I was just sitting there on my tuffet eating my curds and whey when eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!
I was just sitting there on my tuffet eating my curds and whey when eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!
If you don't post a picture of the spider it didn't exist.
Around here it is the time of year the spiders get overly enthusiastic about their web spinning.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Tom, you need to move to Florida. When I go out to get the paper in the morning, before sunrise, I find myself looking under the car and in the brush in hopes I might outsmart a Burmese python or hungry gator. Today I was pulling some weeds and this cactus like thing, that I thought was so cool when it was 1/4 the size, stabbed me several times. And my hand swelled up. And we have no-see-ums that are smaller than a grain of pepper but bite like a hornet.
I really miss Chicago....
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain
Impossible to move back? Evanston seemed like it'd be a pleasant place to live.
I posted this before but it is relevant to this post.
https://www.livescience.com/62452-wo...ider-dies.html
You've left out the rattle snakes [See pics below.], water moccasins, bears, Florida panthers, sharks, and then there are the hurricanes, tornadoes, massive thunderstorms and lightening strikes, power outages, falling trees and floods. There are a host of reasons to stay in Chicago or New York or Boston. Life is fragile down here and you should think about it. Then there's FLORIDA MAN, who's in the news every day.
Rattler1.jpg Rattler2.jpg Rattler3.jpg
Click 'em to big 'em!
But all that's nothing compared to the Snowbird drivers!
You all should all stay up Nawth where things are safer.
Fair winds and following seas,
Jim Waldron
Speaking of spiders, it was lucky the sun was shining or we may have walked into these:
Spiders at the Gate.jpg
One of the spirals can be seen against the dark trunk of the tree. The light spot near the edge of the tree trunk is the spider.
There are actually two webs across our gate in this picture. They were knocked down and at least one is already up again this morning. We keep sticks like the one leaning on the fence on the porch and all around to knock down the webs. Some of the webs are strung quite far between their ends. My walking stick is mostly for swinging in front of me while walking through the trees or pasture. Still every once in awhile one gets me to walk into it.
Some of those spiders get pretty fat. Must be keeping the bugs in check.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
I dislike spider webs across the face. I get them a lot walking through the woods trails in the morning or on the 4-wheeler. Sometimes I mount a vertical stick on the front of the 4-wheeler to break the webs; sometimes I hold up a stick while walking.
spider_web_IMG_20130916_092.jpg
The spider webs alone are not that bad. What I like less is catching a big spider web that has a big spider that then starts crawling on my neck.
One like this is exciting:
spider_Elijah_IMG_0225.jpg
My favorite spider webs:
spiderweb_P8208629s.jpg
JKJ
I have a strong dislike for spiders stemming from a bad childhood experience. I can pick up snakes and such all day long....but a spider? I'll stomp it to death in less than a New York Minute.
Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
Dennis -
Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.
I suspect you already have this chart, then.
Spider_ID_chart2.jpg
I avoid killing them because they are generally good citizens...if there are spiders, there is spider food and that's typically insects that are not nice to have around.
That said, there was a giant (literally) spider in Tia's bathroom last week that i unfortunately did have to dispatch via the swirling throne. I'm talking about a body that was about 3/4" in diameter with 2" long legs...
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
I would get a lot of wolf spiders in my shop and around the yard and would always kill them until I saw a video on YouTube where a wolf spider killed a black widow spider quite easily.
I used to encounter a dozen BW's every year until I stopped killing the wolf spiders. Then the neighbor got some chickens and they would run loose around our yard and garden eating the wolf spiders and the BW's showed back up. Chickens wouldn't eat the BW or the squash bugs.
Now that the chickens have been contained in a full enclosure and don't come in our yard anymore to eat the wolf spiders, the WS are multiplying and I haven't seen a BW around the yard in over a year.
We also get the spiders that make the 10' diameter webs. Came out of the shop two nights ago and there was one covering the personnel door trying to get a meal from the flying bugs by the door light.
Last edited by Rob Damon; 10-09-2018 at 11:14 AM.
Great example of balance, Rob!
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...