Rudy Schmidt
Electric Child
Spiders are my latest obsession. I've always been afraid of bugs, and terrified of spiders, but somewhat interested in them.
Recently there was an infestation of large (several inches across) wolf spiders in my workplace. Coming into contact with them was unavoidable, so I decided to get over my fear. I did this by burying myself in facts about spiders, researching the local ones, looking at photos, etc.
It worked.
Now, as well as not being afraid of them, I've developed this enormous fascination with spiders and everything about them. I've learned that they're not nearly as dangerous as you think, and I've learned a lot about identifying webs (I learned a lot about black widows because we get those), and bunches of other facts. I find myself talking about them a lot, even to my poor arachnophobic wife. I caught an orb weaver spider indoors this week and spent a while looking closely at it inside the clear glass before releasing it outside.
Orb weavers are definitely my favourite spiders, but they all fascinate me endlessly.
EDIT: There's an orb weaver outside my workplace - a big orange one - that spins the biggest webs I've ever seen. One today was about six feet at its longest side, and was spun between three small trees, with herself sat right in the center.
My question - does anybody else here have this particular obsession?
Alternatively, does anybody have any personal experiences about spiders they'd be willing to share with me?
Recently there was an infestation of large (several inches across) wolf spiders in my workplace. Coming into contact with them was unavoidable, so I decided to get over my fear. I did this by burying myself in facts about spiders, researching the local ones, looking at photos, etc.
It worked.
Now, as well as not being afraid of them, I've developed this enormous fascination with spiders and everything about them. I've learned that they're not nearly as dangerous as you think, and I've learned a lot about identifying webs (I learned a lot about black widows because we get those), and bunches of other facts. I find myself talking about them a lot, even to my poor arachnophobic wife. I caught an orb weaver spider indoors this week and spent a while looking closely at it inside the clear glass before releasing it outside.
Orb weavers are definitely my favourite spiders, but they all fascinate me endlessly.
EDIT: There's an orb weaver outside my workplace - a big orange one - that spins the biggest webs I've ever seen. One today was about six feet at its longest side, and was spun between three small trees, with herself sat right in the center.
My question - does anybody else here have this particular obsession?
Alternatively, does anybody have any personal experiences about spiders they'd be willing to share with me?