Itsa国际传媒檚 spider season in the Okanagan and black widows, the only venomous spider found in the region, have come out in full force.
The sa国际传媒減erfect stormsa国际传媒� of environmental factors has contributed to a higher amount than normal of black widows being spotted around town, according to owner and operator of Okanagan-based Bug Master Pest Control, Steve Ball.
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Ball says that once the weather begins to cool overnight black widows begin to move indoors.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e right smack in the middle of spider season,sa国际传媒� said Ball. sa国际传媒淭his is the time of year they start to emerge in peoplesa国际传媒檚 houses because itsa国际传媒檚 cold overnight.sa国际传媒�
Insects also tend to have a natural year-to-year sa国际传媒渆bb and flowsa国际传媒� where a year of with fewer insects will be followed by a year with more, said Ball sa国际传媒� and this seems to be a year where theresa国际传媒檚 more.
The unusual amounts of precipitation earlier in the year followed by the hot temperatures seen later in the summer also created sa国际传媒渢he perfect environmental factorssa国际传媒� for insects to breed, explained Ball.
Finally, COVID-19 essentially shutting the world down for months may have also contributed to the influx of black widows.
sa国际传媒淭he humans went away for four months this year and thatsa国际传媒檚 perfect news for the insects,sa国际传媒� Ball said. sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 nobody out killing them and theresa国际传媒檚 just less activity in general so nature has a way of taking over at that point,sa国际传媒� said Ball.
Although black widows are venomous, Ball said they donsa国际传媒檛 actually pose a very big threat to humans. The spiders rarely bite humans unprovoked and for most people, a black widow bite shouldnsa国际传媒檛 be seen as a death sentence.
If a healthy adult is bitten they can expect soreness and swelling around the bite area and possibly a fever. Children, the elderly, and people with underlying health conditions are at a higher risk of suffering more serious complications from a black widow bite which may require a hospital visit.
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jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com
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