate to kill anything, but I'm not sure what to do with them. I found a black widow mother and two eggs under my bathroom sink yesterday. I'm not sure selling is even legal.. not able to find anything specific, and I'm not able to find any rules or regulations of releasing or relocating them. I would hate to relocate them to an area or sell them and it results in someone getting bitten. All of the exterminators I contact say there is not a specific pesticide against black widows, but I should exterminate other bugs which serve as their food source. Any advice is much appreciated.
 
medic said:
I live in NC and I seem to have a plethora of black widow spiders. I don't mind them outside, but I am starting to find them in my house :( I hate to kill anything, but I'm not sure what to do with them. I found a black widow mother and two eggs under my bathroom sink yesterday. I'm not sure selling is even legal.. not able to find anything specific, and I'm not able to find any rules or regulations of releasing or relocating them. I would hate to relocate them to an area or sell them and it results in someone getting bitten. All of the exterminators I contact say there is not a specific pesticide against black widows, but I should exterminate other bugs which serve as their food source. Any advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

At our previous house, we had a Black Widow infestation, and our neighbors were infested as well. We tried to kill every BW we saw, but they kept reproducing. Finally, we called an exterminator who told us the same thing your exterminator told you: you can't kill them off by spraying the grounds; instead, you have to kill off their food supply. In other words, you have to kill every one you see and also spray your property to kill crickets and other food-insects.

There is no law against selling your home with BW's on the property. I dare say that most properties in most of North Carolina has had a BW or two on them in the last couple years. BWs are very common here.

Rarely do BWs come into peoples homes. Instead, they tend to infest the perimeter of the home, under vinyl siding, under decks, and in garages.

Don't freak out. :D It'll take some time but you can rid yourself of most of them.
 
In most cases, black widows seek quiet, barely used places in which to build webs, generally in refuse piles, plastic containers lying around the house, under poorly maintained eves, or even the small underhang between your house siding and the ground. The best way to control black widows is simply prevention. Find areas that could attract the arachnids and clean them out. It's similar to mosquito management. Remove the habitat and you remove the problem.

I would do a thorough walk-through of your property and identify areas outside your home that could be attracting black widows. Throw out, use, or recycle old plastic containers (black widows really like unused planters), line the sides of your house with gravel to get rid of that gap between the siding of your house and the ground where the rain splashes down off your roof, clear the area immediately surrounding your house, and use a broom to clean out all of your neglected eves. Once you control the source of your black widow problem, then you can focus on controlling the widows inside your house. Unfortunately, the best way to do that is to simply squash them.

I wouldn't worry too much. Black widows are a lot more common than most people think, it's just that people never really look for them. Sure, their bites are nasty and I certainly wouldn't encourage them to stay around your house, but as far as spiders go they've got pretty mellow personalities. They're kind of like rattlesnakes... they're pretty much puppydogs unless you do something stupid and mess with them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top