This was my fault. Red femured spotted orb weavers are my favorite kind and i’ve only ever seen one on the homestead, Wilma, may she rest in peace. Ever since i met Wilma i have been looking for another red femured spotted orb weaver. The day God delivered one into my lap i had just scheduled pest control to come out for the first time in a couple years because it is necessary to have them out to spray poison at times to keep the carpenter ants from eating the house and sheds. There are thousands of colonies of them. There’s no eradicating them. You can only pay attention to when stepping on the wood of the house no longer kills them and they begin trying to move their larvae in and make trails to get into the house and all that. I was seeing larvae carried in so it was time. I waited as long as i could, as the poison doesnt only kill ants. It kills anything remotely insect sized that walks on the wood that has been sprayed. It is strong stuff as the dogs and i have to remain outdoors until the chemicals dry after they spray the inside. I hate calling pest control but i had to do it.
I found this orb weaver on the side of the house while the pest control guy was spraying the porch for ants. In my excitement i exclaimed, “oh, i think thats a red femured spotted orb weaver!” As i pointed, he hit it with a direct spray of poison from the can on his back and the spider began to wriggle rapidly and made a run for the roof. I pushed the man’s arm down asking him to leave the spider alone. I told him that was my favorite kind of spider in the whole world and i had been looking since i met Wilma to see if there was another one. He blushed and looked kind of sheepish. I asked, “will it survive?” He hesitated and then said, “well, not if it’s been sprayed.” I knew it had. I then set to thinking about how i could wash it off. I grabbed a stick and fished the now stiff spider down from the edge of the roof. Once on the ground i filled the watering can with well water and poured it over the spider again and again, periodically standing it upright again if it fell over so as not to drown it. I tried to wash the poison off of it but it was no use. When i went to stand it up the last time something awful happened. It burst and its guts came oozing out from its underside. I had killed it. My need for an ant free house had resulted in the red femured orb weaver’s death. Unbeknownst to me at the time, every other orb weaver that would set foot on my porch or the side of my house would also meet a cruel fate due to the longevity of the poison. I killed all the orb weavers that dared to keep me company this year and it broke my heart, as they were my favorite spider and i have in the past been a safe haven for them that kills praying mantises that are hunting them and leaves the porch light on to attract bugs to their webs. In the past i have had such a good relationship with my orb weaver friends and protected them from so many foes, and now i am the foe.
I dug her a grave. The dogs and i had a little funeral and buried her near Blue the swallowtail butterfly and the other orb weavers in the spider graveyard that had been casualties of praying mantis or simply made an egg sac and expired. im not happy with myself. I begged God for a red femured orb weaver and then he delivered and i got her killed. What if i had had the presence of mind to ask him not to spray the side of the house she was on instead of pointing her out to him? I could have relocated her far away from the house. It all happened so fast. I didnt anticipate that he would see the spider as a pest, since i viewed them as friends. Although i should have, because after all he is pest control and many people consider spiders pests. I dont ask God for orb weavers any more. Clearly i am not a good steward for them and am not to be entrusted with the beautiful creatures. Let them make their webs in the trees, away from the danger of man.
