Spider Update

Okay, I realize there are few who are as fascinated by this spider and web on my front deck as I am. Admittedly, it is creepy-looking and I did make sure the kids avoided the front steps as much as possible over the weekend. I wasn't sure how aggressive it would get if one of them got too close. (It is not poisonous, btw.)

So we looked at it every day, standing a safe distance away, and on Friday evening I noticed it was not on the web. I looked around, and saw it on the side of the stairs, sort of sheltered beside a spindle, sitting on this big brown ball.

Yes, that is an egg sac. It's a very large egg sac. Sadly, it's an egg sac that must be destroyed.

I just finished a little research on the yellow garden spider and that egg sac contains anywhere from 300 to 1400 tiny arachnids. Not only that, other insects and species of spiders are known to burrow in and use these sacs to hibernate over the winter. We don't want that. Even as fascinating as I think they are, I don't want a thousand little baby spiders on the front of my house.

I don't have to be in a hurry, though. Those babies will hatch soon, but will stay in the egg sac until Spring. Mama will die sometime in the next few weeks - when we get our first hard frost if not before. As soon as that happens, that sac is history.

'Tis the season...

Edited at 9:58 - Right after I posted this, I went out the front door - lo and behold, look what I found in front of the deck. I've been watching for the big guy all week, just so I don't walk into the web, or I may not have noticed this:

for SPIDERS! This past week I've had a couple of close calls with the eight-legged wonders, and that's enough. I can be done with them now.
Last Sunday I was getting ready to host my former coworkers from the theater for our end-of-the-summer party by setting up some outside spaces. I bent down to move a planter and almost stuck my face into this: Yeah, that was my reaction. But isn't it beautiful? I had Nick help me position the planter so my guests would be sure to walk around the web and not brush it as they went by. Believe it or not, no one noticed the web until I pointed it out after they had come into the house!

We kept an eye on it all day, and by evening the web was only about half as big as that morning, and by the next morning it was gone completely.

I tried to put the camera on the inside of the web to get a photo of the front of this giant guy, but didn't want to get too close, so the focus is off. You can still get an idea of how very big he was. Even with all the spectators during the day, and cameras (I wasn't the only one taking photos), this guy never moved.

My next encounter was not so charming. One of my responsibilities at the fitness club where I work part-time is to check the water level in the swimming pool and moniter the water temperature. So on Monday morning I filled the pool what little bit I needed to, then put the hose away. I reached down to pick up the thermometer out of the water, and thank goodness I looked down before I touched this:

Sitting there, wiggling it's hairy front legs. Ewww. I quickly left the pool area, but I knew I couldn't leave the spider - there would be members using the pool in a little while, and they didn't deserve to have to deal with this guy. So I got my cell phone to take a photo, then and scooped him out of the pool onto the deck with a broom. I stepped back and he ran after me! That's when I knew he must DIE. And he did.

So what is it that made the first spider so beautiful and the second so disgusting? I don't know. I just know I've had my share of arachno-fun for this season!