Older Daughter came in from the shop the other day and said, "Did you notice the baby spiders on the porch? You may want to grab your camera."
So I followed her outside and saw, between two boards of the porch, hundreds of gold-colored newly hatched baby spiders.
Hundreds.
These are the same species of baby spiders that were clustered on our deck a couple years ago, which I was able to sweep up with a forked stick and drop into the grass below before they had a chance to migrate indoors.
Older Daughter and I each used a thin stick to sweep the babies up. Rather than staying clustered, though, they started dropping down on silk threads from the stick. They looked like the spider equivalent of a beaded curtain.
We hastily carried the sticks draped with spiders toward the yard fence. The silk threads got longer and longer as we walked.
We got (most) of the spiderlings over the fence into the long grass on the other side, where I hope they live long and fruitful lives. We just don't need that many baby spiders in the house. I'm glad Older Daughter spotted them when she did.
I found the same thing at my place but the "spiderlings" were of the Black Widow variety... Needless to say, I used a more... nuclear... method of removal...
ReplyDeleteJust an FYI for everyone out there, I found the "Bug-A-Salt" gun to be INCREDIBLY effective against spiders in the house. The gun shoots salt at the critters. It has a "laser sight" on it. Point it at the critter. When the laser pointer is on the bug, pull the trigger. "If it's red, it's dead" is noted on the gun's packaging. The gun is meant for flies, but works GREAT on spiders, and can take them out whether they be on the ground, wall, ceiling, or whatever! Effective range is about six feet. 'Best "better mousetrap" ever made!!!