Huge Spider!! 9/8

H.R. Waller

Date: 8 September, 2008

Time: 1700

Place: The WU Crew boathouse

Weather: 80 degrees, perfect cloudless sunshine.

Journal
Today as I was learning the ropes of Crew I came across a very large, very fat spider. I, being
highly arachnophobic, quickly began to mentally freak out, though I was careful not to make
any sudden movements as I was in a boat and didn’t want to be the one responsible for tipping
us on the first day. The spider was on the dock of the WU boat house, about 2 miles out of town.
Our boat was rested right up next to the dock, and the spider about a foot away from me, my
paddle providing an easy enough route for the spider to my being. I have become slightly more
tolerant of spiders over the years, but this one was so strikingly large and ugly, that I instantly
cringed and tried to push at least my part of the boat as far from the dock as possible without
upending or otherwise disturbing the boat or other teammates. But then I remembered what our
coach had said at the very beginning of practice: “If you’re afraid of spiders, you won’t be when
this is over.” I then realized that I had to come to terms with the fact that a spider is a mere
piece of nature at its best and that I have to accept them if not learn to like them. So I took a
closer glance. The arachnid had a large tear drop shaped abdomen and a smaller head portion of
its body. The color was similar to that of the deck, a pale brownish tan with lighter patches of
beige in little random stripes and patches. Also, the creature has two appendages sticking out of
its face that looked like fangs, making it that much more terrorizing to someone like me. When
looking through my Audubon Field Guide, I came to the conclusion that this spider was likely a
Banded Garden Spider. The book says that their season is summer, which would make sense
for a day like today during which the high was ninety degrees and the sun beating down through
a cloudless sky. Also there is plenty of vegetation surrounding the boat house so it would make
sense that a garden spider would thrive here. I look forward to the day when I can look past the
creepiness of this spider, and appreciate it for its living habits and other characterizing features.
Photo courtesy of Google Images.