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New local industry: Spider ranching

Started 1 year ago by christopherboffoli
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christopherboffoli
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I'm not quite sure how it happened, but virtually overnight I've fallen into a new career as a spider rancher. I'm not sure why I worked so hard all year to nurture the plants in my garden when the real cash crop this year is spiders. Seriously. They're the new white meat. I've got lobster-sized monsters hanging around in every inch of my garden. It looks like some kind of 1950's Sci-Fi/Horror mash-up. I've got a couple that are close to rivaling the tarantula that tried to kill Greg Brady in one of those Brady Bunch go to Hawaii episodes.

Conversely, I'm moving on from my previous career as a fruit fly farmer. I'm beginning to suspect that the decline of that industry is related to the rise of the new one.

Posted 1 year ago #
dhg
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It seems there are several times more spiders this season than any time in the past 10 years. Komo ran a teaser story about all the spiders but when they finally ran it, it was an intervie with a Woodland Park bug expert who simply said "it's that time of year". I was expecting something more insightful like: Wet weather led to favorable spider egg hatchings or some such thing.

Howsomeever, congratulaions on your new career as The Deadliest Catch is replaced by the ickiest.

Posted 1 year ago #
JanS
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nice pics, CB. And, so glad the fruit fly season has ended !

Posted 1 year ago #
Carson
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CB,

Since I am the champ at Brady Bunch Trivia, let me ask you. Has your brother (aka Bobby Brady) recently found a sacred idol that is bringing you this bad spider luck?

Posted 1 year ago #
johnnyblegs
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Seriously. I got some the size or quarters all over the trees out back. I saw one that built a web at face height right smack in the middle of a sidewalk with no visible trees around. Don't know what it was strung to. Floating web?

Posted 1 year ago #
TammiWS
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I was hoping the KOMO story would give an explanation too.

I had 9 strung all over my deck yesterday and today one from the fence to car handle but so fine of a web I of course walked right into it.

It is far far worse this year - reminds me of 5 years or so ago with the invasion of caterpillar nests...blech.

Posted 1 year ago #
The Velvet Bulldog
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I believe I read/heard that the mild winter resulted in a larger bug hatch in the Spring--hence, lots of fodder for bigger, well-fed spideys. The BF and I are constantly exclaiming as we walk through the yard, "OMG, come look at THIS one!!"

Christopher, let me know if you start hiring yourself out as a spider wrangler--we've got some giant beasts indoors that need lassooin'.

Posted 1 year ago #
MousePotato
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I think I've seen some of these guys in my yard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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Please check out this website:

http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/

People say the same thing every year.

BTW, the spider in the photo is Araneus diadematus, aka the St. John's Cross spider. The big ones are egg-laden females. Mating season is just about over, but if you look near the webs of the big females you may see several tiny suitors waiting in the wings.

Posted 1 year ago #
christopherboffoli
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The worst part is walking out into one of these webs and not knowing here the damned spider is. I'm told they DO bite.

Posted 1 year ago #
JayDee
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I knocked my glasses off my face trying to swat one while taking out the trash last week. I beg to differ that this year is normal -- I've never had spiders on my deck and it seems like there is more demand for hanging space for webs. They might bite but I'll squish them flat if they are in my face. These are non-native spiders (as the SeaTimes reported) so there is no karmic burden for killing them.

Posted 1 year ago #
dhg
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Whether they bite or no, I don't want them on me. We have a stick near the doorway for clearing it first thing in the morning. Still, gotta mow the lawn and I can't see ALL of the webs.

Posted 1 year ago #
christopherboffoli
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Carson: We put the idol back in the cave with creepy Vincent Price. But the spiders are still here! What happened to the one on the show? Did Mr. Brady squash it with a shoe or did it crawl out of Jan's bag and escape? I can't recall.

Posted 1 year ago #
thansen
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Yes I think all of West Seattle is one giant spider's web. I've walked into so many at my house I'm scared to go outside!

Posted 1 year ago #
Sonoma
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Help! Spiders with a bellyful of anchor babies! And I guess I'll have to rename the plump arachnid by my front door - we dubbed "her" Barach. Perhaps Octomom. And questions: Why do the young gentlemen suitor spiders linger around the pregnant mom? Do they do so willingly, or are they entrapped, soon replace the babies in the lady spider's belly? Finally, how long do these creepy critters live (assuming no one smooshes them)? And Christopher, congrats on your new ranching enterprise. I'm looking forward to spider rodeos, roundups, and rustling.

Posted 1 year ago #
Garden_nymph
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Heck, the fleas have a circus AND a market. What can your spiders do (other than spin beautiful webs and eat bugs that is)?!

Posted 1 year ago #
Que
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The ones in my backyard are big enough I am thinking about putting a saddle on them to ride to work!

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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Don't worry everyone, they will be gone in a few weeks after having eaten tons (literally) of bugs.

Sonoma: "Octomom" is a great name, reminds me of my first tarantula named "Ocho".

The moms are full of eggs waiting to be fertilized. The mating dance is quite fascinating, as the little males strum the females web, harp-like, to a certain tune that sedates her. When he is close enought to touch her, he strokes her rapidly all over, as if tickling her. If amenable, she will fold her legs over her fangs and present herself. Afterward, he makes a quick escape - or not. Males are devoured roughly 20% of the time. These orb weavers live about 2 years, but the Octomoms will likely perish shortly after laying their egg sac - which is soon.

I used to be a spider rancher for real, occasionally for TV. At one time I had over 600 tarantulas at home, in addition to black widows and various native species. Only bitten once - while gardening. Spider bites are actually very rare considering their numbers, although mystery bites are nearly ALWAYS blamed on spiders.

Posted 1 year ago #
dhg
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In West Seattle????? Did you have 600 tarantulas here in West Seattle?

Posted 1 year ago #
christopherboffoli
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Question to the spider experts: Why don't the birds eat the spiders?

Posted 1 year ago #
Irukandji
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MousePot FTW!

I finally sent the husband out with the electric racket last night to take down the beast that set up shop between the kitchen window and the hummingbird feeder (dream big, Charlotte!). It took four zaps before going up in flames. Smelled a little like bacon as it burned.

Posted 1 year ago #
GAnative
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They are everywhere this year! I have a "spider stick" at every door as we can't get out of the house w/o knocking down webs.

Posted 1 year ago #
bsmomma
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I'm sure my neighbors think I'm a little nutty (if they can see me)! I do a little dance with a broom around my whole back yard and out by our cars(with the song "She works hard for her money" playing in my head). We have a big tree in the back with a garage, fence, garbage/recycle cans, etc.... They are EVERYWHERE EVERY morning! One morning I counted SIX of them just hanging from our tree. One hitched a ride on my car antenna.......I don't think he made it.

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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dhg, no I didn't have them in West Seattle, I had them in a Queen Anne apartment. They were mostly in smallish containers (one per container - they are cannibalistic, after all) neatly arranged in bookcases. Most of the 600 were spiderlings, the result of an all-too-successful mating of two curly-hair tarantulas. Eventually I donated my 'collection' to a University in the midwest.

CBoffoli, birds DO eat spiders - a lot of them. I've seen birds hovering in front of one of the large orb weavers webs (so misappreciated on this thread) ready to pluck it out like a tasty gumball. Hummingbird nests contain a high quantity of spider silk, and they enjoy spider snacks as well. Some Amazonian tribes roast and eat large tarantulas, using the sizable fangs for toothpicks afterward. However, the greatest predator of spiders is other spiders.

Posted 1 year ago #
jwws
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I just watched one of my orb weavers get eaten by a larger spider with stalk-like eyes. Yuck.

Posted 1 year ago #
SarahScoot
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Some birds eat some spiders, and some spiders eat some birds. :-)

(I chose not to upload an image of a spider actually devouring a bird, but it is a fascinating - and somewhat disturbing - sight.)

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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Stalk-like eyes? I know of only one spider genus that fits that description, and it's so small you wouldn't be able to detect that feature. I think what you probably saw were the pedipalps. Spiders have two modified, short legs in front in addition to the other eight. Mature males may have a bulbish apparatus on each pedipalp, which serves as a secondary sex organ. You may have witnessed a mating gone wrong, or just simple predation.

Posted 1 year ago #
dhg
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Anonyme: One of my favorite stories, ever, told here highly abbreviated:
Mark Twain, hanging out in Nevada with silver prospectors, described staying in a boarding house with one large room, some 26 beds. Many of the men kept tarantulas in jars above their beds. The jars were not covered. A mild earthquake hit in the wee hours and tumbled all the jars. When they lit the lanterns, they couldn't find a single one of those tarantulas. No one slept that night.

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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SarahScoot: The spider in your photo looks like Theraphosa blondii; I used to have one of those. BTW, the one being 'held' in the photo is either dead or chilled/frozen. The Discovery Channel and other sensationalized, non-science based 'nature' shows love to stage and dramatize stuff like bird-eating. I don't think it happens that often in the wild, and if it does, only baby birds would be taken. Which of course is absolutely creepy and disturbing, even I can admit that.

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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dhg, funny story - I've never heard that one. Of course, I have to immediately begin dissecting the tale and looking for logic - which clearly doesn't apply here!

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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I just remembered a story to truly disgust you all. Apparently, the nursery tale "Little Miss Muffet" was at least partially based on fact. It's said that Dr. Thomas Muffet, a homeopath, would make his daughter eat live spiders wrapped in soft white bread as a remedy. The spider species was Araneus, the very creature featured by the OP. I don't know if the story is true or not - but I DO know that this species, as well as black widows (Latrodectus) is used in homeopathic medicine.

Posted 1 year ago #
The Velvet Bulldog
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Since we're sharing spidey stories: I was staying in a guest house in the Himalayas in October of 2005. Went into the bathroom and something made me look up--the largest spider I have EVER seen in my life (about the size of my hand and kinda pinkish in color) was lounging at the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling. I carefully backed out and went outside where one of our native Indian drivers was sitting. I went completely stupid-American on him. I said, "The biggest spider in the world is in my bathroom and SOMEONE ELSE HAS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!" He kind of giggled, went into the bathroom and put a towel over his hand; he reached up, grabbed the spider by some of its bottom legs, carried it outside and let it go. (I'm sure I heard a "thunk" when it hit the ground.) The next time one was found in a bedroom, I'm sorry to say, it met its maker.

Posted 1 year ago #
RarelyEver
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HATE. SPIDERS. SO. INCREDIBLY. MUCH.

seriously, this thread is killing me, and somehow i can't not follow it! somebody explain this! i don't care about whether spiders are poisonous or not, i scream and run and/or faint just seeing one... i think it's the legs... so many legs, and they move so fast... CAN'T. HANDLE. SPIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

Posted 1 year ago #
dhg
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Yep, rarelyever, I know someone who books movies and he says spider movies never work. People either are not scared and thus not interested, or way too spooked to see a movie.

Posted 1 year ago #
Sonoma
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Thanks for the information, Anonyme! I only wish spiders would devour snails (mmmm-sidewalk escargot) and slugs (homeless snails, also known as Seattle sushi).

Posted 1 year ago #
Sonoma
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dhg, I beg to differ!
s/Peter Parker

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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Rarelyever, believe or not I can totally sympathize! I used to be insanely arachnophobic. As dhg suggested, I could not even look at a poster advertising the movie 'Arachnophobia'. I designed my own program to get over it, and it worked - too well. Maybe I should teach my "system" to others?

Posted 1 year ago #
Sonoma
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I intercepted this message, which Octomom was spinning into her web.
"Spiders of West Seattle, cease, for a moment, your spinning, mating-dancing, leg-wiggling, egg-laying, and mate-devouring. I have acquired secret intelligence that our very lives are in danger. Weapons of mass destruction, no less than bristling brooms and shocking electrical rackets, threaten our peaceful yet repulsive existence. We cannot rely on the quaint sentimentality of Charlotte's Web, or the inevitable puns about Web sites, to spare us. Our only weapon is fear itself."

Posted 1 year ago #
JoB
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and they deploy it well

Posted 1 year ago #
Irukandji
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Allie understands: Spiders Are Scary

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/03/spiders-are-scary-its-okay-to-be-afraid.html

Posted 1 year ago #
SarahScoot
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Aaaahhhh Irukandji! I love anyone who cites Hyperbole and a Half.

Posted 1 year ago #
datamuse
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But will you squash ALL the spiders, SarahScoot? :D

Posted 1 year ago #
EmmyJane
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There is a spider living in the side mirror on our truck. I think this is the new breed of spiders, who are so smart they string their webs and go wrangle some bugs, instead of waiting for the bugs to fly into their web. Brilliant.

Posted 1 year ago #
squareeyes
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I don't care what any expert says...there are a lot more spiders out and about this year...they've got webs strung from the power lines along my driveway down to the fence and shrubs which I haven't seen in the 9 years I've had the house. When I got into my car this morning I realized one was strung from the carport to my car. Not sure if the spider managed to stay with the carport or if s/he went for a drive.

I am armed with a fly swatter which travels from house to car to house every day.

Speaking of the movie Arachnophobia...they imported spiders from New Zealand...Avondale spiders they were called...large (very!) but harmless. About 20 years ago I used to live in the next neighborhood over from Avondale...and yes...I found one of those suckers in my house. Yeek!

Posted 1 year ago #
JoB
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They have covered my front porch
they have covered my back porch
they have covered the entrance to the patio
they have covered the entrance to the greenhouse
they have covered the mailbox and the front gate
they have covered the back gate
but when they invaded my car i declared war.

i leave my home armed and dangerous breaking webs with a vengeance and still they rebuild.

soon i will be goaded into violence.

Posted 1 year ago #
josie2006
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It's a daily battle out there, but did anyone else find the forum thread from 2 years ago saying the same thing about "it's so much worse this year"? I think most people hate/fear spiders so much that their perceptions are skewed. I just hope it's over soon. My other question is - where do they go when they go "away"?

Posted 1 year ago #
bsmomma
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Ever been bitten by a spider? A bad spider? I have! More than once! I have the scars to prove it. Had to get 2 shots (1 in each "cheek") of some glowing green stuff. I HATE SPIDERS. Blaugh.

Posted 1 year ago #
RarelyEver
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anonyme -

what's this program you're speaking of? i'd love to get rid of my fear of spiders - i tried psychotherapy, hypnotherapy (unfortunately, we found out pretty quick that i'm one of the *lucky* people who cannot be hypnotized - ugh!), exposure therapy (never doing THAT crap again!!!), and trying to find the "beauty" in these critters on my own. nothing helped, and the exposure thing gave me nightmares and inexplicable episodes of screaming fits whenever something touched me unexpectedly for a LONG time.

if you've got the remedy i'm willing to pay premium $$ for it!!!

Posted 1 year ago #
JoB
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they seem to have disappeared from their webs since i posted...
psychological warfare may be effective enough.

unless..

anonyme.. where did you say they go now??????
and where and when do those young hatch?

Posted 1 year ago #
anonyme
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They'll continue to pop out now & then when the sun comes out, even in winter. However, the really huge ones are now laying their egg sacs, then dying. The immature ones will overwinter in leaf litter and vegetation. The young of this species usually hatch out in spring, but they're so tiny you don't notice them until later in the year.

Rarelyever, I created my own program. It began with reading and learning about spiders. At first I couldn't even look at a drawing of a circle with eight legs coming out of it. When my BFF got a tarantula, I couldn't enter his home. Finally, I could be in the same room & eventually got curious enough for a closer look. I actually think tarantulas are less scary than house spiders - they look more like small animals, which is what they are.

In retrospect, reading was the most important aspect of my desensitization. Knowledge does truly vanquish fear. The programs you describe don't sound very helpful, especially the tickling stuff.

Posted 1 year ago #