Milady--A closeup

Here's a closer look at Milady.

You know, for a deadly menace, she's kind of dull.  Mostly, she hides somewhere (under the rim of the pot? I'm not lifting it for a look!) until around 8, and then she comes out to the middle of her web and  hangs out there until 9 or so. After that, she's more visible, but no more active. Presumably, she catches bugs and such sometime in the night, but mostly, she's a very quiet spider (which suits me).

Milady

I have not had to ask what kind of creature Milady is.

She's the only one of my stars I wish I didn't know about. Yes, she's lovely, and, yes, I've read several times now that black widows are really very shy and won't actually kill you, but I can't say I find that entirely reassuring. After all, she's a black widow. She's in my yard. She's glossy. She's sassy. She can bite.


Oh, and you know what's even less fair? I just found out that there are brown widows, and they don't have the red mark on them. Not only are they poisonous, they don't advertise it! I ask you!

In case you were wondering: Milady is named from The Three Musketeers. The way I remember the story, the musketeers were primarily fighting the evil cardinal, but they mostly understood his motives. Milady, on the other hand, scared them stiff. At the end of the story, they made peace with the cardinal. Milady was executed.