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Great article on BWs. Unfortunate that some readers fail to appreciate the delicate balance that Nature maintains before they resort to insecticides or other poisons. When we moved into our new home in Reno, Nevada in 1975 BWs were already populating the outside foundation areas. Within several years we added landscaping and plantings that encouraged flying insects as spider food and the BWs were out-competed by the orb-weavers and other low-venom arachnids that took over. Today we have only two or three isolated BW webs and they have never been a problem.
This is mindful of a story told by a herpetologist in Southern California during the real estate boom of the 1930s. New residents were hysterical that there were "snakes" infesting their lots carved out of raw brush land and proceeded to kill them off. Actually the reptiles were mostly innocuous California Bull (Gopher) snakes, King snakes and Racers. Within several years the native rodent populations exploded and a rattlesnake population moved in to enjoy the feast. Be careful what you ask for !
