nice thread, bettagurl. I had a "pet" black widow in my garage that I named "Cassandra". I watched her grow to a huge size, her abdomen was all big (about 3/4 inch in diameter) and shiny. She also laid several egg cases. One day, I decided to clean house for her and vacuum up her old webs that were all littered with dead, wrapped up bugs. Well, I guess I went too far and she got offended and left
I was so sad to lose her.
I really think she helped keep the bug and spider population in my garage down, because after she was gone, I got tons of little spiders and daddy-long-legs everywhere. Come back to me, Cassandra!