Spiders

[+TABjuggler]

I have been seeing a lot of spiders lately while I have been out caching, and I can only assume that I should expect to find some near every palmetto cache I try to go to.

 

I am not particularly afraid of spiders, but walking into a web is never comfortable. I am also weary of the type of spider they may be until I brush up on the native spiders of my area (Orlando, FL). I have definitely seen a lot of spiders that are black and have red blotches on their behinds (but I am pretty positive they are just imitation black widows and since there is no defined hourglass).

 

What do you all do? Bring a stick and knock them down? Leave them be? Walk through with no concern for them or you?

 

Let me know!

[+Minimike2]

Take a kid with you and let them have the GPSr to lead the search.

 

You might give them a stick if you feel guilty, but kids generally find walking into spider webs enjoyable.

[+Team MacKenzie]

I like to let the tallest one in the group lead....

 

Seriously, I use my hiking stick to knock down the strands that run right across the trail.

 

I did find one cache that hadn't been found in a couple of months and it had some serious spider webs camo. I almost walked away with a DNF it was so well covered with webbing and assorted wildlife contributions. I just double checked for any live spiders and pulled the cache out, cleaned off all the web stuff, signed the log and put it back. The spiders will happily replace the webs they wove if'n they still need them!!

[+briansnat]

If there are a real lot I twirl one of my trekking poles in front of me.

[+bittsen]

I don't cache as much when the spiders are out.

 

I don't like spiders at all.

I'm not afraid of them, mind you. I hate them more than words can say. Well, I hate them ON me. Away from me I couldn't care less.

[+Team MacKenzie]

I don't cache as much when the spiders are out.

 

I don't like spiders at all.

I'm not afraid of them, mind you. I hate them more than words can say. Well, I hate them ON me. Away from me I couldn't care less.

 

When are spiders NOT out??

 

Well, other than when we're all up to our derrieres in snow...

[+dfx]

i don't care about spiders, but i HATE walking into spider webs, especially face first. and they always seem to be on face level. yuck!

 

but yeah, sticks are your best friend.

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

[+Markwell]

I usually say "pheh-pheh-PHEH!" and flail my arms a lot after walking into a web.

[+Dragery]

Here's how I deal with them:

 

[+wolfslady]

Run away screaming like a girl. Oh wait I am a girl. Run away screaming like a boy.

 

Actually, same as for snakes carefully. I usually use my walking stick to take care of both. Spiders and webs that I can't avoid, I use the stick to push them to the side. I try to take care that I don't end up with a spider on my stick. Usually try to identify them as safe or poisonious before I decide if I might find another path. I'm willing to go further to avoid the one's that might cause me real harm. Oddly I haven't seen many black widows while geocaching. I say oddly because I usually see 1 or 2 a year around my house. A few years ago I had an invasion of them and there were dozens making webs under my eves.

[Clan Riffster]

I generally just keep an eye out for them, and walk around their webs when I see them.

Those webs I don't see fare worse fates, as I pluck them out of my hair.

[+Dragery]

Run away screaming like a girl. Oh wait I am a girl. Run away screaming like a boy.

 

Actually, same as for snakes carefully. I usually use my walking stick to take care of both. Spiders and webs that I can't avoid, I use the stick to push them to the side. I try to take care that I don't end up with a spider on my stick. Usually try to identify them as safe or poisonious before I decide if I might find another path. I'm willing to go further to avoid the one's that might cause me real harm. Oddly I haven't seen many black widows while geocaching. I say oddly because I usually see 1 or 2 a year around my house. A few years ago I had an invasion of them and there were dozens making webs under my eves.

 

If I go geocaching at night, there's almost a 100% chance I'll see a black widow. Hell, even last night we were doing a bunch of lamp post hides in a shopping center, my daughter grabbed the cache out of a lamp post skirt, then when I went to put it back this BIG fat black widow came waltzing out. I flicked it with my pen and replaced the cache

[+GrateBear]

 

I run!

[+The Ravens]

I don't cache as much when the spiders are out.

 

I don't like spiders at all.

I'm not afraid of them, mind you. I hate them more than words can say. Well, I hate them ON me. Away from me I couldn't care less.

 

+1

[+Lil Devil]

 

Is that girl really trying to eat that spider without smearing Grey Poupon on it first?

 

How uncivilized.

[AZcachemeister]

 

Is that girl really trying to eat that spider without smearing Grey Poupon on it first?

 

How uncivilized.

 

A spicy batch of salasa fresca would be much more appropriate.

 

Extra cilantro in mine, please.

[knowschad]

Buffalo Spider Wings?

[+Rainbow Spirit]

The trick, if you do walk into a web, is to back off, without any arm flailing, and the web usually pops off your face! Of cause the first reaction is to flail about, especially if the spider bounces off your face!

 

I also hold a stick vertically in front of me in web infested areas, to clear a path.

 

Very few spiders are poisonous, even here in Australia. Most web making spiders that string webs across a path are the harmless ones. On the other hand the ones that hide in dark areas near a cache....

[+Castle Mischief]

Buffalo Spider Wings?

 

You know, if my co-workers would invite me to a bar called "Buffalo Spider Wings" I would probably be 80% more likely to go on payday Thursdays...

 

I distract them with a tuffet. Failing that, I hold a hiking pole in front of me. Failing that, I give my oldest (now a scant inch shorter than I*) the GPS and tell him to "make Daddy proud".

 

 

 

*Sunrise, sunset...

[+TABjuggler]

Looks like I need to invest in a stick.

[+42at42]

 

 

My first reponse was going to be 'keep your mouth closed'.

 

But the addition of Frank's could make caching and spiders a tasty hike.

[+Ike 13]

I have a trekking pole, but it stays in the car most the time. I just pick up a stick as I walk into the woods, and practice my tomahawk chop.

 

Buffalo Spider Wings is a good name for a bar or a band

[+DragonsWest]

Spiders usually completely surprise me - as I seldom expect them where I find them. Where I expect to find them, they often are not.

 

Nothing like a good stick to poke those unknown, less visible hidey-holes.

[+Isonzo Karst]

I try to duck the webs when I notice, otherwise I just walk on through. I acquired the knack of just ignoring the issue when i was doing a lot of horseback riding on trails in central Florida. You just have to move on and not fool with 'em, there are just astonishing numbers of webs across trail. At the end of the day, drag the silk out of the horse's ears and my hair.

 

You're probably seeing the same spiders I do, lots of golden silk spiders.

I've had hundreds of them on me though the years, I've never been bitten - but I have eaten a few of them.

[+redtech]

I have a trekking pole, but it stays in the car most the time. I just pick up a stick as I walk into the woods, and practice my tomahawk chop.

 

 

I don't have a trekking pole but I do the same thing with an available stick.

 

I hate spiders and I'm not ashamed to say I'm scared of them. We have brown recluse and black widows (so they say) in our area. I don't care if the spider is poisonous or not, it can die.

[+DragonsWest]

Absolute, by far, worst aspect of spiders - those @&*$% web streamers.

 

Have you ever been walking down a trail and get a face full of these things? The further you go, the more you get in the kisser? Keep wiping them away and then walking into more.

 

Baby or small spiders spin these and sail on air currents. Sometimes they are spun by larger spiders which wait for the silk strand to attach somewhere and climb to a new perch.

 

I feel like I need a fencing mask when this is going on.

[+Dragery]

I used to work for a utility company as a Meter Reader many years back. Walking 5-10 miles a day house to house. There wasn't a day that went by I didn't walk into a spider web in the 6 months I was there. One of the most uncomfortable feelings in the world for some reason.... Especially when they get behind my ears *cringe*

[+ventura_kids]

We actually have a really novel approach to the spiders and their webs.

 

We run away screaming and waving our arms !!!!

[+DragonflyTotem]

I don't cache as much when the spiders are out.

 

I don't like spiders at all.

I'm not afraid of them, mind you. I hate them more than words can say. Well, I hate them ON me. Away from me I couldn't care less.

 

When are spiders NOT out??

 

Well, other than when we're all up to our derrieres in snow...

 

I never seem to run into spiders when it's raining. And to get it to rain I simply have to gather all of my gear and make plans to go caching, ta-da, it's raining!

[+dfx]

I never seem to run into spiders when it's raining. And to get it to rain I simply have to gather all of my gear and make plans to go caching, ta-da, it's raining!

and i always thought murphy's law wasn't reversible (you can't make it rain by washing your car )

[+brslk]

We actually have a really novel approach to the spiders and their webs.

 

We run away screaming and waving our arms !!!!

 

That's not novel. I have been doing that for years!

[+JL_HSTRE]

Caching in Florida I've encountered entirely more spiderwebs than I'd like.

 

I generally look for a stick nearby. I'm particularly fond of grabbing a fallen palmetto and snapping the 'fan' top off as the palmetto branches seem to have a better chance of being solid rather than rotten. I then hold the stick out in front of me and wave it up and down vigorously as I walk. Works pretty good.

 

However, I have only found this effective on regular spiderwebs. This weekend while caching in Jacksonville I found a half dozen very large webs with banana spiders. Banana spider webs seem to usually be pretty thick and the spiders themselves often have bodies the side of your thumb (and that's not including the legs), unlike most spiderwebs that fall apart easily and contain a sider smaller than a penny. I'm sure I could knock those down with a little more effort but someone it feels wrong because of the much greater size. Plus I respect the damage those suckers do to the mosquito population. And admittedly I fear pissing of a big spider much more than I fear pissing off a tiny one...

[+Travelinmatt76]

I usually just find a "spider" stick on the ground somewhere and twirl it in front of me.

 

I backed in to a huge web one time. It was a golden orb weaver, you could hear the web break. I freaked for a second and then I thought I was ok. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw it crawl up on my shoulder. I came out of my jacket pretty quick. I usually avoid cacheing during the time of year when the spiders are out. You can see their webs in between the powerlines as you drive down the road.

[+drfred]

I do what the previous cachers said - grab a stick off the ground and wave it in front of me while walking. Works pretty well.

 

I really am not afraid of spiders because what can they do to me? So a few rare spiders might make me sick if they bite me? A few not so rare mosquitoes can do the same... I really don't want any insect bites, so I try to be careful so I won't get itchy bites, but it is a matter of perspective.

 

On the other hand, and maybe I need to start a new thread, there are plenty of snakes out there that can hurt us while caching. I have had a few run-ins with poisonous snakes while caching (copperhead, cottonmouth, and rattler) and harbor an unrealistic fear of snakes. I know the majority of snakes I see while caching are harmless, but one sight of a black racer, corn snake, or rat snake while walking through the grass in tennis shoes or sandals and I'm outta there...

[+Castle Mischief]

When all else fails...

 

[+Road Rabbit]

Come on over to the coast and play with one of our banana spiders.

 

[+42at42]

I never seem to run into spiders when it's raining. And to get it to rain I simply have to gather all of my gear and make plans to go caching, ta-da, it's raining!

and i always thought murphy's law wasn't reversible (you can't make it rain by washing your car )

 

If you KILL a spider it will rain.

[+DragonsWest]

I never seem to run into spiders when it's raining. And to get it to rain I simply have to gather all of my gear and make plans to go caching, ta-da, it's raining!

and i always thought murphy's law wasn't reversible (you can't make it rain by washing your car )

 

If you KILL a spider it will rain.

 

Must have some sort of Squish the Spider folk dance in the Seattle area.

[+DENelson83]

How do the veteran bushwackers deal with them?

No no no. It's how do the veteran *webwhackers* deal with them.

[+wolfslady]

I take it back. They scream "spider in the bed" and jump up as they wake the whole house. Then they stand there in awe as the huge thing grins like the Cheshire cat and flexes it's muscles. By this time the entire house has been roused and it takes a wolf swooping in to save the day.

[+Group12]

Spiders can be a real pain.

 

But out here in sagebrush country the wild bees nest can be very challenging. You step on that small hole and wooosh you hear what sounds like a bunch of really mad 2stroke motor cycles coming for your face. We found two of them on our last cache.

[+gorillagal]

I take pictures of them...

 

I have used the stick waving method to keep from walking into webs, though.

[+Lauraluvsbng]

Take a kid with you and let them have the GPSr to lead the search.

 

You might give them a stick if you feel guilty, but kids generally find walking into spider webs enjoyable.

Haha!!! That's great I need to remember that!

Sorry to any spider lovers, but I push, whack, freak out, jump and scream away from spiders. If they die in the meantime.....oppsssyyyy.

[+coggins]

What's up with all the spider hate anyway???

[+thedeadpirate]

Away from me I couldn't care less.

 

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see someone say that correctly.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I have been seeing a lot of spiders lately while I have been out caching, and I can only assume that I should expect to find some near every palmetto cache I try to go to.

 

I am not particularly afraid of spiders, but walking into a web is never comfortable. I am also weary of the type of spider they may be until I brush up on the native spiders of my area (Orlando, FL). I have definitely seen a lot of spiders that are black and have red blotches on their behinds (but I am pretty positive they are just imitation black widows and since there is no defined hourglass).

 

What do you all do? Bring a stick and knock them down? Leave them be? Walk through with no concern for them or you?

 

Let me know!

As far as I know, you're not likely to fins a Black Widow stringing a web across any trails. They like to live in corners near the ground. I don't really know about other poisonous spiders though.

 

I see so many spiders at work(posting real estate signs, every post has two or three living on it) that they bother me mush less than they used to, but I still don't like a webintheface. Knock them down, they will build another one. Most of the web(except the main supports) is torn down and rebuild each evening anyway. The sticky threads get dusty and stop working. I had a spider living in my truck once for three months, and it would rebuild about 1/2 hour before sunset every day. The web was between the glovebox and the passenger door

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Looks like I need to invest in a stick.

They are pretty cheap...I hear they grow on trees.

[+texasgrillchef]

After being bitten by a numerous number of harmless spiders. Harmless as in they won't kill me, or cause me to need medical care from a doctor. (The sting being litterly a pain & causing a welt requiring basic first aid). I have come to start using a pair of Leather/Silicon washable form fitting gloves I found at Home Depot for $10.

 

These gloves have a silicon coating over the leather on the palms and finger sides. Leather on the backside. Form fitting in that they are tight & still allow you to use a pen to write and even opperate my GPS (although not my iPhone).

 

Now not intentionally trying to "Test" these gloves they WERE put to the test at least 3 times in the last week of my caching throughout South East Texas.

 

On occasion #1. I stuck my hand into some weeds and disturbed a wasps/nest. Three wasps tried to sting me. I felt nothing and was not stung. The gloves protected me from the Wasp/hornet stings.

 

On occasion #2. I was bitten in the glove by a rather large yellow & black spider. They are the ones that spin a rather pretty web. I actually saw the spider try to bite. Again the gloves protected my hand. His fangs were not able to get through the silicon coating and leather glove.

 

On occasion #3. I again stuck my hand in some tall grass, here I disturbed a couple of bumble bees. One tried to sting me. Again the Silicon/Leather glove protected my hand from the sting.

 

I really like these gloves as they not only offer protection from small critters, but from the scrapes and cuts one gets from "Sticky" plants such as cactus & other similar type plants. The silicon coating while DOESN"T make the gloves water proof, DOES give you some protection as well as a better grip on things. It also protects from limited moisture. The gloves are also washable in a washing machine with your "jeans". They do wash up quite nicely. They only cost me $10 and one of the BEST investments I have made in my life. I bought several pair. One pair I keep in my Truck at all times. They are even good for changing a flat too!

 

So check out your local Home Depot or Lowes as well.

 

TGC

 

P.S. They have done a great job in protecting me from PI as well.

[knowschad]

Away from me I couldn't care less.

 

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see someone say that correctly.

(sigh...) we could care less what makes you happy!