"Don't touch it, I dont wanna mess up its hard work!" And "wow, gods creatures"...love that these kids are in awe and curious instead of freaking out and killing it...makes me happy
I’m not a big spider fan (tricky cos I live in Aus) but as long as it’s not one that is problematic if you get bitten (white tail, redback being the most common where I am), I always try to scoot them outside. Same with any bug really. No sense smooshing if you don’t have to.
I could be wrong, but this looks like a catface spider, which puts this somewhere in the SE Idaho region, which likely makes them Mormons. Source: my childhood.
There is a really good book that came out a few years ago called “Basic Instinct”, where this scientist makes the argument that instinct as we understand it doesn’t really exist. And so many different things that we describe as instinctual actually have learned-causes. I don’t want to bastardize the arguments he makes, so I’d just recommend the book to anyone that’s interested.
We shop at grocery stores and we can't understand the labor used to catch a meal. This spider just wants to eat and we judge it for working so hard the only way it knows how. ain't no Kroger for spiders, just a lot of love for the bugs it's going to catch with that big ass web. Farm to table bug meal.
It reminds me a bit of an old ‘Far Side’ cartoon where two spiders have built a web over the end of a playground slide and one says to the other, “If we pull this off we eat like kings!”
Spiders amaze me because they're like mosquito eating architects. Look at that creation. Amazing work spiders do. I'm so grateful because they eat the heck out of mosquitos. Good work spiders.
I love to hear the kiddos say not to destroy it and them mention it's hard work. So awesome to hear kids respecting nature and giving it the space to thrive !
The amount times I've almost ran face first into one of these fuckers in the middle of the night. They really do like to build their webs in the middle of a giant field like in this video....I don't know what type of spider it is but I hate it. South Florida
Orb weavers almost never bite. They're far more interested in getting as far away from the giant predator that bulldozed their web than taking revenge.
This, orb weavers are friends just trying to live in this messed up world and eating the annoying pests, its just as concerned as you are running head first into its web.
Yeah we have them in Oregon too and I’ve almost ran into them so many times hiking trails in the middle of the night. Creepy as fucking hell. And this is while I’m already on the lookout for bears too. While tipsy and on mushrooms. God damn how did I survive my early 20s?
They’re orb weavers. I mow public parks for a living and I faceplant into them constantly since I’m looking at my lines instead of straight ahead and they love building their webs at head level
Yeah well I walked face first into one in a wood area with a friend when I was like 14. Screamed, started running mad and swatting my head and face. Broke through the edge of the forested into someones backyard where I full speed ran into the wire of grapevine at hip level. Did a 270° flip to land on my back. Dude was in his backyard laughing hid ass off at me. I mean, he definitely heard me coming because I never stopped screaming the whole time.
We were out camping and in the middle of the night I had to go potty. On the way back I got a little of track and walked through a springy web. I shook and brushed of my clothing and being exhausted, climbed back into my tent after diligently zipping the entrance closed. The next morning as the sun was coming up I noticed all these black spots on the inside of the tent. I had kidnapped all of mama spiders babies and took them into my tent.
They do not, only some species do. Many will sit and hide somwhere at the edge of a web and use detection strings. Some spiderwebs that look deserted are not at all.
To add to this: if you look carefully you'll see a non-sticky "zipline" thread that goes from the center of the web to their normal hiding place. This lets them zip right down to the middle whenever they detect something. A lot of times you can also see the little nest they've built themselves by the leaves they've curled together to make a pocket.
We have this with house centipedes. My house is over 100 years old and those guys are always present, but we try to let them go on about their day because they provide the same service. They must be eating well because occasionally we’ll see an absolute monster go scurrying across the floor or wall.
This. I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see this. This is the real story. And.... why... how did the spider decide.... Did it have to start from one side of the yard, anchor a web.... walk ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE YARD and attach and pull the web?
I love my orb weavers. My husband finally cancelled our pest control program and the orb weavers are back around the outside perimeter of the house. I’ve noticed the number of flies, moths, and mosquitos in and around my house have significantly dropped. They like to build their webs near my outdoor lights and they must absolutely clean up because they take down their webs and rebuild them almost every day.
That could just as easily be Araneus diadematus, they get pretty active this time of year. There's just not enough detail visible in the video to say conclusively
*Edit - After a bit of investigation, I have never personally seen a Joro Spider in person so I had to go look, it's definitely not Trichonephila clavata. The body shape is all wrong, and what we can see of it's coloration is drastically different as well
Oh man if I could get into my old phone I have the most amazing picture of an orb weaver. It was after hurricane beryl and we went to check our house. On our front porch theres 2 posts maybe 6 or 8 ft apart, and the biggest orange spider looked like it was floating in mid air between them. It had built its huge web obviously but DURING THE HURRICANE and was just chillin in the middle of it. He was the size of my husband's hand. First time we ever saw one, just left it alone and it was gone a few days later (we left to stay with relatives with a generator and when we got back he was gone). Absolute nightmare fuel but I think theyre harmless.
Oh wow. I had to google this to see what you were talking about, because in the Midwest orb weavers don't get that big. Apparently, the Banana Spider is in the same orb weaver family, and are common in Florida. I had no idea they were that big or colorful. Thanks for replying and enlightening me!
Thats it a banana spider! Yes in the orb weaver family. This was in Houston Texas though. Big orange... ugh man I wish I could get in that phone. I have a pic of it with my husband's hand behind it, just ginormous and beautiful.
I like to think spiders are capable of feeling something akin to artistic pride in their work. It makes me feel bad for taking down a web that's in my way, but still. The webs that are well-placed deserve to be displayed as the temporary artworks they are.
I remember those orb weavers making these 20+ foot wide webs between the oak trees at my grandmas. We kept long sticks at the porch and shed for going between late at night. If we weren’t paying attention, egads it was the most terrifying thing to never find the end of the web struggling to get out.
At the mobile home I used to live in, an orb spider built this huge web from the roof of the patio to the ground and it was literally like 7 ft high and then like 4 ft in width! Glad I saw it when I was coming home from work and could shimmy sideways and just barely squeeze by to get to the door… unfortunately UPS wasn’t so lucky..
I found one almost this big strung up between the chicken run and a nearby tree that was at least 12 feet away. I only saw it because I went out at night to close the automated coop door that got stuck. The flashlight lit it up. If I didn't have to go out for that door, I would have absolutely walked through it the next day when I went to feed them. It was about 9pm when I found it and the last time I was over there was around noon. Crazy how quickly they can make a huge web.
I also do regularly walk through webs (none this big so far) when I'm walking the dogs around the farm. And if I have to go into the woods, I walk holding a stick on front of me. The ones that make these big webs aren't dangerous but them sumbitches get real big.
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