SPIDER!!!

from spiders.entomology.wisc.edu

I have a mild infestation of grass spiders here.  At first, I thought that they were all wolf spiders, which I do NOT like as they are aggressive and bitey, but then I realized that they were weaving funnel webs.  As far as I knew, wolf spiders didn't make webs--they hide in a hole and leap out at you, gnashing their mandibles and waving too many furry arms.  So I did a little research, and found that my crawlies are in fact a form of harmless grass spider known as Agelenopis utahana.  That made me feel a little better, as their mandibles are too small to bite me.  They do, however, leap out of nowhere and run really really fast, which is still EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK! material in my book.

When I say I have an infestation, I mean that they are everywhere.  Outside, they are in each of the coops, in the rabbit barn, in the garden, in the hoop house, in the car hut, in the solar dehydrator, in the trees, in the wood pile, everywhere.  They are also in the house, which I really don't like AT ALL.  A spider here or there, hey, that's not a problem.  But having several in the bathroom, under the beds, in the kitchen, hiding in drawers, under the sink, in my beer bottling bucket, in the bookshelf....that's way too many in the house, dang it.  Apparently, we have been having primo spider breeding weather this summer, and so I have many little friends with multiple eyes living with me now.  Eight legged roommates, what fun.

At first I scooped them up and stuck them outside, but then they kept coming back and bringing their cousins.  Now, I smash them with a shoe or whatever is handy.  Cruel, I know, but when you find ten in ONE DAY in your house, it is smashing time dang it!

Did I mention that these are really big spiders?  The smallest I have found was the size of a quarter.  I have found multiple that are the size of a fifty cent piece or larger.  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!  Try finding one of those in your bed when you are ready to crawl into it, and tell me how long you'd not start smashing.  (Huge spider in bed = not sleeping in there that night, nuh uh, no way)

If the old saying "kill a spider and it will rain" is actually true, I'd better get out and start building that ark.