Spiders!!!

[trailhermit]

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]

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. 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]

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

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]

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]

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]

What state do you find those?

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[Old Grouse]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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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[Dogwood]

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.

[Dogwood]

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

[Dogwood]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...an-human-ones/

[4eyedbuzzard]

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.

[Dogwood]

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.

Isn't that cool? Great account.

[trailhermit]

They were probably wondering what you were and if you were edible!

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[Dogwood]

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]

That one may give me nightmares.

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[Lnj]

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.

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.