Nothing conjures a deep, innate fear of creepy-crawlies quite like watching a spider meticulously pick her way through her web. Her bristled, segmented limbs land with such precision on each delicate strand that it’s hard not to see the similarity between her and almost every horrible monster Hollywood has ever created.
Perhaps that’s why people seem a bit disturbed when they tell me of their first encounter with a jewel spider. Over the past few years there appears to have been a proliferation of jewel spiders in Jasper and other residential areas in Alberta, though so far this is just observational.
You know these spiders—they have large bodies about the diameter of a dime, with two horns or bumps on their abdomen where it attaches to their head. They come in a variety of colours: pale yellow, brown, and grey. Some people call them cat-faced spiders due to the feline-like facial markings on their abdomen.
Jewel spiders are native to this area, but appear to have figured out that there is good eating to be had near and on human structures. People often spot them building webs near sources of light that attract other bugs for dinner, like for example right outside the kitchen window, or around the porch light.
The little lady we’ve been watching this year has a nice big web spanning the width of my son’s bedroom window. Recently we watched as she snared a moth, and had it rolled up into a little silk straightjacket faster than you can say “I’m going to suck the juice out of your head,” which is what she did.
I’m not going to lie to you. When I watch a spider do something like that I am simultaneously fascinated and mortified. Intellectually, I know how amazing she is, not to mention the fact that she and her spider buddies keep all sorts of irritating insect populations in check. But, deep down I house an irrational fear that a wayward arachnid will crawl into my mouth while I sleep—I try to remember the valuable role they play in our ecosystem before I get a broom and give them a flight lesson.
Sympathy for spiders is hard, take it from someone who knows. I’ve been bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider, and almost lost my foot to the infection. Another random bite left a nerve at the base of my spine tingly for two years, and yet another bite, in Ottawa of all places, recently landed me on antibiotics for cellulitis in my finger.
My husband will tell you I need to stop picking around in every little plant I see, but the point is that if anyone should have an aversion to spiders, it’s me. However, I will not let my fears get the better of me.
Entomologists tell me the jewels have low-toxicity venom and are pretty harmless, despite the fact that the babies eat each other. I guess that’s why the females lay hundreds of eggs, so that at least some of them are well fed.
Regardless, I’m on a personal mission to leave the giant jewel spider stationed on the web she spun over my front porch. I’m going to walk right under there every day, and not freak out.
Are you in?
Niki Wilson
Special to the Fitzhugh
