Are there alot of Black Widow Spiders in TB? I read in another post that they are around. Will you die if they bite you? Are they aggressive?

I would guess that one has an equal chance of being bitten as in any city in N America that has them or others, like the Brown Recluse.

Bites are usually from an accidental encounter not aggressiveness.

I have heard of one person being bitten and they suffered pain but survived ok.

I mentioned them in a previous post to dramatise an issue not to scare anyone.

Jamaica has no venomous snakes or dangerous wild animals.

thank you

You will see the odd black scorpion though... always shake out shoes or boots that have been left outside before putting them on. Without immediate attention if bitten, you can be in trouble. I have seen quite a few in my time living there, and a friend was biten and rushed to Black River Hospital and treated in time.... you need to be cautious anywhere you go!!

Brown recluse spiders which tend to be house spiders in dark corners, and outside. scorpion in rotted mango and in very dry seasons in lowland forest, can be found. Bitten by former/painful but not debilitating, seen later in Westmoreland -- but neither yet in TB.

yikes this one scares me....in the 11 yrs i've been coming to jamaica not once have i ever seen a spider let alone a black widow or scorpion (both are my absolute fears!)....now i need to watch for them...thats a shame!

That is why I believe in screens on the windows, although I spoke to a pest control man who has had a business in JA for over 35 years and he has never heard, seen or sprayed for black widow spiders, so they are very, very rare. I would not panic!

In my 14 years of living in TB I have seen three scorpions (each time during a very rainy period) and heard of one sighting of a Black Widow. These creatures prefer the wet damp areas of Jamaica more so than the dry South Coast.

Most pest control persons offer lizard extermination as part of their services. Apart from being excellent company, they offer free insect control. When I lived with 10"+ ground lizards, the browns, greens, croaking and screechies, insect life was concentrated in the compost heap.

My greatest fear when in TB was......LEAVING!

The first and only big dark brown and rather large spiders I have ever seen in Jamaica are here in Ocho Rios, outside and a few were on our ceiling in the bedroom!

They do not look like a brown recluse, and no, they are not "daddy long legs" - can anyone well versed in the topic help me with ensuring me that these are not poisonous spiders? How come I have never seen them anywhere else in Jamaica in all my 30 something years?

I must say - in Treasure Beach, I have never seen a spider or even a roach for that matter, and I have been staying in Treasure Beach ever since a child when we used to have a beach house there. So, don't panic visitors to T. Beach!

Lizards don't scare me. I think they are cute, unless.. there are mean ones in TB. Should I be afraid? I sound like suck a wuss!

Lizards, croaking or otherwise, do not "guh inna yu aeys 'ole at nite an suk out unnu brains".

We had a croaker who lived under a chair and would come out and snack from our hands at night. Don't know if he/she watched tv too!

Reptillian brain or whatever they are sharp and yes, cute too.

An 18th Century naturalist, Patrick Browne? had a Jamaican iguana as a pet, it slept on his sofa and was house broken.






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Mandeville girl,
The only other place I have seen the spiders you describe are at a place called Braemar in Mandeville. Are you familiar with this place?

i mean "such a wuss". sorry

Wondering:

The only spiders I have ever seen in Braemar, Mandeville are the species from the planet Keptlar...a new breed of eccentric spider with two legs...the human kind. :-)

Biology/Botany Depts at UWI or Institute of Jamaica Natural Science Dept would good places to get answers to spider and other animal and plant related questions.

Seriously? I've never heard of such spiders before. Ive never seen spiders nor scorpions nor snakes. I once saw a crocodile though