THE GOLDEN ORB SPIDERS

The Golden Orb spiders arrived early this year. In mid-August, they came in droves to my property. They spin the most beautiful big spiral webs. The first one caught me unawares as I walked outside to get the newspaper. It had attached itself from our hedge to my car. I walked right into it in the dim light of early morning. Then, I discovered there was another one spinning on the other side of my car. I politely moved his web over to the bushes and asked him to spin sideways. The spider was very accommodating and has happily sat up camp (or web) between the bushes on the side of my driveway instead of my car.

In my yard, several more were setting up “webcamp.” One by my kitchen window, one by the garden bench, and many others strung throughout my front yard. I love these spiders. Their orange and white stripes have always inspired me to call them the Halloween spiders as their arrival is usually around mid-September and they disappear right after Halloween. The large spiral web they weave are natural Halloween decorations.

These orb spiders like to weave their webs at night. If you go outside in the dark, take a flashlight. It is easy to miss them until you are in the web, and I don’t think you are the prey they want. I have run into my fair share of these webs, especially if I go to my veggie garden to pick herbs for dinner. On the plus side, I’ve never been bitten by one.

About four years ago, I had two of these spiders right outside my kitchen window. One of them seemed to stare at me every night as I was washing the dishes. In fact, he (and I do think it was a he) would actually pulse the web towards me. My husband said the spider was in love with me. I spoke to him often. The other spider near him, left one day. This spider stayed, and perhaps too long, as I found him dead in his web one morning in November.

Another odd thing is their web in the early morning light is huge, and then it is like they packed it up and left. Where do they go to rest during the day? By the next morning their web is back.

Of all the spiders, I find these spiders to be mild and not aggressive even though they can become quite large in size. They do a great job of reducing the moth and termite populations. This summer has been extremely humid and we have seem more mosquitoes than we are used to in the summer. I am hoping the Golden Orb spiders eat their fill of these pests.

Meanwhile, I will continue walking my yard and welcoming them to our property.