Is "Spider Zone" too gross-sounding for a title?
Too late I guess it's Spider Zone
Letting spiders cohabitate with is the easiest way to feel like a good person. Not only am I not walking across the room and chasing a spider around, I’m making the world a better place.
I know I’m stronger than bugs, but I can’t help it they still kind of always creep me out. What are your policies on spiders and insects indoors? Are you moving them outside with a glass? Does it depend on the size and location, or time of day, or whether or not it surprises you in a way that’s scary? Do you think spiders crawl in our ears at night? I don’t think they do. I’m always surprised by the things I’ll do around bugs when there are kids watching. Yesterday I was outside with my nieces and I reached for a spotted lanternfly with my bare hand.
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Thanks to everyone (all humans so far, I think) who signed up for a paid subscription last week. It means so much to me and I can’t wait to make new things for you and hear your stories too, surrounded by as many spiders as are interested in joining.
I hope you have a good week and that you meet someone new and remember their name.
There was a time when I too had a “spider zone.”
Three years and eight months ago, the PTB etcha-sketched my life via house fire, covid, and a lot of other unpleasant stuff. Then I found an orbweaver that I didn’t recognize.
Now, after many AudHD study sessions (rabbit holes), I have 2 pet jumping spiders and 7 tarantulas (“never in a million years,” I thought), and my entire (new and very cute little 1970s) house is a squish-free/spider-safe zone.
The small “army” of Furrow Orbweavers (Charlotte and friends) eat flying bitey bugs on the porch. A Grass spider and a Cobweb spider guard the lower levels from crawling bitey bugs. Cellar spiders protect the basement from invading indoor crawlies. And the rest get gently captured and set free. (Unless it’s winter, then they get housed temporarily and fed until it’s warm again.)
Fear was transmuted into fascination and appreciation through understanding. Now that I understand how they work, that most are virtually blind and that they don’t even have ears but instead sense the world through their bodies (and webs if they make them), I fear NO spider.
Any contact they have with humans is purely accidental. When they seem to be running AT someone, it’s only panic and desperately running for the nearest cover; that safe-looking shadow that happens to be under our feet. And they don’t want to bite us, they need that venom to eat. If they use it in defense, they risk starvation.
Spiders (except jumping spiders) don’t understand the concept of human. They know only three things: food, danger, and possible partner (sometimes also food). 🖤
First, I love your spider at the top… I learned today that you cannot stack too many eyeballs when it comes to bugs. Second, I feel the spider zone is very much based on spider size. There is no zone for really big spiders in our house. The tiny ones can come and go as they please except for beds, chairs and yes… showers.