View Full Version : Spiders!!!
trailhermit
11-16-2015, 11:26
I have a certain love/hate relationship with spiders and insects. I am fascinated by watching them. But don't really want them in my tent or sleeping bag. My favorite hiking gear is my trekking pole so I can find a path through the tree when a enormous spider has decided to hang out in the middle of the trail.
I would love to read about some spider and bugs stories and how your perspective changed over the course of your longer hikes. The good, the bad, the painful...what ever you are willing to share.
Thank you!
illabelle
11-16-2015, 11:44
Most bugs are okay. Some of my least favorite are ticks, mosquitoes, black flies, and horse flies - basically anything that feasts on my blood. I can tolerate bees and hornets so long as I haven't inadvertently walked into the defense zone around their nests. And I've learned to hate stink bugs after they caused a lot of damage in our garden this year. :mad: Ditto for potato bugs, and certain other garden pests.
The bugs I like are those that are cute/pretty, interesting, or that prey on the bad bugs. Butterflies, ants, praying mantis, ladybugs, and guess what ...... SPIDERS! I don't like spiders crawling on me, especially if I didn't know they were there. Nothing creepier than a granddaddy long-legs running across your head. So long as they're just walking the trail or hanging out in their web or in a corner of the shelter, they don't bother me a bit. :)
Slo-go'en
11-16-2015, 11:56
I often wake up to find a whole bunch of little spiders hanging out up where the netting of the tent and vestibule fabric meet. Maybe because it's a little warmer and protected from the elements there. I try to shake them out the best I can before stuffing the tent.
I've never seen a big spider hanging out in the middle of the trail. Well, once on a trail in St. John's in the US Virgin Islands. That sucker was enormous! As big as my hand and I almost walked right into it :eek:
I have walked through enough spider webs on the AT. You really don't want to be the first one out in the morning, they get the sweep the trail free of spider webs. All in all spiders just want to eat bugs and leave you alone. No matter where you go, your never more then 3 feet from a spider, or so I've heard. I know it's true in my house.
trailhermit
11-16-2015, 12:02
I wonder how big those daddy-legs cab get. I grabbed what I thought was a twig in my sleeping bag, it was a spider. I threw him out. I suppose after a while you get use to it.
Fire ants are a problem here in the south. Thankfully I don't react much to them. I have to take Benadryl though for mosquito bites. We have seen a millipede on the trails here. If I bring a camera on my thruhike, there will be an embarrassing amount of photos of spiders and bugs. I'll need to find some good websites so I can identify them.
Old Grouse
11-16-2015, 12:20
I'm OK with most non-bloodsucking insects. But I'm sure many of you have experienced one or more gypsy moth invasions. Their falling poop sounds like a gentle rain in the woods; the trees become denuded of leaves, and their webs and streamers are completely unavoidable. Ugh!
trailhermit
11-16-2015, 12:27
What state do you find those?
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Old Grouse
11-16-2015, 13:46
Southern New England, the Northeast in general. They're always there but every few years for some reason, their population gets out of control.
http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/morgantown/4557/gmoth/ This article references the Southeast, Ozarks, etc.
upstream
11-16-2015, 13:54
A few Stories and memories.
Got to the top of Albert Mountain, and it was crawling with ladybugs. Not just a few, there were a hundreds of them. And I assure you they DO BITE. I fled up the firetower for some relief, and they didn't follow me. But they got me some more when I came down to move on. The bite is only slightly painful, mostly annoying.
While camped at a scout camp on Kentucky Lake, I woke up and went out, and one of the kids tents was covered with flying cockroaches! dozens of them. Something they had in that tent must've been attracting them, or maybe the color. They had to thump them off and later got the help of other boys armed with brooms, before they would come out.
I remember an encounter with a huge walking stick up around Ocoee.
I remember scorpions coming out of the rocks of a fire pit in that same area.
While hiking the AT in Georgia, I heard what sounded like rain, but with blue skies. Then, when you're still and look around, there are lots of little grey grasshoppers on the leaves, just hopping around.
I have childhood memories of riding a small skiff up the Steinhachee River in Florida, and seeing huge tarantula like spiders making huge webs across the river overhead. But those memories are probably larger than the reality.
Enough. I'm stopping Before I get to the chigger, tick, and mosquito stories.
BirdBrain
11-16-2015, 14:01
Anyone that has hiked any distance is always glad to see someone coming toward them on the trail, especially if they are taller than you. The first one out cleans the webs from the trail. Some webs are very strong. Hiking south in Maine in 2013, I was ahead on my brother-in-law. I was plowing the field. We took a Blue Blaze up Abraham. As I turned a corner, I spied a huge thick web at face level constructed between 2 close and strong branches. I do not know how I avoided it. I ducked under it and kept going. Knowing he was not far behind, I paused about 15 seconds after passing it. Moments later the screaming a cussing commenced. Later we discussed it. He said it was so strong that it actually pulled his head back a bit. It completely wrapped around his face. I thought it was hilarious. He did not agree.
I am sure this is something that has happened to all of us to one degree or another. However, I doubt there was a more perfect web trap to be found for such a purpose.
Pedaling Fool
11-16-2015, 14:35
In 2006 I was in Georgia in March, so it was cold and plenty of snow/ice. However, I remember having a huge lump directly over my spine, about 1/3 way up my back. When I first felt it I literally thought I had a disk pop out (it was a huge bump, nothing like what you would get from a wasp sting, much, much bigger), but it was a bump which I assume was from some sort of bite, but never felt it. It eventually went away, it never came to a head and popped, just went away. I have no idea what that was, but spiders were definitely a consideration.
trailhermit
11-16-2015, 15:00
I love the stories! Keep them coming.
I am so glad I am nearsighted. I may not get to see the birds in the distance, but I sure see those webs on the trail.
I also discovered that where you cooked the night before may be an ant colony in the morning. Luckily I was sitting on my sleeping pad. I only noticed the ants because they crawled into my powdered milk. They look funny covered in white powder. I just brushed them off and used the milk anyway of course. When I looked around there were ants all around, I guess they went to bed early the night before.
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Southern New England, the Northeast in general. They're always there but every few years for some reason, their population gets out of control...
I've been saying this about the human insect population, OUT OF CONTROL. And, they are not only in the Northeast. :)
The Crab Spider webs across the trail in mid Atlantic and southeastern states can be annoying enough but the HUGE Banana Spiders and their webs in states like Florida are creepier. Those points on the exoskeleton of the Crab Spider and, maybe their bites, on my neck and exposed arms get to be too much at times.
At least we don't have HUGE swarms of Army ants in the U.S or those nocturnal insect goblin like creatures from the movie Pitch Black. Here's a thought consider the amount of bacteria in and on you right now. Then, add in all the critters on your bed's linen, couch, car seat, food, clothing, shoes, etc
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-humans-carry-more-bacterial-cells-than-human-ones/
4eyedbuzzard
11-16-2015, 15:48
I was hiking a year and a half ago in winter on the Ouachita Trail in OK. It was fairly warm - mid 40's at night. I got in late and was making camp with my headlamp. Everywhere on the ground, maybe 3 feet apart or so was the reflection of spider eyes. Probably 20 or 30 spiders total. They were a type of wolf spider I believe, maybe 1 1/2" across. They had me surrounded. If I got close to them they would retreat a few feet, then turn around and keep looking my way. It was kind of freaky, like they were watching me. And waiting. :eek: :D
I was hiking a year and a half ago in winter on the Ouachita Trail in OK. It was fairly warm - mid 40's at night. I got in late and was making camp with my headlamp. Everywhere on the ground, maybe 3 feet apart or so was the reflection of spider eyes. Probably 20 or 30 spiders total. They were a type of wolf spider I believe, maybe 1 1/2" across. They had me surrounded. If I got close to them they would retreat a few feet, then turn around and keep looking my way. It was kind of freaky, like they were watching me. And waiting. :eek: :D
Isn't that cool? Great account.
trailhermit
11-16-2015, 16:23
They were probably wondering what you were and if you were edible!
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In Hawaii and Florida cockroaches/palmetto bugs are nearly everywhere even on the beaches. Stealth cowboy camped in the woods on a thick bed of dry pine needles behind a shopping center on Maui. Shopping center had restaurants, fry joints, Chinese food restaurants, Walmart, large waste frying oil receptacles, etc. Knew there would be some where I cowboyed so sprayed an insect repellent in a continuous circular ring around my sleeping area and hung my food in a stuff sack spraying the repellent around the base of the tree. At 2 a.m. woke up to rustling almost marching and clicking sounds. Thousands of cockroaches were all around me and the tree, stopped only by the insect repellent. Cockroaches were eating each other with the larger ones attacking the smaller ones. The cockroaches were eating some beetles and moths unfortunate enough to land in the swarm or be attracted by my headlamp light. Some were on me that flew there. Some flew onto my tightly sealed food stuff sack. Some got into my sleeping bag. Cockroaches BITE humans. I had bites on my legs, arms and shoulders. Cockroaches often have a SMELL. They got into my food stuff sack so that all the food had to be trashed. I had to wash my sleeping bag, clothing, backpack, etc. It was creepy. I grew up in a household where my mom ran a CLEAN house so I have never been accustomed to family, friends, or urban environments with cockroaches.
trailhermit
11-16-2015, 17:10
That one may give me nightmares.
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I was hiking a year and a half ago in winter on the Ouachita Trail in OK. It was fairly warm - mid 40's at night. I got in late and was making camp with my headlamp. Everywhere on the ground, maybe 3 feet apart or so was the reflection of spider eyes. Probably 20 or 30 spiders total. They were a type of wolf spider I believe, maybe 1 1/2" across. They had me surrounded. If I got close to them they would retreat a few feet, then turn around and keep looking my way. It was kind of freaky, like they were watching me. And waiting. :eek: :D
I just threw up a little in my mouth. I hope to GOD you are kidding. Otherwise, I can tell you now that I will NEVER enter anything remotely close to woods in OK, ever. That's the cure for me bud.
These people with spiders and bugs in their sleeping bags.... these are people who hammock or cowboy camp? Certainly, the bug netting on a tent prevents this, correct?
Indoors, locked away with the windows closed, front door dead bolted, vents shut, etc does not eliminate the insects, bacteria, larvae, cysts, microbes, etc. In your house right now these are in your bed linens, including where you put your face, on the pillow, on your body, living in your body, on your clothing, in your hair, in the food you eat, in the landscape around your house you walk through, in your car, on the car seat, on the steering wheel, maybe in the water you drink, in the alcohol you consume, on your shoes, in/on your pets, behind your refrigerator, in your HVAC system, in your floor covering, in the crevices of your trim molding, in the corners of your ceiling, in your bathroom, etc.
Isn't it GREAT GOD, Nature, evolution, whatever has allowed us the immunology and ability to coexist without always seeing these things as a threat?
trailhermit
11-17-2015, 16:34
I just threw up a little in my mouth. I hope to GOD you are kidding. Otherwise, I can tell you now that I will NEVER enter anything remotely close to woods in OK, ever. That's the cure for me bud.
I think he was behind a grocery store, so take note, no cowboy camping near a dumpster!
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trailhermit
11-17-2015, 16:40
These people with spiders and bugs in their sleeping bags.... these are people who hammock or cowboy camp? Certainly, the bug netting on a tent prevents this, correct?
I left my netting open, rookie mistake. I thought we would be sleeping in hammocks.
Bug netting and bug spray is helpful in the south. I didn't get one bite in the woods. Nope, the mosquitos did get me at home though. The very next day.
Whatever that magic insect repellent is, its amazing, our pants and light hoodies were treated with it. We didn't use any deet at all.
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Indoors, locked away with the windows closed, front door dead bolted, vents shut, etc does not eliminate the insects, bacteria, larvae, cysts, microbes, etc. In your house right now these are in your bed linens, including where you put your face, on the pillow, on your body, living in your body, on your clothing, in your hair, in the food you eat, in the landscape around your house you walk through, in your car, on the car seat, on the steering wheel, maybe in the water you drink, in the alcohol you consume, on your shoes, in/on your pets, behind your refrigerator, in your HVAC system, in your floor covering, in the crevices of your trim molding, in the corners of your ceiling, in your bathroom, etc.
Isn't it GREAT GOD, Nature, evolution, whatever has allowed us the immunology and ability to coexist without always seeing these things as a threat?
Yes. Its wonderful that He made most of them so miniscule that the common eye can't see them at all. Except spiders. :o
I met this cute little critter near wrightwood on the PCT. we talked for quite a while.
32672
I hiked on on a mile or so before camping.
I met this cute little critter near wrightwood on the PCT. we talked for quite a while.
32672
I hiked on on a mile or so before camping.
I wonder if the smell of urine repels them at all... or maybe even human feces???? If I woke up to that on the outside net of my tent I would pass out cold and very likely have an accident. This would be the only reason I would ever consider carrying a hand gun hiking.
4eyedbuzzard
11-17-2015, 20:39
I just threw up a little in my mouth. I hope to GOD you are kidding. Otherwise, I can tell you now that I will NEVER enter anything remotely close to woods in OK, ever. That's the cure for me bud.They were just out hunting. It's what they do. They never really bothered me. I think the light kind of gets their attention a bit and they tend to freeze when they are spotlighted. Probably a defense instinct (don't move). I think you likely have much more in the way of creepy crawlers in the GA woods than OK does.
Pedaling Fool
11-18-2015, 08:20
These people with spiders and bugs in their sleeping bags.... these are people who hammock or cowboy camp? Certainly, the bug netting on a tent prevents this, correct?Nope, it's us tenters also:D
One evening while I was setting up my tent and putting everything inside a huge spider some how got inside, of course it was unbeknownst to me at the time.
Later that evening as I was laying in my bag I seemed to be seeing something over my head (you know how your vision is kind of grainy at night), but as I kept looking at this blob it seemed to be getting closer, part of me was thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me and the other part was saying, "turn on you light, idiot:rolleyes:". I finally got my light because this blob seemed to be getting really close to my face.
It was a freakin' huge spider!!! So big I was surprised the web could support his dangling weight over my head. I'd like to say I was cool and collected, but obviously I was a little frantic, because as I grabbed the web he was dangling from, in order to throw him out my door, I missed the door and he bounced against the side of the tent and fell into my tent....You can imagine all the stuff I was picking up and tossing as it crawled across things in my tent.
I finally got him out, along with much of my stuff in the tent:o
P.S. This was not a case of being careless in leaving my tent door open. I always put my tent away with the door closed so that when I put it up later in the day, the door is closed from the beginning and only open it the throw things in. And yes, I check to make sure things are bug-free before throwing them in the tent. Not sure how that thing got in there...Not knowing is the worst...:D
BTW, I have a pic of a spider in my gallery I saw near a shelter and the spider in my tent was about this size, if it crawled into the center of you hand and you made a fist, there would be legs sticking out... http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=26233&original=1&catid=member&imageuser=6936
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/6/9/3/6/3-06-08_170_original.jpg
Yes. Its wonderful that He made most of them so miniscule that the common eye can't see them at all. Except spiders. :o
The ones I don't usually see are the ones I'm most concerned, chiggers, fleas, gnats, mites, small Malaria/West Nile/Yellow Fever/etc carrying skeeters, seed ticks in the instar stage, etc
I'll keep em coming with big close profile colorful pics of these to lessen the competition for permits and campsite space. :D
Seriously, protect yourself appropriately, and accept that these things are a part of the world, and go outdoors.
OH I am going to keep on hiking and camping no matter what, but I will be a nutball at taking every possible precaution for keeping things like PedalingFool shared from happening to me. I would seriously die. That picture above was really just over the top mean. :eek::)
rocketsocks
11-18-2015, 14:03
Saw a wolf spider once that was the size of a tarantula...didn't know they got that big...cool.
MuddyWaters
11-18-2015, 16:48
Golden orb weavers are huge scary looking spiders that build these tough webs across trails on my hunting lease. Driving on a 4 wheeeler once my daughter got one on her, she literally came unglued. Im not kidding when i say she jumped off a moving 4wheeler and lost touch with reality for a few moments.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRmbdVq7KuQMSyN3B6j1Xx_pzRWFxYD1 xFmENmGrhhvHvXQj1Z9
http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/wp-content/uploads/golden-orb-spider-11.jpg