I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes

Jim Stafford summed it up in the lyrics of his song, the average person has a dislike of things known as arachnids (an animal with four pairs of legs and a body with two segments -- spiders) and things that slither. I happen to enjoy and respect them both.

We appreciate the Ladybug and her battle against aphids. We hate the cockroach, cringing as it crunches underfoot. We are in awe of a web built by the spider, but jump on a chair when we see a lone spider in our home.  How many of us have yelled “Kill it!” when we see one?

In a spider’s defense they can be beautiful, and daunting.  A Peacock Spider can dance as well as any professional on Dancing with the Stars.

"MalePeacockSpider" by Jurgen Otto. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons 

This arachnid, scientifically known as Maratus volans, is a mere 5mm in size and is capable of quickly escaping and jumping erratically. Yet, what defines the spider best is perhaps its unusual likeness to peacocks.  Like male peacocks with their exuberant tail feathers, the male peacock spiders are equipped with beautifully colorful flaps that rise up like a fan, displaying an unbelievable radiance and richness in breathtaking patterns. The males of this species are the only gender with colorful flaps so as to attract the females. They put on a bit of a show to win them over.  That combined with YMCA by the Village People make for entertaining viewing.

The web of the Orb Spider is so beautiful; a Master Gardner will even stop to admire the spider’s web, and to thank the spider for catching all the bad bugs in a garden.

In 1973, Skylab 3 took two orb-web spiders into space to test their web-spinning capabilities in zero gravity. At first both produced rather sloppy webs, but they adapted quickly.

Many spiders will build new webs every night.  Others will just keep repairing their damaged webs.  The spider will sit near the center of the web and wait for insects to land on the web.  Some species of Orb-web spiders will weave fancy looking webs.  Scientists think that the patterns help birds to see it and avoid flying into it.

The tarantula, even though harry and scary looking, is more afraid of humans than we are of the tarantula. People usually associate Tarantulas with the people-killing kind of poison.  They have small poison glands and will be about as painful as a hornet or bee sting.  It tickles when a tarantula crawls over your hand because tarantulas are covered in hair.  Most species of tarantulas are not dangerous to humans, and some species have become popular in the exotic pet trade.

Regardless of their fearsome reputation, tarantulas are themselves an object of predation. One of the spider’s worst enemies is the Spider-Wasp.  The female wasp will paralyze the spider by stinging it.  She then digs a hole and puts the spider and an egg into it.  When the egg hatches, the baby wasp will eat away at the paralyzed spider.

Humans can also be considered predators of tarantulas. .  Besides stepping on them, the pesticides we use to control other insects can kill spiders.  In addition to more mundane cuisine, tarantulas are considered a delicacy in certain cultures. They are usually roasted over an open fire to remove the hairs and then eaten.  They are said to have a nutty taste kind of like peanut butter!

Because they are small, spiders have many enemies. Larger animals, such as birds, toads, lizards and monkeys, hunt them.  But they are also used as food by many smaller creatures.  Ticks will attach themselves to a spider and eat away at it for a long time while the spider goes about its business.

"Brachypelma smithi 2009 G03" by George Chernilevsky - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Recently, giant spiders were featured in books such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling. This book was later followed by a motion picture of the same name, using the giant spider Aragog from the novel as a supporting character and pet of Hagrid, a grounds keeper in the book. The kindest and most intelligent spider, of course, would have to be Charlotte, from the book Charlotte’s Web, since she could not only spell but saves the pig, Wilbur’s, life!

This museum had a wonderful volunteer, Dan Stroud, who would educate our visitors to the wonders of our friends, the “Creepy Crawlies”.   He had various live specimens from Hissing Cockroaches to Slither, a snake, and Rosie, the tarantula and an assortment of the catch of the day including spiders.  He told us how to see spiders in the grass on a summer night by lying flat on the ground with a flashlight even with the grass, turn it on and watch the light refract from the spiders eyes.  Which on a balmy summer evening, I tried; it was awesome to see all those little eyes staring back at me.  I was then afraid to walk on the grass as I didn’t want to harm any of them.

We have been scared enough to spill our popcorn while watching such movies as Alien,  laughed at Bug’s Life, chuckled at the quaint  special effects in Kingdom of The Spiders staring William Shatner. We cheer in the Spiderman movie and “Spider-Sense” helps solve the crimes of the day.  Wild Wild West, a 1999 American steampunk western action-comedy film, had a giant mechanical spider.

Why then are we so afraid of spiders? We are born with only 2 fears:  the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises!  Every other fear above and beyond that is learned!   We love spiders in movies, but we don’t love the spiders in our homes and gardens. There are a few spiders with poison strong enough to cause pain or even some nerve damage in humans.  These spiders include the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse spiders.  If left untreated, death could result.

In our ancient past, fear of the unknown kept us alive, the primitive brain reacted to certain threats.  Spiders themselves are preyed upon by lizards, frogs, birds and by predatory insects, such as the praying mantis and wasps. Spiders do play an important role in the ecosystem, just like any creature. A spider eats about 2,000 insects a year, so spiders are good to have around the home. The reward for the trouble? All too often, a smack with a newspaper. Spiders are usually killed by people because the arachnids seem scary, not because they're dangerous.

Want to get your blood circulating quickly, walk into a web by surprise. And I will save the snakes for another day.