The evil letter arrived two weeks ago. “Spider Problems” it screamed in bold type. “We can exterminate every spider on your property, inside and out.”
Being an arachniphile, a spider lover, I was horrified. These folks were advocating spider genocide.
I must admit, however, that our resident spider population went into overdrive around mid-August. The entire outside of our house was wrapped in silk, and each morning we walked through webs when we exited any door. Furthermore, our resident Charlottes must have sensed impending doom and were busily wrapping up and sticking egg sacs everywhere. Clearly some action needed to be taken.
My husband proceeded to spend two weeks vacuuming the outside of our house with his shop vac. Then he gently sprayed every board and washed all the windows. Our home no longer looked like a cartoon drawn by Ed Koren in his famous fuzzy lines.
Last night I sat down to dinner and looked out the window at the Tooley Cafe. A silver glint caught my eye. A lovely, plump, garden spider was gliding down from the eaves on its dragline.
All is well at our house. The web of life keeps spinning.
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*sigh*…..spiders. I thought that I was the only one with webs festooned here, there, and everywhere. I scowl, curse, and gnash my teeth… apologetically suck them up in the vacuum…but the thought of poison?? Um, no. I think of the birds who eat the spiders, who …
E.B. White must be a true hero in the world of spiders……in my world,too.
Dear Mary–The thought of Russ vacuuming the outside of your home and then gently cleaning it will remain with me for quite some time. And hey, that new spider might well be Charlotte. love, evie