Brown widow spiders

I received the following email message from a friend on 4/3/09 and thought I’d share it with this group. I’ve edited it a bit to just include the basic information: “Today at Spreckels Park we were sitting next to the bench by the sandbox that backs onto Orange Ave and faces the playground (so if you’re sitting on the bench, the sandbox is on your right, Orange Ave is behind you, the playground is in front of you, and the swings are on your left). I saw six Brown Widow egg sacs hanging from underneath the bench. They are very dangerous and poisonous spiders. The sacs are totally visible and it would be very easy for a curious kid to reach over there and touch them. Don’t try to remove them yourselves because the hundreds of babies inside will run out onto the grass. See the link below for more information and photos.” http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/inverts/latr-geo.html