Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Along Came A Spider

I was telling you the other day about the tadpoles, and I talked about how I'm waiting for them to turn into frogs/toads. I told about seeing millions of tiny toads hopping around on the trails a few years ago. These toads were only about the size of insects. I had to bend down and look very closely to identify them. Well guess what I saw on the trails in another park recently.

That's right! I saw tiny, almost microscopic, little creatures hopping all over the trail. I just knew I had discovered the toads again! I was extremely happy to see them once more, because the first time I was fascinated to see such tiny amphibians. I had no idea they could be this small.

So I bent over to get a closer look this time, and what did I see? Well if you haven't guessed by now, I'm going to tell you. It wasn't my beloved little toads, that's for sure. Instead of the toads, it was thousands of ugly, mean looking little spiders.

SpiderThese spiders were jumping and hopping all over the trail. I had the greatest urge to run that I've had in a long time. I didn't want to stop for fear of them jumping all over me! Yuck! When I looked up from the closeup view of one of them, I could see these tiny little specks jumping everywhere.

I resisted that first urge of panic, but I still walked very quickly through that swarm of spiders. I have to tell you that the time slowed to a crawl for me. And I really mean crawl! Yuck! Ick! Uhh! When I got to a place where there weren't quite so many, I came all the way back to my senses and remembered what I was there for.

SpiderThis was actually a perfect opportunity to get some pictures of something very unique. I mean, I've never seen anything like all of these spiders, so I guess most of you probably haven't either. While these spiders might be quite disgusting and more than a little scary, they are still very interesting.

Each of the pictures I'm showing you have different spiders in them. Each one of them is no bigger than this X. Maybe even smaller. I first saw them about three weeks ago. Then after it rained the amount was greatly reduced for awhile. Today they were covering the trail by the thousands again. Who wouldn't want to just have fun rolling around on the ground with these cuddly little rascals?

SpiderI tried to find out what type of spider these are, but I'm having no luck. I read a few places that talk about a type of small wolf spider, and there are a few others that look similar. I don't know. Creepy crawlies are all mostly the same to me. Something to be avoided!

Do you like spiders? Or do you want to run screaming from them? I've known people who keep spiders as pets. What if they got loose? I think even a snake might be better than this. What about you? What do you think?

11 comments:

  1. Great, clear shots of the spider. I am not good with insect IDs so I can't help you with that. I don't mind spiders too much allthough I do tend to freak out just a little if one lands on me.

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  2. When I am a kid we kept spiders in match box then meet up to match them up in a fight. Usually they ran away...

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  3. I don't mind spiders so much as long as they are not in my house. I think they really are fascinating. I especially like watching them make their webs. Never saw any that small though.

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  4. I would have turned around, and go the other way! Spiders are scary to me! Great clear shots of those little jumping spiders!

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  5. Yikes!! I would NOT want to come across thousands of spiders like that Ratty!! OMG!! I don't mind one and taking a photo of it but all those would scare the crap out of me for sure. Gee! What if they got all over you. You don't know if they are deadly or not.. Now this post is creepy..LOL

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  6. You really mean thousands of spider? What are they doing over there?

    Luckily Alice was not with you at that time..

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  7. Nooooooooo Thanks! I think it is because they are so quick and scatter about unpredicatably that scares me. I would have been MUCH more comfortable if they were tiny frogs and even held one..but not these nasties! But the pictures were neat, though. thanks for showing them to us.

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  8. For me nothing is worse than a snake. I don't like spiders because they are just downright creepy. I have a friend who is deathly afraid of spiders. We had a conversation the other day on this subject. We were talking about the snake that was in my kitchen a few months ago. She told me she'd actually rather hold a snake then have spiders around. My reply was I'd rather have spiders crawling on me than have a snake around. Ideally, I don't want any of them near me :)

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  9. Kallen - I saw too many that look similar to positively identify them, and there are also too many types of wolf spiders.
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    Kruel - That actually sounds kind of fun. I wish I would have thought of that when I was a kid. We would have kept on putting them back together to see what would happen.
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    Karen - I learned to keep some of the harmless house spiders so they can eat some of the other insects. I's hard, but I leave them alone.
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    Icy BC - I wanted to turn around too, but was too late for me. When I saw them, I was already in the middle of them, so I had no choice but to go forward. I moved quickly though.
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    Ginnymo - I hated being there with them, but that's why I wanted the pictures. My curiosity and the thought of a fun story overrode the fear. I never stopped for very long though. :)
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    Rainfield - There might have even been millions! There were also robins hopping along those trails eating them. Alice wasn't there but I told her about the frogs, and she wants to see those. I'll keep her away from the spiders though.
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    The Retired One - I wish I could have better described my horror when I bent down to get a closer look at the frogs and found out they were these awful spiders. Complete revulsion.
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    Poetic Shutterbug - I think I agree with you. A spider can be easily squished into oblivion if it's a threat, but a snake isn't so easy. I've had nightmares about snakes but none of spiders. for that reason, I'm interested in snakes, but not so much for spiders.

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  10. That's a wolf spider, and I live in Missouri, we have tons of em here. Grass spiders are often confused with wolf spiders, but are much larger and more slender than a wolf spider. The photos you showed are definitely of wolf spiders.

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  11. Stephanie D - Thanks! I was only a little sure it was a wolf spider. I'll take that as complete confirmation. I've seen these spiders here many times too, but I never knew the name.

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