Creepy Crawlies

Following on from the previous post of the Timber Rattler and watching where you're walking and sitting, it certainly applies doubly so this time of year. I love arachnids ....... from a distance, I scream like a little girl if one of these is crawling on my shoulder.

Web

Marbled Orb Weaver

Black and Yellow Garden Spider

Black and Yellow Garden Spider

Probably about 20 years ago I was on my tractor loaded with grass cuttings to dump on my compost heap at the top of the yard when I rode through this large golden web. Next day doing the same thing I remembered the web and stopped short and the web had been repaired but this time the weaver was sitting right in the middle of it. It was gorgeous but huge, about 4 inches with the legs. I looked through my books and did an online search for Pennsylvania Spiders without finding her. I went into the library in Hershey and eventuallly found her. She was a Golden Silk Orb Weaver or Banana Spider. The range map indicated that North Carolina was the nearest they had been found and that is 400 miles away. I called a naturalist aquaintence and he was extremely skeptical until I sent a photograph, he then put me in touch with an entomologist lady from the Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. She came to see Charlotte as I had named her and was amazed that she was so far from the normal range. She came back with a National Geographic Photographer to document the discovery. She even contacted a local TV station to visit for a weekly wildlife spot but the weather intervened with a hurricane on the way before it could be finalized. She mentioned that she had an empty Orb Weaver exhibit at the college and woud love to give Charlotte a safe home and as I didn't want her to be squished by falling branches I agreed it was for the best. A few weeks later Kelly and I went to see her in her new home and she was even bigger. I can't find any of my photos but here's a YouTube video.