Spiders

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

We're hitting the end of the second month in our new place. We have chicken coops up, trees in the ground and compost bins partially built, so I figured today would be a good day to cut/pull thistle to burn. I got a ton done but the fire went out of my belly when I started running into a regular population of orb weavers



Seeing the first was enough to trigger my arachniphobia, but once two and three hit I found myself losing the gusto to take care of weeds and was instead focusing on "are there spiders?"

 

[canesisters]

I must have at least a dozen of these lovely ladies around my barn & garden.
The one in my tomatoes is just about the size of my palm.
I've never heard of anyone being hurt by these. I've gotten VERY close to them and they never move from their spot on the web.
I think the one in your middle picture is a male.

 

[Nyboy]

Anything that eats mosquitoes is a friend to me. I have seen my butch nephew and his friends scream and run away from spiders

 

[canesisters]

My ladies don't bother with mosquitoes. They eat horseflies!

 

[digitS']

This year, the neighborhood trees were covered with aphids. Maples, locusts, walnuts, etc., black aphids were everywhere! This isn't all that uncommon, all this sticky mess! However, whatever species these tiny, black aphids were - I don't remember having ever seen them! Certainly not in numbers where they not only cover the trees but every square inch under the trees.

Then, the baby ladybugs showed up ... Never have I seen so many! A second bug population explosion!

The youngsters are nearly all grown up and gone now. Quite a few adult ladybugs are still around. I've been wondering about what happened to the lacewings this year - not many of them. Black flies ... I have 2 itchy bites that I can blame one one fly, saw him! Four more bites are probably from his sisters but I don't want to jump to judgment.

Life -- all around me!

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

"I don't like spiders" is different than a true phobia but I don't know how strong your dislike is. I don't like spiders crawling on me but as long as they are not a black widow or brown recluse they don't bother me that much. When that tarantula showed up in my back yard in Arkansas I used a shovel to move it out of the dogs' territory before they found it. I was OK doing that with the shovel. I would not touch it with my hand though. That think was beautiful but also impressive. It was mating season and he was out looking for a girlfriend.

We all have our dislikes and phobias. Whether it is rational or not doesn't matter, it's real to us. And there is a difference in a healthy respect and fear. I used to be OK with heights but somewhere in my 40's or 50's that changed. I can still get a roof if I have no other real choice and can function up there, but it's not something I do for recreation. And I'm real careful around the edges. Snakes don't bother me that much but please can someone else take care of that cockroach?

 

[digitS']

"All things are connected.

Whatever befalls the Earth – befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life – he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." ~ attributed to Chief Seattle (& why not ?)

digitS'

 

[Just-Moxie]

I have 5 now, I think. 3 across the back of the potting shed. 1 on the well pump house. And one has spread herself and her web across the front door frame where the storm glass was. We don't use the front door anyway.
Oh yeah, and one on the north face rose bushes. I didn't have any for a year or 2. Missed the ladies. Happy to see them back!

 

[Nyboy]

Spiders are like broccoli people ether love or hate.

 

[Carol Dee]

Anything that eats mosquitoes is a friend to me. I have seen my butch nephew and his friends scream and run away from spiders

Yep, Aren't they ones that dropped Grandma's china due to a spider scare?