Four days ago I found one in the garage and this morning I stepped on one barefoot in the kitchen. I can't see any bite so I think I am okay. Has anyone else had this kind of experience? Should I have an exterminator come to my house? Help!

 

I have no experience of this but I would be freaking out big style.
Don't spiders have hundreds of babies at one time
Hope you get it sorted out soon.

 

After doing some research it appears their mating season is in the spring. I think they are coming in my house to get out of the cold. Anyone else got any advice?

 

I got bit by a brown recluse when I was about 12. I didn't know I had been bitten untill about three days later when my grandmother saw a hole in my arm about 3mm across and about as deep, and red streaks running up to my arm pit. I almost lost the arm. Don't take spider bites lightly. he may have bitten you without you knowing it depending on the size of the spider. Black widows use a neuro toxin so if you have any numbness pain or bad itching in the area you shoul see a doc quick. Oh and you can only take the anti venom for a black widow once in your life. so get the exterminator.

 

Black Widow venom cause intense muscle cramps and
contractions, the effect are usually felt rather quickly,
but it wouldn't hurt to talk to a doctor. A black widow
bite is VERY serious.

 

Whoa, that's freaky...I would probably call an exterminator just to play it safe.

 

Found at : http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061A.html

Bite Symptoms
According to Willia Gertsch, curator of spiders at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, the venom of the black widow spider is 15 times as toxic as the venom of the prairie rattlesnake. However, only a minute amount of the toxin is injected with a single bite by the spider, while the relatively large amount of injected rattlesnake venom results in about 15 to 25 percent mortality among those bitten.

The severity of a person's reaction to the bite depends on the area of the body bitten, amount of venom injected, depth of bite, seasonal changes and temperature. The bite feels like a pin prick or is not even felt. At first, there may be only slight local swelling and two faint red spots surrounded by local redness at the bite. Pain becomes intense in one to three hours and may continue up to 48 hours. Pain usually progresses from the bitten member up or down the arm or leg, finally localizing in the abdomen and back. The abdominal muscles may become rigid and board-like with severe cramps (resembles appendicitis). There may be pain in the muscles and soles of the feet, and eyelids may become swollen. Other symptoms may be nausea, profuse perspiration, tremors, labored breathing and speech, and vomiting. During this time, a feeble pulse, cold clammy skin, unconsciousness, convulsions and even death may result if the victim does not receive medical attention immediately. Additional complications may occur due to the infection of the bite. However, with some untreated individuals, symptoms may diminish in several hours and be gone in several days after agony. Bites are uncommon and serious long-term complications or death are rare. Only four deaths were officially attributed to black widow bites in the United States from 1960-69.

 

There's only one way to deal with arachnids.
Nuke 'em -
.

Be sure to have them exterminated by a third party in case you don't want to try that at home.

 

I hate spiders!!! AHhhghhgh!

 

Here's what you probably have (I love their scientific name.):

The term black widow refers to those species in the United States, Europe, and some other areas, which are shiny black in appearance. The most well known of the U.S. black widows is the southern widow, Latrodectus mactans, whose latin name translates "murderous biting robber". The southern widow is found in the southeastern U.S., west to central Texas and Oklahoma, and north to southern New York; it is also found in the West Indies. Like most widow spiders, it prefers dark, cool places to build its web, such as outhouses, window wells, under well covers, and beneath trash. The red "hourglass" of the southern widow is actually shaped more like an anvil than a perfect hourglass in most specimens. The southern widow causes many envenomations in humans, particularly in the southern part of its range, where it is most common.