Wednesday, March 21, 2012

the basement spider

I've had to update my field characterization of spiders. In previous installments of Short Geologist's Guide to Spiders, I've mentioned spiders associated with the water bodies I've worked around and terrestrial spiders.

I've been doing a bunch of residential surveys and other indoor work, and I have gotten way too familiar with basement spiders. Basement spiders build huge, droopy webs that catch dryer lint and dust (at least that way, I can see them), but the spiders themselves are spindly and have the approximate dimensions of daddy long legs, with a pair of extra long "feeler" legs that they stick out so they can try to catch me and totally freak me out. Luckily, if I blow on them, they scuttle back into the crevices of the basement. That's fine, unless I have to reach into said crevices...

I would rather face a basement with an entire colony of nesting snakes than one with a basement spider infestation.

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