I don’t particularly like spiders, but as a web designer, I’ve grown accustomed to them over the years, and I find them and their habits fascinating.
Take, for instance, the late summer/early fall, when suddenly it seems there’s a plethora (gee, I like that word!) of spider webs.
I imagine we can thank our relatively cool summer for scenes like this:
Morning dew drops on spider web in evergreen bush
Pretty, huh?
Almost looks like millions of diamonds sparkling in the morning sunshine.
Apparently, spiders, too, are cognizant of the cool weather and, fearing that autumn might be “early” this year, they’re rushing to mate, feed, and die, paving the way for their babies to hatch next spring and renew the species.
In the meantime, it can be more than a tad annoying to accidentally run face first into a spider’s web, or to have a spider build one in your car (yes, that happened to me once, and I didn’t think I’d ever get it clean!).
Gardeners know that most spiders are beneficial, rather than deadly, eating insect pests without bothering humans. And even though it just seems like they’re plentiful right now, they really start showing up later in the fall, as the days get shorter.
Another myth is that it’s a win-win situation to not kill an indoor spider but instead set it back outside. You get to feel all righteous about not stomping on the icky-spider, and it gets to live. But you’d be better off turning a blind eye to its presence. Seriously. Indoor spiders, you see, aren’t adapted for outside conditions, so you’re actually hastening their death by turning them out!
Perhaps you’ve heard the myth that goes, You swallow x number of spiders every year, mostly at night. How silly! This one originated as part of an experiment a woman came up with to prove that people basically believe whatever they read online. She knew the myth wasn’t true and embellished it anyway; years later, it still shows up to frighten us in chain letter e-mails.
Spiders and their webs might be “yucky,” but it’s hard to deny their beauty:
Closeup of spider web
So, do you like spiders or find them creepy??
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
I don’t usually have an issue with spiders unless they are toxic! I like the webs and they don’t creep me out like they do some folks. I am not a huge fan of centipedes or millipedes but hey—I don’t hate them. 🙂
HaHa! I’m NOT a fan of centipedes either, Beth Ann. In fact, just seeing one gives me the creeps! Strange, they don’t seem to bother my dog. If there’s any truth in the myth about swallowing bugs, I suspect dogs (and maybe cats?) do so on a regular basis.
“Almost looks like millions of diamonds sparkling in the morning sunshine.”
It sure does, Debbie! And what a beautiful photograph you captured!
I’m like you, I don’t particularly like spiders because of the way they look, they freak me out. And having lived in Florida, I can tell you that there are spiders everywhere. I don’t mind them outdoors, but so many times they would get inside my apartment hide behind pictures on the wall and also between the shower curtain and liner in my bathroom. Brown Recluse Spiders are very common in Florida.
My mother on the other hand, loved spiders and was always very careful about disturbing their webs outside in our pool area in the backyard. She was also very superstitious believed that spiders meant good luck.
“Spiders and their webs might be “yucky,” but it’s hard to deny their beauty:”
Yup, you are so right about that. Their webs are like a work of art.
Have a super week, my friend!
X
Spiders do have a sneaky way of hiding, then popping out when you least expect it, don’t they?! And something about finding one in the bathroom — especially between the shower curtain and the liner — just gives me the willies (probably because we feel more vulnerable without clothes on, ha!)
Your mom sounds like a very loving woman, Ron. Spiders are said to attract money, like their webs attract prey. She might have been onto something!
Happy second full week of August to you!
I find them creepy, but we’ve learned to politely coexist! The webs are amazing, and even prettier with a bit of dew or rain sprinkled about.
Good for you, Suzi! As the poem goes, If you wish to live and thrive, Let the spider run alive. So I guess politely coexisting is a *good* thing! At least I can say I have never turned an inside spider out into the cold, cruel world, ha!
*laughs* I like them! And, funnily enough, just saw one crawling across my office floor today. I let him go. I like that they take care of the real pests!
You’re a good man, Professor. The spider, I’m sure, thanked you! Bet your office isn’t crawling with insects now, is it?!
It isn’t! But I’m not insect free yet. Which makes me wonder…maybe I should import a box of spiders.
Suit yourself, but that sounds like overkill to me!!
I think you’re right.
I do love seeing their webs. Sometimes it’s dew that makes them visible, and sometimes, when I’m working on a boat, sanding dust will catch and bring out the pattern.
The only thing I really, truly don’t like is a faceful of web when I’m walking a path and don’t spot it. Well, and poisonous ones biting me. We still don’t know if it was a brown recluse that bit me, but it took two weeks of antibiotics and bed rest to confine the damage to a dime-sized chunk of flesh. Oh, my.
Otherwise? A lot of them are cute!
I’ll bet sanding dust in the proper sunlight makes for a beautiful spider web, Linda. Like you, I don’t want their webs in my face or hair. I guess the stickiness just makes them next to impossible to get completely off — and the sensation of being covered has a nasty way of lingering long afterward!
Ewww, you actually got bit by one? That sounds awful. Central Illinois is included in the range of the brown recluse (http://firstaid.about.com/od/Spider-Bites/ss/How-To-Tell-Its-Not-a-Brown-Recluse_2.htm), though I’m not sure I’ve ever actually seen one. Nor do I want to!!
She said, “I don’t like spiders and snakes And that ain’t what it takes to love me….Okay I digress. It’s been one of those kind of days. I don’t bug spiders and they don’t bug me. The web’s are cool and a Charlotte gave her life to save WIlbur.
Now my sweet mother is always certain a great grey recluse spider is lurking around the corner. I hope not.
Thanks for the webderful information
Bye.
but not forever.
You know, I was thinking about Charlotte’s Web when I learned about the spiders mating, then dying. Remember how the babies swung through the air on silky strings? I just loved that movie — and Templeton the hungry rat, haha!
Enjoy this cool spell while we have it, for I fear summer’s 90-degree days aren’t over for good yet. But isn’t it great having GREEN grass in the middle of August?!
Well, I don’t have animosity toward spiders, but if they are inside, they have to die. Outside, I let them be. Last week, I watched a wasp fly into some kind of vent that was off our patio. When it didn’t come back out, I finally got brave enough to go look and saw it trapped in a spider web. My husband cleaned it out but I hope the spiders make another web 🙂
I tend to be like you, Janna. I don’t want spiders crawling around inside. I mean, if they don’t pay the mortgage, they don’t get to roost here for free!
Glad your spider got a good feast from that wasp — and you got rid of a stinging pest. See? Win-Win.
I’m one of those who puts the spider outside, but had no idea the consequences. Will try to turn the other cheek, if you will, and ignore them. Thanks for the education. Very enlightening, and will definitely add the knowledge to my “tangled web” of a brain!
I always admired folks so tender-hearted that they wouldn’t kill a bug, Monica. Little did I know they were actually hastening the poor creature’s demise by setting it outside!
That said, there are some spiders that probably ought to get squashed — the icky, ginormous ones, ha!
I’m not a fan of spiders, but I try to remember how much they help us by eating the pesky bugs. Growing up, we had a white stucco house, and it was a constant haven for Daddy Long Legs spiders. Ugh, they creeped me out! These days, I tend to find bigger, bulkier, black spiders in the bathtub in the lower level of the house. Not sure why they like it there, or gravitate there, but in the warmer months, it seems like I’m always spraying one down the drain. (I know they probably find their way back up again.) Needless to say, that bathtub sees little use from me. I’ll take the upstairs shower instead!
I can’t deny though, the webs you photographed are beautiful.
I never particularly liked Daddy Long Legs either. Something about all those skinny legs reminds me of centipedes, which frankly scare me. I’d be taking the upstairs shower, too, because I definitely don’t want to jump in the tub and find company of the creepy-crawly kind, ha!
Spiders never creeped me out, but I am afraid of snakes.
I’ve killed my fair share of snakes, Pat (the garter kind, and I know they’re supposed to be a gardener’s friend, but I don’t want them messing with my dog!). I get the creeps every time I have to do it! I rather hate admitting that I don’t want spiders living in the house with me, either, ha!