I Have A Guest In My Garden.

[Richard in Smithville]

But she's earning her keep.

[cabinetman]

One of my cats is staring at your picture waiting for it to move. I think she's scared because it's the biggest spider she has ever seen. Nice close up.

[Stytooner]

We probably have about 6 or so that we have seen here. Sometimes they put their web in inapropriate locations. I just grab the end of the web and move it. When she repairs it, it is always done in a better spot.
We have two or three on the eaves and several in some of out oaks. These locations were usually hot spots for wasps. Not so much this year. Not sure if it's because we have let the garden spiders population increase, but I have certainly seen them in their webs. Several of ours are about 3" long or maybe a little more.
Nice photo too, BTW.



PS. Thought I would step outside and snap a shot this morning. There are a few different types of these. Some have yellow on the legs like both of ours. Some have a more red color. This one is at least 3" long with her legs stretched out. It is odd how they always hang upside down during the day. I did note that yours has sweat bands on her wrists. She must be the athletic type.

[MikeMcCoy]

Lee - I walked through a web stretched across a path in the woods made by one of those critters. They aren't venomous but this web was full of her babies and I wound up with bites all over my shoulders and chest that itched like the dickens.

[Greg.B]

I personally can't stand spiders. What are the reasons to keep them around, and are they truely harmless to humans ?

Nothing freaks me out like walking in a spider web, I then think they are on me, its must be fun to watch me lose my cool...lol...

[Russianwolf]

I personally can't stand spiders. What are the reasons to keep them around, and are they truely harmless to humans ?

Nothing freaks me out like walking in a spider web, I then think they are on me, its must be fun to watch me lose my cool...lol...

they are one of the best things to have around to keep insect populations down, another top choice is the cute and cuddly brown bat.

Some are harmful to humans, brown recluse and black widow come to mind, other as next to harmless like the writing spider above. And some are down right harmless, the daddy longleg (poisonous but the fangs can't puncture our skin).

[docrowan]

Just ran across this post and it pretty much freaked me out. I can't hardly stand to look at the photo's, but we do generally try to leave the garden spiders alone when we find them as long as they're not in the way. We even had one last year we nicknamed Frank and most evenings watched it build it's web.

However, any spider in the house, shop, or shed has got to GO! Unfortunately, we've got some brown recluses in our attic that make their way into the house from time to time. They're not aggresive, but the danger they'll get caught up in our clothes is always there. They are very, very hard to exterminate, so it will be a long campaign.

[gsmittle]

Great pictures, guys! Reminds me of one I watched all summer when I was a kid. She made a huge web on a bush across the field from my house. To my then eight-year-old eyes, she looked the size of a softball. Sometimes my neighbors and I would catch grasshoppers and toss them in the web. Cool!

Black widows sure are pretty-but I don't want one where I am.

g.

[goslin23]

We took a trip to see my son perform in a show in Palo Duro Canyon in the panhandle of Texas. Apparently scorpions and tarantulas are quite normal there. In fact, a couple of performers got a scorpion sting before the finale as one got into one of their costumes. As we were leaving, I grabbed this pic of a smaller tarantula that was saying goodnight to the guests.