Pro Spider club

I think spiders are neat-- we used to have a big ol' black and yellow one (my dad called it Shelob) with a massive web built across one of the kitchen windows. That was cool, watching her hang out. When she got spooked, she's make her web swing.

Hubby is a complete arachnophobe though. So if it comes inside, it must be killed. I'm mostly okay with it, because I prefer my nature outside anyway. Hubby is so afraid of spiders he's willing to wake me up (which is best not done without a full suit of armor from a distance of two miles) to kill a spider. Good thing I like the guy.

I love spiders, too. I don't know the different types, though. There's a huge one that's made a gigantic web across our front walk this week. It's absolutely amazing. The web spans at least 3 feet, and it's high enough in the air -- suspended by two trees -- that no one's going to bother it.

If spiders get inside, I don't mind. They eat the little gnats and mosquitos that also find their way in. Hubby and I leave them be.

I had such a wild spider last year I couldn't stop taking pictures and chatting about it. It's now long dead but immortalized here:
http://unfuture.blogspot.com/2007/10/freaky-spider-for-halloween.html

You know, if a spider builds a web where you don't want it, you can usually just grab the anchor strands and move it to someplace it won't bother you, rather than killing them as most people are in such a hurry to do.

= scott

The Eight-Legged Women are my friends. They eat flies.

If I were a spider, I'd be a Brown Recluse. I already have the brown hair and reclusive part. Now... to get some venom.

Matera the Mad said:

The Eight-Legged Women are my friends. They eat flies.

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Our huntsman (the female of the species) eats redback spiders. That's good. They also eat cockroaches - another tick. They're not poisonous (although I did get a reaction to a bite last year) - that's ok also. When my son was moving furniture a few weeks ago and disturbed a big huntsman, boy, did it show a turn of speed. This one threw itself at Chris. That's hilarious. He jumped over the sofa and fled.

And the St Andrew's Cross is so decorative. But the best thing I sometines have in the mail box is a green treee frog or two.

You know, there's clearly a reason why yellowjackets/ hornets/ bees/ etc have black and yellow warning stripes on them. STAY AWAY! I like bees, but I'll just let them do their thing while I go... elsewhere. =)

anything that eats flies is ok with me.

The only good spider is a spot on the wall.

I miss the spiders I had to leave behind. Phil, Bob, Dave and Hailley were cool. Mostly I miss Phil. He had moxy.

OK, TIME FOR A FRIENDLY SPIDER STORY.......

My father had a gray wolf in his garage. The two of them had this great relationship. Dad would catch bugs and throw them into his web, and the gray wolf would be fat and sassy. Until one night......

My parents were lying in their beds fast asleep. Suddenly my mom freaks out and sits up in bed while patting and fidgeting. My dad jumps up and turns on the light. Yep.. you guessed it... Mr. Grey Wolf stopped by for a late night visit.

Dad was never allowed to have spider friends again.

The End

I love tarantulas -- great big brown hairy pie-plates with legs. Could watch them for hours.

But, leave them outside. I'd move a big spider outdoors if I caught them inside -- small ones become spots on the wall/window/floor.

I've heard some talk that spiders are the totem animal for the writing profession.

I have a large collection of spider toyes all over my office space, including a big (4' across, tarantula-like markings) spider that hunkers in the corner of the room just above my computer. It's really great fun when people finally notice her sitting there. My housemate got me a remote control spider for Yule last year. I'd play with it more, except the beagle hunts it and carries it off.

We had three different orb spiders (hence a triple-later web) over our glass patio door. They were fascinating to watch at night, and v. interesting in appearance. The webs were those perfect specimens one sees in movies and nature documentaries. i got some great pictures, but they were difficult to take with a puny digital camera.

Then one morning, they all disappeared. I suspect the colder weather is the culprit.

Spiders are great predators of disease-causing bugs and agricultural pests. Fascinating creatures, the lions of the insect world.

TurkeyLurkey said:

My father had a gray wolf in his garage. The two of them had this great relationship. Dad would catch bugs and throw them into his web, and the gray wolf would be fat and sassy. Until one night......

My parents were lying in their beds fast asleep. Suddenly my mom freaks out and sits up in bed while patting and fidgeting. My dad jumps up and turns on the light. Yep.. you guessed it... Mr. Grey Wolf stopped by for a late night visit.

Dad was never allowed to have spider friends again.

The End

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You're Australian Turkey?

I love spiders.

I miss the rain spiders that used to come into our cottage in the forest when i lived in Knysna.