'I looked at my apple and there was a black widow'
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VANCOUVER, Wash. – Lee Bertheau’s late-night snack was much more dangerous than he thought.
“I went to the refrigerator, saw that we had a bag of grapes and those looked pretty good,” said Bertheau.
He washed the grapes, put them on a plate with an apple and took his snack upstairs.
“When I got upstairs, I looked at my apple and there was a black widow, well it was a black spider,” he said. “At the time I didn’t realize it was a black widow.”
When he got the spider into a jar and took a closer look, Bertheau noticed the spider’s red hourglass marking, which is an easily distinguishable feature of black widows.
"I also, later, looked inside the grapes and sure enough I could see a little bit of webbing inside the grapes.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture calls the black widow the most harmful spider species in the state, but says they are rare in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Bertheau called the store that he bought the grapes from. He got a refund and the store promised to contact the grower and tell them about the black widow discovery.
He said his experience is a good reminder for everyone to check fruits and vegetables before serving them.
“Keep your eye out for something like this, especially if it’s black stay away from it ‘cause it could be a black widow.”
No story here. I'm a lifelong Eugene resident. Every building I've lived in except my current home, which is newer I've shared with Black Widow spiders. My parents and grandparents were also long-time Lane County residents. I recall talk from both talking about seeing Black Widows. My father told me he had killed a Brown Recluse at Hult Plywood/American Can in Junction City where he worked. My grandfather said he spotted a Brown Recluse at Weyerhaeuser in Cottage Grove where he worked. Like my father, whenever Iâve needed to crawl under one of my houses to repair plumbing Iâve first set off a bug bomb the day before.
The farm I lived at in the 70s was full of them, and I have seen plenty living here in Eugene. There is nothing rare about them!
It's always reported that these are rare in NW Oregon. I've seen them my whole life in Eugene so I don't think they are that rare.
I've got black widow nests all over the underside of my house here in West Eugene, and I would imagine I'm not the only one.  Big suckers, too.Â
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They stay out of the house, and that's good enough for me.
I agree Kenzie...have seen plenty of them around the Springfield area
I don't see why this is newsworthy. Black widows are everywhere. I can go out in the garage or even the first storage shed I find I catch one.