Spiders Are My Friends

    I'm not the type to be afraid of spiders and I'm not the type to go around killing them. If it is not a black widow or a brown recluse then it is safe with me. When I lived in upstate New York, I never had to worry about anything poisonous. Living previously in Nevada and now living in Georgia is a totally different story. Poisonous snakes and spiders are going to be somewhere in the neighborhood. Luckily, I don't get to interact with them too often. If you are a black widow or a brown recluse and you show up in or around my house, I'm sorry but I am going to kill you. If you are another type of spider, welcome to my home!  I have insects and you eat them right? So let's work out a deal. I won't kill you and you kill them. Is that fair enough?
    Down in South Georgia we have some great and beautiful spiders. The jumping spiders are fascinating. There are thousand of species of these so I have no idea which ones I have seen. I thought I could catch them but they leap away from you at super speed. Once I saw one on the bathroom wall and a fly was on the wall nearby. The jumping spider seemed very still for moment and then instantly pounced onto the fly.

underside view

side view

    Size-wise these jumping spiders are nothing compared to one that is frequently seen in my area. This beautiful creature has a lovely yellow body with white spots and long legs that are brown and yellow striped. I thought at first that it was commonly known as a yellow garden spider or Argiope spider. Now that I have received a helpful comment from a friend, I have found that is called a banana spider (Nephila clavipes), which seems a very suitable name.  I am just assuming it's a girl and I call her Goldy. My aunt and uncle once had a golden retriever named Goldy and this spider is nearly big enough to put on a leash. This one I have seen attached to the outside of my house but more often I see it in the woods. One lovely girl has had her web set up across one of our nature paths for over a month. At first she shared the web with what I believe to have been  several small males who may have been rallying around her for some spider lovin'. One day they were just all gone. Did they go upon their merry way or did she eat them? They were a small fraction of her mammoth size and I am tempted to believe she is a man-eater.

top view

    The first time I saw the crab-like orb weaving spider I did a double take. It looks like it has little thorns sticking out of it and is also known as a spiny orb weaver. I couldn't believe it when I saw that it was a spider making a web. Last year one took up residence in the front yard for several months and became known to me as Charlotte, the most cliche name I could think of for a spider. Its web was suspended between the large evergreen in our front yard and the ground below. I would often watch it building its web. This year the ones I have seen stuck around only a few days. One had its sparse web precariously hanging between some high tree branches with one thread attached to the grass below during several windy days. Maybe it figured out this wasn't a good place because it soon disappeared.

    I recently made friends with a small spider that had taken up residence in a rather strange place. It was living in the crease on the top outside edge of my cats' pet food bag. I decided that one could stay too. I certainly don't want insects getting in the cat food. It would sit lurking in the shadows behind its web in between the crease of the bag just waiting to catch its unsuspecting victims.  My friend the spider was there for over a week until one day my husband thought he was doing me a favor by feeding the cats. I had shown him the spider before but he had forgotten about it and just picked up the cat food bag to dump onto their dishes. I, on the other hand always scoop the food from the bag by hand so as not to disturb my little friend. Since my husband forget about my new pet, it is now MIA. Hopefully it just set up a new location in my cats' room.
    Here's to you spiders, my natural pest control friends. Thanks for being there for me. You don't hurt me so I won't hurt you and I am always here to provide plenty of insect action in my home!