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Tributary Subdivision
Black Widow
Thanks Keith and Ceherzog. I found the spider again and it did have an hour glass red marking on its underside.
This is Black Widow spider. In your area you have bot Northern (Lactrodectus variolus) and Southern(Lactrodectus mactans) Black Widows. The best way to tell them apart is with the hourglass on the underside. If the triangles are connected, L. mactans, if separated, probably L. variolus. Both are potentially dangerous so I probably wouldn't bother with it.
Black widows sometimes, but not always, have markings up the backs of their abdomens. Sometimes they look like a little row of hearts.
A Black Widow mimic? I just found a Black Widow under the handle of a pot in my school garden, but the red hour glass is on the under side of the abdomen.