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| To be seen or not to be seen. That is the question. |
Each day as the dog and I go for our walks I watch for certain signs of the seasons. There is of course the obvious signs such trees budding in the spring and the first frost in the fall. Today we saw a more subtle reminder of where we are along the path of summer in my little patch of the country. The dog and I walked down to the pig farm in very comfortable conditions with cool temperatures in the low 70's and not very much humidity to speak of. When we turned to come home I noticed a large Golden Orb spider hanging in her web near the edge of road. When we see these spiders in the trees and bushes grown to full size (about 3 inches) we know we are nearing the end of the heat of summer and that hurricane season is at its peak. These spiders can produce webs that can span 30 feet or more and can trap very large insects and even the occasional small bird. The web has a sulfur color to it which is why it is called the Golden Orb spider. In the years I have been traversing the woods many have fallen on me and although it is very disconcerting the spiders have never caused anything more than sore muscles from my frantic attempts to get the thing off of me. My research tells me they are reluctant to bite even though they can. You should check with your doctor if you are ever bitten by one. If you can avoid handling them you should. These spiders do have a strange habit they exhibit when disturbed. The spider will not jump off the web as many others do but instead it will begin to swing back and forth causing the web to move back and forth as much as a foot. I am not sure what this behavior is designed to do. My guess is it is used to make the spider and web more obvious to the passerby so they will go around it rather than tearing it down. These spiders are scary but harmless if not disturbed. They can catch many large insects keeping their populations in check. If you see one in the woods take a close look and enjoy it and then leave it in peace. Thanks for reading today. Have a good day. Bye.
