Quote:
Originally Posted by fringed n fab
I haven't seen a Banana spider yet this year but as frightening as they look, they really keep to themselves and don't bother you if left alone, which I do. They're fascinating to look at really. I have heard their webs are nothing you want to accidentally walk into and they are known to trap small birds in them. 
. |
We had banana spiders all over where I grew up. I used to save them some of my supper as a kid... they weren't interested.
I came across another kind a few times as a kid, not sure what it was, but it might be that wolf spider you mentioned. The first time I saw one was pretty memorable. We had an elderly neighbour who'd payed me and my older brother and sister to clear out a huge pile of bricks that had been sitting in his back yard for about twenty years. We came across lots of creatures that day; loads of garter snakes, salamanders and one cottonmouth
but this thing freaked me out more than anything I'd ever seen. I had taken my gloves off because they were too big, so the first brick I lift naturally has a monster spider under it
Anyway, I climbed to the top of the pile and as soon as I touched the brick something furry grabbed my hand, so I fell backwards out of shock right into the wheel barrow. The spider crawled onto the top of the pile and that's when we saw that its rear abdomen was COVERED IN SPIDER BABIES! I'm talking easily a hundred. Blegh.
My sister ran away screaming, but my brother decided to attack with the hand shovel and he smashed it... but it was a windy day out.. and large portion of the babies took to the air. Turns out my sister had the right idea, because we both got covered in baby spiders. Thankfully there was a coulee nearby(we immediately jumped in it) and we didn't get bit somehow, but I still get chills when I remember that.