Originally uploaded by a_ahlstrom
The little — and some alarmingly large! — bugs have been around for weeks but the start of cool, crisp fall days is when spider season officially begins. You can’t have spider season without morning dew-dotted webs. And you can’t have dew without crisp fall days. Ergo, happy spider season.
Yes, by the way, spiders happen every year and we’re pretty sure this poppycock only partly explains it:
Hatched out in early May, the ubiquitous species known as European cross spiders spend their early days out of sight of all but the most dogged spider-hunters. Their tiny webs are tucked deep in the bushes where they chow down on bugs — and grow. Now they’re reaching adulthood.
I don’t know what it is…but I have found four HUGE spiders this week alone in my Capitol Hill condo and I’ve NEVER found that many spiders in that short of time at home. It’s awful and something is definately up.
“Just starting”? For the last month we’ve been watching the fat bastards setting up their snares in the shrubs outside our windows. It’s like an arachnid nature documentary out there. Not to mention the wolf spiders waltzing through the laundry room downstairs. If the season is just starting they’re gonna be as big as Christopher Walken before November.
FWIW, might want to leave the large ones alone. Odds are, they’ve been around for a while, and they eliminate a lot of other pests. Does anybody know if spiders include bedbugs in their diets?
This year has been exceptional in their number and size. Our deck and windows have been covered the entire summer. I used to brush them away, but they’d set up shop that night so I’ve just let them alone. We have one in particular whose body is the size of a grape. Also we had a black widow in the kitchen the other day.
Spiders aren’t bugs.
Spiders are Arachnids.
Now you know.
I learned the spider that has been nesting in my porch window all summer is a European Cross. Neat!