neat!
Posted on 08/30/2007 5:58:27 AM PDT by laotzu
WILLS POINT -- If you hate creepy-crawlies, you might want to avoid Lake Tawakoni State Park, where a 200-yard stretch along a nature trail has been blanketed by a sprawling spider web that has engulfed seven large trees, dozens of bushes and even the weedy ground.
But if you hate mosquitoes, you might just love this bizarre web.
"At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland," said park Superintendent Donna Garde. "Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown.
"There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs."
There have been heated Internet discussions among experts whether the web was constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or is perhaps a mass dispersal in which the arachnids spin webs to spread out from one another.
Either way, it's generating a lot of bug buzz.
"I've been hearing from entomologists from Ohio, Kansas, British Columbia -- all over the place," said Mike Quinn, an invertebrate biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who first posted photos of the web on the Web.
But there is little consensus about what sparked the phenomenon or even the type of spider responsible. Parks officials say similar but smaller webs have appeared along another trail.
"From what I'm hearing it could be a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Herbert A. "Joe" Pase, a Texas Forest Service entomologist. "It's very, very unusual."
Park officials say they have gotten mixed reactions from visitors.
"Some can't wait to see it, while others don't want to go anywhere near it," said Trisha Brian, a park volunteer. "It's definitely not for everyone, but I'm so fascinated by it that I come down to look at it every day. Every time I come by, there's something new."
But one Texas spider expert couldn't muster much excitement about the giant web.
John Jackman, a professor and extension entomologist for Texas A&M University and author of A Field Guide to the Spiders and Scorpions of Texas, said he receives similar reports every couple of years.
"There are a lot of folks that don't realize spiders do that," Jackman said. "Until we get some samples sent to us, we really won't know what species of spider we're talking about."
Garde just wishes the entomologists would check out the spider web in person instead of arguing about it over the Internet.
Rangers expect the giant web to stick around until fall, when the spiders will start dying off. Unfortunately, it probably won't last until Oct. 31.
"It would make a good Halloween set, wouldn't it?" said park ranger Freddie Gowin, who found the giant web while mowing about a month ago. "But I don't think you could pay me enough money to run through all of those webs."
I had one of those yellow and black “writing” garden spiders make a web over my garden several years ago that was nothing short of amazing. It went from one tree on one side of the garden to a tree on the other side. I put a tape on it and it was over 50’ between the two main anchor points of the web. How this spider did this is still a mystery. I took pictures, but they just don’t do it justice. It only lasted one day, though.
I can’t stand snakes, but I’ve always thought spiders were kind of neat. Very interesting creatures.
This is about 60 miles east of Dallas. I’m just north of Fort Worth and we have spiders everywhere! Every morning there are tons of spider webs all over the place. A simple stroll around my yard produces 2 or 3 wild, spastic seizures when an invisible strand of spider silk will invariably lay itself across my unsuspecting face. Its probably quite funny for anyone watching from a distance.
Eggman, where are the pics of your pet garden spider? =)
I would have thought it was tent caterpillars. Their cocoons look a lot like that.
I remember when Mary Lou said, “You wanna walk me home from school?”
Well I said yes I do
She said I don’t have to go right home
And I would kinda like to be alone some if you would
I said me too
And so we took a stroll and wound up down by the swimming hole
And she said do what you want to do
I got silly and found a frog in the water by a hollow log
And I shook it at her and I said, “This frog’s for you.” She said,
I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
Like I wanna be loved by you
Well I think of that girl from time to time, I call her up when I got a dime
I say, “Hello baby. She say, “Ain’t you cool.”
Said, “Do you remember when, and would you like to get together again”
She said “I’ll see you after school”
I was shy and so for awhile most of my love was touch and smile
So she said, “Come on over here.”
I was nervous as you might guess
Still looking for something to slip down her dress
And she said, “Let’s make it perfectly clear.” She said
I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
Like I wanna be loved by you
Snakes....love 'em. I have a 7 foot red-tailed boa as a pet.
A bug eatin' machine
Very cool. I was just watching a tiny wolf spider climb around on the window in front of my computer and congratulating myself on the fact that our style of housekeeping allows our home to be a balanced ecosystem. But we don’t tolerate web spiders in our house. They have some nasty bites.
thanks for the pic
My family has a 3-ft. male ball python — males don’t exceed 4ft. (Record for a female is 6ft.)
I’ve had red-tailed boas before in my youth. My question is, what are you going to do when your boa reaches 10-11 feet (or maybe even 12)?
I walked into a banana spider in Florida once. Scared the daylights out of me, but gave my husband a big old laugh.
Odin is a wonderful pet!
Might Frodo be in there somewhere?
That’s very cool but I don’t know how rare that is. In the swamps and bayous around the Brazos River I see similar walls of webs every time I’m out there fishing and hunting.
Do you happen to know how Brenham held up during this summer's flooding? I'm thinking of moving there.
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