Two Household Dangers to Avoid

By Cassie Felch
Posted: August 27, 2008

This summer, my family experienced two unusual and potentially dangerous events that I would like to share in hopes of relaying some important safety information.

In the first incident, my husband, Brian, found some batteries on his work bench that he assumed were old, so he tossed them into a plastic bag with other old batteries and then walked upstairs. Luckily, our daughter, Mallory, remained in the basement and began screaming for us when she smelled smoke and realized the bag was on fire. She quickly extinguished the pink flames and thus contained the damage to the bag and a very small area of the workbench.

When I contacted the Department of Public Works Bureau of Environmental Services at help@howardcountyrecycles.org, recycling coordinator Kim Reichert explained that one of the batteries may have retained enough charge to ignite when it struck another battery. Although such occurrences remain rare, she advises storing household and button batteries separately in metal containers, such as old coffee cans, and always placing them gently into the cans.

Kim also clarified that button batteries are considered Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) and must be disposed of properly – for instance, at the drop-off area at Alpha Ridge Landfill or at local Radio Shack or camera stores. Household batteries can safely go into the trash. Alpha Ridge accepts HHW Saturdays only, April through November, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Our second unusual experience this summer involved nature rather than electronics. Brian noticed a large cobweb on his grill cover but did not give it a thought until he pulled off the cover and saw the spider behind the masterpiece. Because the creature was so remarkable, he called me out to take a look.

As soon as I saw the glossy, round black body with red markings, I wondered whether we had discovered a black widow spider. Brian captured it in a jar and then searched Google and the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects & Spiders. Sure enough, we had sighted our first (and hopefully last) female Northern Black Widow Spider. The Northern Black Widow displays a row of red spots on its body rather than the red hourglass shape typical of the Southern Black Widow. Most amazing to me was the spider’s large size – its body measured almost one-half in diameter, and the overall length, with legs, was about 1 1/2 inches. The male of the species is smaller and harmless. Since I am not a fan of spiders under any circumstances, the fact that a big, venomous one had taken up residence in our grill did not fill me with comfort.

Brian tried calling the University of Maryland Home and Garden Center at 800-342-2507 but received no answer, so he then called the University of Maryland Entomology Department and spoke to a professor about our captured spider. He learned that black widow bites, though typically not fatal to humans, are certainly more harmful to children than adults and can prove deadly to small pets. The professor recommended that we spray the foundation of our house with a pesticide to prevent other arachnids and insects from making our house theirs. He also suggested that we either release our current unwanted visitor into an unpopulated area or dispatch it to that “great cobweb in the sky.” Brian chose the latter alternative.

If you have a child who enjoys capturing critters, please make sure that he or she can recognize a female black widow spider and knows to avoid it.

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