Wednesday, July 8, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SCOUTING
the Northwest
By Scout Arnone
Fear not
the false
black widow
<Teacher Scout! Come
look! I found something!= a
5-year-old student called out
to me.
I put aside my les-
son plans and went to see
what had captured him so
completely.
<It9s a spider!=
Sure enough, the young
naturalist was placing his
hands gently on the ground
so the spider could crawl
onboard. For some reason,
this particular student never
demonstrated the patience
and fortitude to listen to any-
thing I had to say about leaf
shapes, ungulate tracks, or
which berries were inedible,
F orm erly Big
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FEELING
but he was still and patient
as the spider slowly moved
one leg at a time until it was
completely on his hand.
He smiled brightly, <I
think it9s a black widow!=
It crawled all over his
arms, but I felt it crawl all
over me. He beamed from
ear to ear.
This moment was cru-
cial. All deep-rooted feel-
ings I had fostered against
spiders: the trauma of find-
ing a widow in my hair, and
the years of throwing shoes
at a wall in a fearful squash-
ing attempt were starting to
creep to the surface.
I took a deep breath and
tried to don an expression
that displayed a general
love and acceptance of all
creatures.
<Cool!= I said, <You
made a friend!=
<Yeah, and I think she is
a black widow.=
<Oh, boy. Let9s see here.
Make sure you9re being
gentle.= I said maneuvering
around him. I came down to
his level.
<What do you know
about black widows?= I
asked.
<They are mean and poi-
sonous so much they can
make you die!= He said. I
wasn9t quite sure how he had
managed to disconnect the
dangerous creature he was
describing from the peril
he suggested he might be
in, but he just kept smiling
and rotating his arm differ-
ent angles to stop her from
running up his sleeve.
The western black widow
(Lactrodectus hesperus) is
likely the most dangerous
spider in Oregon. A single
bite from a black widow
damages the nervous system
and manifests as abdominal
muscle cramps, nausea, pro-
fuse perspiration, tremors,
fever, and labored breathing.
Symptoms can carry on for
many days.
<That9s true, but she9s
also a really good helper.=
The black widow9s messy
web wedged in the dark-
est corner of your garage is
made of some of the stron-
gest arachnid silk around
and is hyper-reactive to any
movements. This is essen-
tial as the rest of her hunt-
ing senses are quite dull.
She hangs upside-down,
thanklessly reducing your
mosquito population, your
boxelder intruders, and
your bothersome flies. She
interrupts the line of ants
marching to your kitchen,
the cockroaches scuttling
toward your baseboards, and
scorpions the cat thought-
fully left on the doorstep.
Now, the spider he was
holding was not a black
widow, it was a false black
widow, identified easily by
Sisters
Dental
www.blackbutte
chiropractic.com
541-389-9183
392 E. Main Ave., Sisters
PHOTO BY SCOUT ARNONE
Black widows are not villains of the natural world.
the glaring lack of red hour-
glass on its underside. But
I decided that a spider ID
session was best suited for
another day, as a much more
precious lesson was trans-
piring. A kid9s world is very
black and white; the villains
in their cartoons operate
simply for evil9s sake. But
the <villains= of the natural
world (rattlesnakes, scor-
pions, and spiders) operate
without cruelty or intent to
harm 4 only evolutionary
integrity. And the sooner
we can teach children about
the value of our most-feared
creatures, the sooner they
can develop a respect for
all life, protect that life, and
save our planet.
<Let9s make sure we find
her a good place to sit and
catch bugs!= I told him.
We took the spider out-
side and walked around the
building until we found a
forgotten corner.
<Here, you put her up
there!= he said, extending
the spider to me.
Every muscle tensed and
the spider continued crawl-
ing around and around his
outstretched hand.
<Aww! I9d love to, but
it9s important for you to
learn how to take care of our
animal friends, too! That9s it.
Place her gently. Yep. Gently
brush her off.=
A very grateful spider
scurried away, and a very
grateful teacher did not stop
her.
THE GARDEN ANGEL
Organic landscaping...
We fee d the soil!
Have a great summ er, Sisters!
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