16 August 2011 Spiders

I am not arachnophobic. Really. Well, to qualify this, I should say I’m not usually bothered by bugs, spiders, worms, caterpillars and such that often freak many people out. But this year?  I have had it with the spiders. I don’t think I have ever seen as many spiders in and around my house as I have this year, and I’m getting darned tired of it. 

Last week I walked into the garage, I was watching where my feet were going as it is worth your life walking into that maze, and wham! Face first into a big orb web. Adding insult to injury was the inhabitant  hanging off my nose. Normally I would have shrieked, but the initial intake of air could have resulted in the spider being sucked into my mouth.

Yesterday I walked out onto the deck and sat down at the table only to get tangled up in a line web, complete with spider. After divesting myself of that, I looked up into the umbrella and started counting just how many spiders were hanging from the stretchers. 

If a path goes through a small space or you walk between bushes or ferns you'll be walking through webs.

Here we have a male and a female spider on the same web strand. He is tentatively making mating advances to her. She isn't having any of it. This touch and retreat game went on for some time. Not sure if he got the job done or not.

The later it gets in the year, the larger the spiders get, which is fairly unnerving. My house is full of spiders. I think that when we had the new carpet put in, there must have been spider egg cases in it, although I'm sure the carpet people would deny that assumption. I have varieties of spiders that I have never seen before, and I am an observant person, especially when it comes to bug life.

Spiders are sneaky. There are webs all over and they appear overnight. You go out to the garden to pick some lovely chard for dinner, and before you know it, you have reached for the chard leaves, sticking your hand right through a web. If that isn't bad enough, the occupant is larger than you would like to be that close to.

The webs are harder to see than would appear in these pictures. I have set the photo up at just the right time for the sun to light up the strands. The webs blend in enough that you feel them before you see them. 

So far, all the two pictures are orb weavers. They will grow exponentially by the end of September. They look big now?  Just wait.

We also have many many wolf spiders. They live to startle me. Just about the time I have my hand on the spigot to turn on the water, they run up the wall from behind the spigot. No, wolfies don't play nice at all. Currently they are about the size of a 50 cent piece, so yes, I get startled.

Speaking of sneaky, these orb spinners can put up a web in a very short time. This spider managed to spin a large web in the porch overhang. It is the perfect spot to catch any unsuspecting human making the night trip to the garbage can. We normally don't turn on the porch light for a quick trip like that, but if you don't, it's a good opportunity to get webbed.

Shortly after the new carpet was installed in the living and dining rooms, I was happily ensconced on the couch with a book. Something caught my eye and I realized the ceiling above me was pretty much covered in baby spiders: literally hundreds of babies. They were cute: bodies the same size as a head of a pin; light golden color, but as I said—hundreds. I must admit, I got out the vacuum cleaner and sucked them up. I could not figure out where they were coming from. The walls and ceiling had been freshly painted, the floors were thoroughly cleaned before the new carpet came in. There were no nests in the angle where the walls meet the ceiling or floors. Trust me, I checked. But, the ceiling was covered with babies. I would vacuum them all up, lie down with my book again, look up 10 minutes later and there would be a whole new horde. Nothing on the walls—no babies crawling up or down—they just mysteriously apparated on the ceiling. Weird.

The house itself is full of spiders. Most of them are what we call dust spiders, although I believe the more accurate name is harvestman. They vibrate when they are disturbed. I think every corner in the house has at least one of these spiders. Even in the closets you will see them down in the corners by the floor as well as up on the ceiling.  But lately there are new spiders in the house: big black hairy spiders that are not on my friendly list; spiders with the same shape as black widows; little jumping spiders- very cute, but enough is enough. 

Up until now I have had a laissez faire attitude with the spider kingdom. Spiders in sinks or tubs got washed down the drain. Spiders in corners were largely ignored. Spiders in the kitchen window were welcomed as they caught the annoying fruit flies that come in with produce.  But now?  I just feel crawly. 

I am planning a vacuuming campaign in all the corners tonight. With the house in such disarray, I am afraid they are breeding with no checks and balances. Both Jack and I have unexplained, extremely itchy bites in odd places. Are they getting in our clothes? Are we getting bitten when the fabric pulls tight? I don’t know, but I am going on a rampage. And not just inside, but it is time to take the broom to all the doorways and windows on the outside of the house. I’m turning into a monster!

But wait, some of them are really interesting! We get several varieties of metallic colored spiders in the garden. These guys are small and fast, making it very hard to get a decent picture.

Here is a metallic green striped spider. It is small enough that I would not have seen it, had I not been on my hands and knees watering and weeding, thus ending up eye level with it. But you have to admit, this is one pretty spider!