Would you report this? Spiders!

[Sheep97]

I work in a nursery and in the pre school room I saw a female false widow spider. It went to hide in some curtains and then went missing. Today, I was getting the baby doll clothes out of where they are kept in the pre school room and a male false widow crawled out of them and nearly landed on me. We have a bug viewer kit so I put it in there and put it outside, over the fence. I said to my colleague we should report this but my colleague said I am over reacting as its two spiders but I just think it means there must be more around and I am worried someone will be bitten.

Well if you work there I don't see why you wouldn't do something about it yoursele. I'd probably take all the baby clothes outside and give them a good shake. And then see what else is behind them.

Who would you report it to?

Why would seeing 2 spiders warrant a report and as PP said, who on earth would you report it to?

Maybe report to management so it's done. But I think they aren't very dangerous

You obviously know your stuff if you could tell their genders (I'm probably really not clued up about it)

Report to who? We have a false widow that lives in the corner of our kitchen window. It’s been there several years. I often mean to google how long they live as this one’s seemingly very hardy! We respect one another 😂

I think the females are bigger!

I just meant report to management because there may be an infestation. Usually if you see more than one, especially two different sexes then there probably is.. I just worry a child will get bitten if they find and try and pick one up or if they crawl out of somewhere like the one today

But you don't need your colleague's permission 😳

Make your own decisions.

How did you identify the female? By the presentation of her abdomen?

I think you do have to report for false widows in a school type setting - I remember a school being closed for that exact reason maybe 15yrs ago?

The reason being, they are our only venomous spider & can cause an allergic reaction in the same way as bees etc can. They are buggers cos they hide their sacs, don't wander around & live in things so numbers can build up easily.

I'd look it up for you but I'm PHENOMENALLY frightened of spiders, I can't even Google them. It's pathetic.

Fwiw, pp, the males & females are very different looking & easy to tell apart.

The females live about 5 years but can live up to 7 apparently. 👀

Drop an email to the health and safety lead onsite and mention you’re seen two and so concerned there might be an infestation, will keep an eye out.