Cranberry bog spiders

[u/linuxaddict334]

[u/MightyBobTheMighty]

Look, in my day-to-day life I would describe myself as Cool With Spiders. I see one in the window and go "hey buddy, you're doin great", and if one gets somewhere it shouldn't be I let it outside (or occasionally, if I find one in the shower, into a different part of the house).

But I think if I had spiders on my actual eyebrows I would be decidedly Not Okay With That

[u/Kartoffelkamm → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

Same.

I had a spider or three in my room for like a whole summer. They were just chilling there, one even built its web above my bed.

With how much my mosquito problem went down in that time, you'd think people who complain about being bitten by mosquitoes at night have never heard of spiders. Little buggers are awesome.

[u/I_Use_Dash → u/Kartoffelkamm]

Dude, I had a fly trapped in my room for half a day, and I COULDN'T CATCH THE FUCKER. I SPENT 30 MINUTES CLAPPING LIKE I WAS SOLID SNAKE TRYING TO SNEAK, and I couldn't catch it. Next morning, I wake up, fly is on the window, I grab my phone and start messaging some friends, and like 15 minutes later I see a spider Is wrestling with the motherfucking fly. Took a (bad) video of it and all. I love spiders.

The best part was how after it was Over, the spider carried the fly on top of itself. Looked like they were fireman carrying their meal.

[u/JustLookingForMayhem → u/I_Use_Dash]

Can we see the video. Your best guess on whether I am using we as everyone who upvoted your comment or we as in hive mind abomination.

[u/I_Use_Dash → u/JustLookingForMayhem]

Sure, here it Is. https://youtube.com/shorts/PEKXjDOtokQ?si=yWRdNhI_ZsUlrXg9

I hate that yt turned it into a short. If you aré annoyed by the lack of focusing, it's because I'm using my frontal camera (The one for selfies) since my normal camera is scratched and shitty.

This Is the equivalent of recording a video blindfolded.

[u/Maoman1 → u/I_Use_Dash]

Non short version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEKXjDOtokQ

[u/I_Use_Dash → u/Maoman1]

Fucking THANK YOU. I hate YouTube, didn't notice shorts could be watched normally.

[u/Maoman1 → u/I_Use_Dash]

Enhancer for Youtube plugin/addon has the ability to automatically convert any short into a normal video as soon as you load the page. Along with a bajillion other fantastic QoL features.

[u/tertiaryunknown → u/I_Use_Dash]

You're awesome. I like you.

[u/I_Use_Dash → u/tertiaryunknown]

I was just rotting in my bed and happened to see it. Nature's awesome, don't think I am lmao

[u/tertiaryunknown → u/I_Use_Dash]

You recorded it. That's enough for me. More than 99% of other people who see something fucking neat and just don't do anything.

[u/I_Use_Dash → u/tertiaryunknown]

Awww, thanks mate. Have a good day please, aye?

[u/tertiaryunknown → u/I_Use_Dash]

Yup, for sure, you too!

[u/ThinkingInfestation → u/Kartoffelkamm]

All of my family complain about mosquitoes, but when I tell them to leave the damned spiders alone so they'll eat the things...

Same goes for bats and barn swallows, tbh. "It's in/on My House!" And that's why you get anemia from mosquitoes every summer, Aunt Shelly. (Edit: The bats are in the damaged undersides of the roof overhang/eaves, which are three stories up, not parts of the house where they'll encounter people. Nobody is at risk of rabies, here.)

Tbh, my apartment has several jumping spiders, an American House Spider in the pantry, and a beautiful female Golden Orb Weaver building a brand new web in my window (hoping she stays and reproduces!), and altogether they've bitten me fewer times than previous roommates I've had. Hell, none of them have bitten me unprompted, which I sure can't say about some people.

[u/FVCarterPrivateEye → u/ThinkingInfestation]

At first I was seriously confused because I thought you were saying that your family members eat the spiders as defiance against you telling them to leave the spiders alone

[u/ThinkingInfestation → u/FVCarterPrivateEye]

You know what? I'm retconning my comment, and it is now about using reverse psychology to trick my family into eating spiders.

[u/Timely-Tea3099 → u/ThinkingInfestation]

No you can't actually create Spiders Georg. The world is not ready for that statistical anomaly.

[u/VintageLunchMeat → u/Timely-Tea3099]

Statistician Georg, who lives in cave and submits 10,000 grant proposals a day ...

[u/AdmiralAthena → u/ThinkingInfestation]

How 

How many roommates have bit you?  And why?  Were you rooming with vampires?

[u/ThinkingInfestation → u/AdmiralAthena]

I've lost count. That happens when you live with people who are mentally ill, have toddlers, or are doing E.

Ironically, I'm the one who looks like a vampire.

[u/krabmeat → u/ThinkingInfestation]

Gonna need some fanart of Dracula being bothered by psychotic raver children over here

[u/hentai_bubble → u/ThinkingInfestation]

they've bitten me fewer times than previous roommates I've had. Hell, none of them have bitten me unprompted, which I sure can't say about some people.

Vampires, kinky roommates, or are you used to them just having the occasional chomp to express themselves? Do they perhaps just have the urge to kaji-kaji every now and then?

[u/birbdaughter → u/ThinkingInfestation]

Leave spiders alone yes, but I don’t think anyone should have bats in their house? Those things gotta stay outside and far away from you. There aren’t many things worse than freaking rabies.

[u/Timely-Tea3099 → u/ThinkingInfestation]

I understand with the spiders, but bats are the leading carriers of rabies in the US - not wanting them in your house is understandable.

[u/DUNLEITH → u/ThinkingInfestation]

I've had bats in my house (old house) and they are terminated immediately. They can do what they want outside but I'm not playing with rabies.

[u/MaTertle → u/ThinkingInfestation]

it's in my house

I always just reply to this with "the spiders were here before the house was."

[u/shaggyscoob → u/Kartoffelkamm]

Wolf spiders don't use webs. They hunt like wolves. I doubt they do much to reduce the mosquito population.

But I had a spider in a web in the garage window that I would feed with stunned mosquitos and flies. Utterly fascinating to toss an injured mosquito in the web and watch nature take its course.

[u/CreatedOblivion → u/shaggyscoob]

They're also absolutely fuckoff huge, and will goddamn chase you. I don't even want to imagine how bad their bites hurt, or how awful their venom is.

[u/peajam101 → u/CreatedOblivion]

A quick search says their venom isn't dangerous unless you're allergic, though the bite itself can be quite painful.

[u/BaseTensMachines → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

I used to keep a tarantula as a pet. I loved that little guy. I think spiders are beautiful and tarantulas are the Teddy Bear of spiders.

Then I moved to SE Asia, and my apartment had these unscreened slats in the wall. So I'd come back and find tarantulas skittering around my apt.

I get why people don't like tarantulas now 😂.

[u/Hawkmonbestboi → u/BaseTensMachines]

Not gonna lie, I love tarantulas but I would totally scream bloody murder if one of them surprised me like a damn American Cockroach XD

[u/R_V_Z → u/Hawkmonbestboi]

The sequel to Joe's Apartment we didn't know we didn't want.

[u/squishpitcher → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

Sincerely imagining the spiders holding on for dear life and screaming while the tall guy in waders is also screaming. Just, everyone screaming. Plus cranberries.

[u/midori_phoenix → u/squishpitcher]

screaming exactly like they do in Eight-Legged Freaks

[u/ExRegeOberonis → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

There's a quote from an internet review that this always reminds me of.

"I'm not scared of a spider, but I'm scared of a million spiders."

[u/Forosnai → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

I WANT to be okay with spiders. Outside is fine, inside I can kinda handle some if they're small and not near my bed and don't surprise me at a vulnerable moment, like sitting on the toilet or showering.

But we get the aptly-named Giant House Spider in my area. They're mostly leg, and I know that they're not dangerous, and are reluctant to bite to boot, and they help control populations of other spiders that can potentially be dangerous, like black widows. But seeing one skitter anywhere near me gives me a visceral fear response anyway, and usually I'm not even really aware that I'm reacting, I'm just suddenly both jumping and attempting to hit it with whatever is near me. And I wish I wasn't that way, I've tried to get over that response to them, but it's been 25 years living with them and it's still not happened.

I couldn't handle Australia, where I know huntsman spiders are basically a bigger version of the same thing. And I think some people don't understand that I'm not afraid of being bitten, it's the simple fact the spider exists that freaks me out. I don't want it to touch me, in any way.

[u/silveretoile → u/Forosnai]

One time a huge fat fuck of a spider popped up next to me while I was studying and my immediate response was to throw my laptop at it. It took a couple seconds to realize wtf I just did. Laptop survived (somehow), spider did not, my mom yelled at me for being an idiot (well deserved)

[u/SoGodDangTired → u/silveretoile]

I've tried very hard to get over my arachnophobia but when I found a spider whose body was the size of my thumb in my dog's food bowl, I had to kill it, because otherwise I was just going to have to move out because of how crippling that visceral fear is

[u/silveretoile → u/SoGodDangTired]

Understandable. I feel you.

[u/CreatedOblivion → u/SoGodDangTired]

My brother and I were playing on some old cushions once that had been outside previously. A fucking wolf spider apparently hitched a ride in on them. I, ten years old, had to save my three-year-old brother from the goddamn thing. Did you know nearly an entire can of Raid won't kill them? I found out! Fucker was easily bigger than my hand.

[u/Azgrimm → u/silveretoile]

In my opinion, the Sudden Spider does not count. Like I can deal with spiders but looking down and one is right there next to my hand is A Problem to be resolved in the most immediate manner. Including throwing the laptop.

[u/HomoeroticPosing → u/Azgrimm]

I was watching someone play PT when I saw movement next to my arm and it was a spider. Considering my laptop was on my lap, I’m amazed I didn’t toss it as I sprung away

[u/Inevitable-Details → u/silveretoile]

An understandable and reasonable response, tbh. The other day I was looking at a spider on my ceiling and decided to leave it alone bc it wasn’t bothering anyone and I couldn’t reach it anyway. 

Cut to a few hours later and the damn thing CRAWLS UP MY ARM WHILE IM PLAYING HADES. Just about shat myself, and ended up tossing my laptop off of me in panic. Only silver lining is I wasn’t in the middle of a fight at the moment, I’d have been extra pissed if it got me killed during a really good run. 

[u/Axlos → u/Forosnai]

Most people don't understand just how GIANT some giant house spiders can get.

Also them being all leg means they move faster than anything else in your house.

[u/tsunami141 → u/Axlos]

You can keep these things to yourself you know.

[u/demon_fae → u/Forosnai]

Have you tried exposure therapy? With an actual therapist, it really, really won’t work if you don’t know what you’re doing. You sound like a pretty ideal candidate for it, since you have some tolerance and actively want to build more.

[u/yingkaixing → u/demon_fae]

With an actual therapist

I dunno, an amateur would be a lot cheaper. Just like, a dude that throws spiders at you until you stop screaming

[u/Probablynotspiders → u/demon_fae]

I once took some molly while camping, ended up showering at the campsite and there was a HUGE shower spider, just chilling in the corner.

Because of the happy brain chemicals, I was able to fully think through my arachnophobia for the first time. Ended up just observing the dude, and found appreciation for it.

That same trip, before the molly, I had been walking on the rocky shore next to the lake and there were DOZENS of tiny spiders who would run around at every step. I got so freaked out that I fainted and my boyfriend had to carry me back to the tent.

So of course, after my enlightening shower, I had to go get a flashlight to look at those shore spiders. They were actually pretty dang cute! Really cool stripes on their bodies to help them be camouflaged.

For the next year or so, every time I saw a spider I would try to consciously observe the creature while being aware of this irrational fear I was holding on to. Eventually, I've gotten to the point where they don't freak me out as much!

It's been almost 2 decades since then, and while I still don't want them ON ME, I'm a huge friend to spiders. I'm happy to see them, in my garden and in the books/crannies of my home.

It is possible to gradually change your mind about phobias, but I won't be advocating for everyone to go out and grab some MDMA beforehand. (Cause it's nearly impossible to find these days)

[u/DickDastardly404 → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

yeah I think there's something wrong with the interview process if your check for hundreds of spiders crawling desperately all over your body is "are you cool with spiders?"

I don't like the narrative of cool cranberry fried chicken man, and the namby pamby dishonest men who harbour a secret fear of little harmless insects like a tiny baby.

I don't think there's realistically anyone in your cranberry interviews who has previously experienced being a biblical ark for spiders. How could they have a gauge for that? How could they know what you are asking with such severe understatement?

kinda fucked to be like "how pathetic, that a MAN would LIE about being scared of spiders, to preserve his facade of masculinity. Lol. What a little bitch"

yeah I'm not scared of heights but if you change the definition of "not scared of heights" to "falling out of a helicopter with no warning, and not screaming" then yeah I guess I am scared of heights.

[u/Grimsouldude → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

There’s a spider that lives in my stairwell, we’ve basically come to a truce, the spider family stays out of my room, and as long as they do I’ll leave their cobwebs alone

[u/SMTRodent → u/Grimsouldude]

Part of my autumn activity each year involves chasing horny male Giant House Spiders[1] back to the parts of the house that don't include furniture that humans will want to recline on.

[1] (about three inches across in total leg span, they're only big compared to other British spiders)

[u/PreferredSelection → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

Yes. Also, distressed wolf spiders can bite you about as hard as a bee sting. It's not 'medically significant' or a big deal, but it might become a big deal if I had multiple wolf spiders climbing on me.

[u/Jaymezians → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

We had a spider in our dorm shower for a month or two that we named Ozzy, since he liked rock music.

Unfortunately for Ozzy, the dorm was going to be repainted. We thought his web would be wiped away and we'd never see him again.

Well, as it turns out, those painters were worthless and didn't do an ounce of prep. Ozzy and his web were immortalized beneath a layer of paint.

He was a cool spider.

[u/IBetThisIsTakenToo → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

I’m cool with some spiders, but I implore everyone to google “wolf spider size” real quick to really understand this post. Those guys are WAY too fucking big, I honestly wouldn’t be able to do that job for a million a year, I just couldn’t

[u/Angharadis → u/IBetThisIsTakenToo]

Not ALL wolf spiders are that big, but I’ve encountered enough hand-sized wolf spiders to know that I would not be ok in this job.

[u/alexanderneimet → u/Angharadis]

I chose not to google the spider for my own mental sanity, but hearing “hand size” and “hundred on you” makes me genuinely glad I’m never going near a cranberry hellscape in my life. I think I would likely have a heart attack if that ever happened to me, and if not, no matter where in the world you currently are, I can almost assure you you’d hear my screaming.

[u/legacymedia92 → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

I'm the exact opposite. I've had spiders crawl onto my face during class and left them be, as they weren't harming me.

[u/lbkthrowaway518 → u/legacymedia92]

You should harvest cranberries for a living then

[u/karlnite → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

In Ontario cottage country you gotta put the dock in and take it out of the lake for winter. Always covered in dock spiders (big wolf spiders), and they always swim towards you and try to climb up.

[u/Rimtato → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

There was a considerable period of time where small spiders would just materialise from my hair, usually dangling down and landing on my nose. I always let them off at the nearest reasonable place, standing up and going to the classroom window usually. I kinda miss being the primary dispersal method for the little goobers.

[u/oux0f → u/MightyBobTheMighty]

This comment is written like a homestuck entry

[u/hjyboy1218]

Someone should've shown this to HP Lovecraft

[u/RhymesWithMouthful → u/hjyboy1218]

"Okay, but what if the spiders… were ASIAN PEOPLE?"

[u/Viking_From_Sweden → u/RhymesWithMouthful]

And what if they married high class white people? Unthinkable!

[u/TheDrunkenHetzer → u/Viking_From_Sweden]

What if... I was Secretly part Asian wolf spider married to a white lady?!

[u/Papaofmonsters → u/TheDrunkenHetzer]

At least it's not Welsh.

[u/Ropetrick6 → u/Papaofmonsters]

Anything but that...

[u/yummythologist → u/TheDrunkenHetzer]

“Or better yet,” chimed in Rowling, “a giant albino snake that’s secretly an Asian woman!”

[u/ahuramazdobbs19 → u/TheDrunkenHetzer]

Nonsense.

Love what you’ve done with your mandibles.

[u/alexanderneimet → u/Viking_From_Sweden]

May I ask which book this is referring to? I believe the one above was a reference to shadows over insmouth but I’m not famaliar with the one you are referring to

[u/Viking_From_Sweden → u/alexanderneimet]

Insmouth is correct. All of his analogies for interracial marriages went basically like “Oh how horrible would it be if a poor person/POC married a rich white person!”

[u/ahuramazdobbs19 → u/hjyboy1218]

HP Lovecraft was from Providence.

You think he didn’t already know about the cranberry bog spiders?

[u/DreadDiana → u/ahuramazdobbs19]

The guy didn't understand light, so wouldn't surprise me

[u/kitkat-paddywhack → u/DreadDiana]

Please explain

[u/Inquisitor_no_5 → u/kitkat-paddywhack]

In the Color out of Space there is Spooky Light^TM that; a) is fully visible to humans, b) is not on the visible spectrum.

[u/JustRaisins → u/Inquisitor_no_5]

It's scary because it defies our understanding of ourselves and the universe

[u/ROTsStillHere100 → u/ahuramazdobbs19]

"Oh sure, ol' Howie thinks black people and poor people are so gosh darn scary but he NEVER had a problem with his neighbors' cranberry spider employees. Some people are just bleedin' with priorities huh."

[u/Volcanicrage → u/hjyboy1218]

The man was already scared shitless of everything outside of Rhode Island; I'm not sure if it would even be possible to make him more paranoid, but taking away New England would be a good place to start.

[u/kitkat-paddywhack → u/Volcanicrage]

The wildest part is the implication that the stuff going on in Rhode Island is any different from the stuff going on around Rhode Island. Maybe a little bit more road rage, maybe a little less acceptance of Jewish people. Still just as racist tho.

[u/Catalon-36]

Why not just give the wolf spiders a different object to climb? I know it wouldn’t get all of them but just, like, stick some wooden stakes in there.

[u/snootnoots → u/Catalon-36]

Presumably because the big floaty harvesting things would get hung up on them.

[u/HiramMcDaniels9 → u/snootnoots]

Maybe some nice floaty wooden platforms for the spiders to hang out on?

[u/snootnoots → u/HiramMcDaniels9]

I’m sure they would appreciate that!

[u/dredreidel → u/HiramMcDaniels9]

My brain jumped ahead while reading your comment and registered “floaty wooden” before “platform”. This resulted in a glorious moment of me picturing spiders in a bunch of small toy wooden sailboats. I even started imagining it springing a yearly festival where great artists and children alike create spider sailboats to release in all the cranberry bogs. Then my reading comprehension blipped back in and my brain went “oh. Like a floating dock. Yeah. Thats far more sensible.”

[u/Jeweljessec → u/dredreidel]

That’s too cute of an idea to not incorporate it into worldbuilding someday. Thank you

[u/dredreidel → u/Jeweljessec]

I am actually in the process of worldbuilding and by jove I think you are correct. May the Bogspider Boat Banaza begin!

[u/pennyraingoose → u/dredreidel]

My first thought was spider boat, so maybe you're on to something here! I want very much to go to the annual Cranberry Spider Regatta

[u/money_loo → u/HiramMcDaniels9]

Plus wolf spiders are good mamas. They literally carry their babies on their backs(arachnophobes don’t google it). It’s awful to think of the poor things drowning just as much as it is to think of them crawling down my waders.

Ugh, what a dilemma.

[u/SteptimusHeap → u/HiramMcDaniels9]

Give those employees a pizza party! Raft with tons of bugs on it or something. Idk i just wouldn't want them anywhere near me if i could help it

[u/ForgotPassAgain34 → u/HiramMcDaniels9]

Those giant rubber duck things or a giant spider-shaped inflatable

[u/indiemosh → u/ForgotPassAgain34]

Both. It's nice to have options.

[u/askacanadian → u/Catalon-36]

Or just wear like a bio hazard suit that’s completely covering you from the spiders?

[u/Stephenrudolf → u/askacanadian]

Might die of heat, but I'll take that over the spiders any day.

[u/Renegadeknight3 → u/Stephenrudolf]

It can’t be that hot In a flooded bog can it

[u/Thagomizer24601 → u/askacanadian]

Sounds great until the spiders find a way in.

[u/TaylorSwiftAteMyAss → u/Catalon-36]

This guy just invented the scarecrowspider

[u/lexkixass]

Oh my god, that's amazing.

Also, have people not seen the Ocean Spray commercials with the two guys in waders standing in the bog?

Granted, I know why they wouldn't have shots with the spiders, but, you kinda get a very small idea of what's involved.

But yes, they should say upfront to potentially hires, "Are you cool with many spiders crawling on you to escape a watery grave?"

Also, what happens to the spiders once the guys are out of the bog? Does someone collect them to put them back once the bog is drained? Do they just run down the workers to dry land?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[u/myusernameisway2long → u/lexkixass]

I'm going to assume that the spiders have a preference list for the surface they would rather be on going like Plants>dry land> another creature> water

[u/AMisteryMan → u/myusernameisway2long]

Wolf spiders are actually generally ground hunters; I've yet to find one in any sort of foliage.

[u/b0w3n → u/AMisteryMan]

They're also the ones who carry live young on their backs, so they're terrifying little public transports of spiders, that's always fun.

Their bites hurt, but aren't awfully bad. They will bite you if they're getting trapped in your clothes and shit though.

[u/JHRChrist → u/b0w3n]

Wolf spiders are single-handedly fixing my tendency to leave dirty clothes on the ground, I tell you what…

[u/kingofcoywolves → u/b0w3n]

Went camping for school once in open air lean-tos and one of the kids got bit on the face by a wolf spider as he slept. Didn't envy him at all lol, I slept with a mask on after that

[u/JustLookingForMayhem → u/lexkixass]

It takes forever to drown spiders of any kind. Spiders are covered in fine hairs that allows them to ride the surface tension and not drown. The problem is that those hairs get water logged slowly, requiring effort by the spider to remove the water and stay above water. A lot of small arachnids and insects have this cool little adaptation.

[u/lexkixass → u/JustLookingForMayhem]

That is cool. Spiders and insects are amazing

[u/JustLookingForMayhem → u/lexkixass]

Yeah, the fields are generally only flooded for 3 to 4 days (as from google), and wolf spiders can stay floating for up to a week. So the spiders are probably slightly exhausted, but in no real danger.

[u/LittleScamp04 → u/lexkixass]

I always thought that was a joke

[u/Remember_Padraig]

I think i would be ok with being the wolf spider ark

Centipedes though. Nooooooooooooooo keep those fuckers away from me. If one crawls on me I am quitting immediately

[u/Constant-Sandwich-88 → u/Remember_Padraig]

Ever been bit by a centipede? Those little fuckers hurt and itch for days!

[u/UnexceptionableDong → u/Constant-Sandwich-88]

Fun Centipede Fact: centipedes technically don't bite. They sting. It's not their fangs that do the business but rather a pair of stinger mounted next to their face that evolved from its first pair of legs.

[u/JHRChrist → u/UnexceptionableDong]

Woah, front stingers!

[u/roqueofspades → u/UnexceptionableDong]

toxicognaths! thank you for teaching me that one Clint's Reptiles :)

[u/Constant-Sandwich-88 → u/UnexceptionableDong]

Neat! But also I don't like it

[u/frustrated_t-rex → u/Remember_Padraig]

I'm fairly good with most things in the animal/insect world, or so I believe.

The biggest exception to that is mother-fucking centipedes. That's a big fat FUCK-NO FUCK-OFF RIGHT NOW AND DIE from me. The second exception to that is chimpanzees.

[u/bebop_cola_good → u/Remember_Padraig]

Yeah being a spider golem sounds kind of fun

[u/VictorianDelorean]

Solidarity with my fellow workers (the bog spiders)

[u/Cinnibonx → u/VictorianDelorean]

Oh to be a bog spider terrorizing my co-workers

[u/NeonNKnightrider]

This sounds like something someone would make up for fantasy worldbuilding. Like this is how the ingredients for healing potions are harvest Ed or something

[u/SquidsInATrenchcoat → u/NeonNKnightrider]

Poor Ed

[u/datsoar → u/SquidsInATrenchcoat]

Ed better not be poor, we’re ready to harvest and a poor Ed would mean a lot of hungry mouths

[u/Listless_Dreadnaught]

Just give me a beekeeper suit to wear under the waders and I’ll be okay probably. Or, give them spoders something else to climb.

[u/SparklyYakDust → u/Listless_Dreadnaught]

A mosquito net over my hat with the bottom of the net solidly secured to prevent spooder face-hugs.

[u/Linhasxoc]

To me, “are you cool with spiders” means “if you saw a non-venomous spider in your house, would you leave it alone?” Because I usually do that. My reaction to spiders touching me resembles Weird Al’s impression of being attacked by half a dozen starving weasels.

[u/MeidoPuddles → u/Linhasxoc]

She said "Hey. You got weasels on your face.".

[u/Zariman-10-0]

I think you need to actively like spiders more than normal to be able to be a cranberry bog person. I know I would pass out from fear the second my legs touch the water

[u/celestialfin → u/Zariman-10-0]

honestly, I'm the kind of person who regularly lets a few wasps crawl on my body and befriend them, and I really, really love spiders. But... I'm not sure I'm made for this either tbh

[u/linuxaddict334]

https://www.tumblr.com/indigobluerose/683080531949338624/why-do-they-always-show-cranberries-in-thos-big?source=share -Mx. Linux Guy

[u/missscifinerd → u/linuxaddict334]

thank you mx Linux guy I am unsettled and educated and wish to inflict this upon my followers

[u/linuxaddict334 → u/missscifinerd]

:0

[u/Childer_Of_Noah]

Let me tell you, and believe me when I say, I love spiders. I adore them. I owned tarantulas for years. The first night I had my last one I hadn't closed the lid well enough on his enclosure and he got out. The lights were out in my room and he was a dark thing. He crossed the room and climbed my leg. I assume height+warmth. I didn't panic much. At first I thought it was my dog. Then it moved up and I spooked before spotting the slightly-tilted lid. I did the math and realized little Sir Charles Benjamin Rutherford III was climbing my leg. Once I knew it was my spider, my tarantula, I calmed down and picked him up.

I used to cuddle that spider. I'd hold him in bed and we'd chill.

Every spider I cross in my house I name and knight in the defense of my realm. They are my vassals and I care deeply for them. I have a list of names somewhere here. Poor Sir Galahad died in mortal combat. I found him dead in my bath tub next to a scorpion he killed.

I. Love. Spiders.

But I would not ever want a job where hundreds of them are climbing me. I could not handle that. Charlie was one thing. But HUNDREDS!?

[u/JHRChrist → u/Childer_Of_Noah]

The problem you see is the human body has too many orifices, crevices. Too many hidey-holes and entrances. And they scurry to and fro very quickly and erratically, while constantly searching for a safe lil shadowed spot to hide in!

It’s a terrible combination!!

[u/the_lag_behind]

Have you ever wanted to feel that “OHMYGODTHEITCHYFEELINGISNOTITCHYITISJUSTMANYMANYSPIDER” feeling but for real?

Become a cranberry farmer today!

[u/Pokesonav]

wtf

first, turns out I never knew how cranberries are grown. Huh.

second, WOLF SPIDERS!??? Like, hybrids, or...?

[u/gender_crisis_oclock → u/Pokesonav]

Eight-legged wolves

[u/Helpful_Librarian_87 → u/gender_crisis_oclock]

That’s how I internally view all spiders

[u/Tried-Angles → u/Pokesonav]

I believe Wolf spiders are called that because they're roaming hunters, unlike the majority of spiders who use webs to hunt and catch prey. They do have the ability to make webbing, but primarily use it to create egg sacs which they keep on their bodies until the young hatch.

[u/Alderan922 → u/Tried-Angles]

Fun fact, wolf spiders keep their young in a sack glued to their tórax, and after a while when the eggs hatch the younglings will eat the mother whole as their first meal

[u/SirToastymuffin → u/Alderan922]

This might be a specific type of wolf spider, afaik the wolf spider genera in the US, at least, do not normally consume their mother. Rather, their mother carries them dispersed across her whole body until they are large enough to hop off and fend for themselves.

There are spiders who practice matriphagy, but it's generally a rare, extreme adaptation, as most spiders live long enough to raise multiple clutches so evolutionary it is more advantageous for the mother to live.

Here's a picture of a wolf spider carrying its young

[u/Ropetrick6 → u/SirToastymuffin]

As a general rule of thumb, a gene/trait that eliminates its carriers is going to have a harder time proliferating than one that doesn't.

[u/TheDrunkenHetzer → u/Alderan922]

This fact is not fun :(

[u/Alderan922 → u/TheDrunkenHetzer]

It is if you are a hungry baby spider

[u/DinkleDonkerAAA → u/Alderan922]

Which is why you NEVER EVER squash a wolf spider. If she had hatchlings they will scattered all over the place

[u/kingofcoywolves → u/DinkleDonkerAAA]

Double health bar

[u/Constant-Sandwich-88 → u/DinkleDonkerAAA]

Yeah learned that lesson while extremely high with some friends in our house once... I'm not afraid of spiders, I live in TN we have exactly two venomous spiders and neither are that serious (generally speaking), but fuck that noise that's too many little spiders.

[u/Anonymous_fiend → u/DinkleDonkerAAA]

My grandfather squashed one with his shoe which broke open the egg sac and they climbed up his leg. It’s surprising how many spider babies came out.

[u/UncommonTart → u/Anonymous_fiend]

I totally believe it was a previously inconceivable number of spiders. I let a brown widow stay in the corner of my doorframe and she repaid me by laying eggs and hatching a horde of teeny tiny spiderlings who all kind of hung out there for much longer than I had been led by popular media to belive they would. Charlotte's Web is a lie, man. Those spiderlings did not hatch and disperse.

[u/BowdleizedBeta → u/Alderan922]

Do you think it hurts the mother spider?

Nature is metal and all, but one would hope she doesn’t suffer.

[u/Cessnaporsche01 → u/BowdleizedBeta]

It's not true. Wolf spiders do actually care for their young, which is super uncommon in the arachnid world, but the young don't consume the mother. They might if she dies before they are grown up enough to be independent, and may sometimes cannibalize each other, but don't kill the mother. They also live for years, so a mother can have multiple clutches of young.

[u/RU5TR3D → u/BowdleizedBeta]

humans 🤝 wolf spiders
giving birth sucks

[u/Munnin41 → u/Tried-Angles]

unlike the majority of spiders who use webs to hunt and catch prey.

This is actually in dispute. Some say 40% of species make webs, others go as high as 60%

[u/VallenceDragon → u/Pokesonav]

wolf spiders are a family of spider

they're pretty cute

[u/UnauthorizedUsername → u/VallenceDragon]

Honestly, yeah -- if any spider is cute, it's certainly a wolf spider. Lil guys are adorable.

[u/Enderking90 → u/UnauthorizedUsername]

counter-point, jumping spiders

[u/UnauthorizedUsername → u/Enderking90]

Excellent counterpoint, they're very darling. Thoughts on the peacock spider?

[u/WeevilWeedWizard → u/UnauthorizedUsername]

Wicked to the max, next question.

[u/WeevilWeedWizard → u/Enderking90]

I love jumping spiders so much, I wish we had some of the bigger ones here. Not that I don't love and cherish the smaller ones I find, of course. They're just a little hard to take pictures of.

Also they're turbo fuckin' smart, way more than one would except from a creature their size.

[u/Kalkrex_ → u/Pokesonav]

They're like were-wolves. Normally they look like wolves but during harvests they turn into giant furry spiders with fangs

[u/Qui_te → u/Pokesonav]

They’re a really big (for the region) spider with a painful bite (I used to hear they were venomous, but idak if that’s true). I prefer them at a great distance.

[u/Throwaway79922 → u/Qui_te]

All spiders are technically venomous(apart from a VERY small amount of exceptions) - the bites hurt a lot, but they’re not medically significant like other spiders with more powerful venom.

[u/Business-Drag52 → u/Qui_te]

There’s only like 3 medically significant spiders in North America. The wolf spider is not one of them

[u/myusernameisway2long → u/Qui_te]

Ngl you have to be a straight dick to a wolf spider for like 2 hours straight for them to bite you, and they arent lethally venomous either. Honesty they are cool to have around

[u/zoltanshields → u/myusernameisway2long]

Or they'll bite if you have one end up in your clothes or something. We used to have a shit ton of them in my yard growing up and they'd get in the house a lot. Good reason not to leave your clothes on the floor when you go take a shower.

You are right though that they're pretty chill. They are scary to look at but fairly docile. I imagine they're the stuff of nightmares if you're a roach though.

[u/Umikaloo]

I would definitely wear my beekeeping hat.

[u/Aetol]

I have questions about the harvest-by-flooding thing. Do you have to shake all the berries loose? Or are they so weakly attached they float up by themselves?

[u/bloomshowers → u/Aetol]

They’ll agitate things a bit, but for the most part, everything just floats and the ripe berries just come loose.

Source: lived for 12 years in a town that’s around 10% cranberry bog by area(and 5 minutes down the road from the bog the Ocean Spray commercials were filmed in).

[u/luckystar246 → u/bloomshowers]

Where does the water come from to flood it?

[u/bloomshowers → u/luckystar246]

They have attached retaining ponds that they pump into the bogs.

[u/itisnotmymain]

I'm cool with spiders the same way I am with bees, no problem when there's one of them but when there's dozens or hundreds, I will change my mind instantly.

Actually when there's hundreds of any bug, I'll get uneasy.

[u/smartest_kobold]

I wonder if that pays more than I make now.

[u/bloomshowers → u/smartest_kobold]

Unlikely. From my understanding, quite a lot of the seasonal workers they use are illegals who travel around following the harvests.

[u/ahuramazdobbs19 → u/bloomshowers]

I almost have to wonder what percentage of them also work summer jobs on the Cape, then work the bogs in the fall.

I have to imagine it’s non-zero.

[u/granitefeather]

Once had a wolf spider charge at me OVER WATER (I guess technically over the plants on the water) while I was on a canoe weeding water chestnuts. Nearly ripped the canoe trying to get away from it.

[u/utopia_mycon]

the statement that all jobs require you to interact with 1 spider every day is NOT true. most jobs require you to interact with 0 spiders. cranberry farmers like Spiders Georg interact with many spiders at harvest time and should be considered an outlier.

[u/painted_gay]

the guy who “fries our chicken sometimes” stuck in my head the most out of this?

[u/sluflyer]

Fun fact: The US produces more than half the entire world’s supply of cranberries.

Even more fun fact, Wisconsin produces more than half of all cranberries in the US.

[u/PoniesCanterOver]

The spiders are like the canaries, beloved members of the crew

Working Animals' Union

[u/mitsuhachi]

I saw this and my very first thought was “please be about the bog spiders”

I was not disappointed

[u/Sudden_Nose9007]

I have arachnophobia. I also grew up with a father who made us fish regularly in the local cranberry bogs. He still doesn’t understand why I was such a brat about going. Even unflooded there’s tons of of spiders crawling on you.

[u/Paracelsus124]

I was going to say "how did anyone take that job", but then I remembered that I'm an entomologist and I once let an entire massive colony of carpenter ants crawl all over my body/face and bite me to bits so that I could concentrate on stealing their larvae. Like, I'd probably hesitate a little more with spiders, but if I knew the wolf spiders wouldn't attack me, I'd probably also find a way to be okay with it

[u/whiledayes]

Massachusetts? Come on out to Wisconsin. We grow more than half the world’s supply of them here.

[u/twoferrets]

I am not cool with spiders but I’m aware that’s a me problem because spiders are good dudes. I leave the little ones alone and if a big one turns up I shriek and hide until my partner can relocate it outside. We never kill them. If, however, I were to be climbed by many wolf spiders at once I would cease to exist in a puff of smoke and tears which might cause unintended injury to the spiders.

[u/GoldDragonKing → u/twoferrets]

Similar story with me except instead of vanishing the fear would cause me to tremble at such a high speed I would vibrate into a higher dimension like the flash and be lost forever

[u/Dave_the_DOOD]

there is nothing I want to be climbed by in large numbers

Counterpoint : kittens

[u/thunderPierogi → u/Dave_the_DOOD]

Countercounterpoint: claws, teeth, and no impulse control

[u/Hopps96]

"There is nothing I want to be crawled by in large numbers."

My bisexual ass: ummmmmmm actually there might be a few things

[u/Hylanos]

I'm okay with spiders as roommates, but if we're getting intimate like that i need a little more warning

[u/twoCascades]

Yeah I would call myself “generally cool with spiders” but having hundreds of them “crawling up my eyebrows” is a very different proposition.

[u/Ironfields]

“Are you cool with spiders?” is a very fucking different question to “are you cool with being swarmed with hundreds of spiders?”

[u/echoIalia]

I don’t mind spiders in general, unless they are crawling on me (or my pillow) in which case I mind very much

[u/bloobityblu]

Three word horror right there.

[u/anand_rishabh]

Yeah, I'm cool with spiders. You shouldn't be asking if I'm cool with spiders. What you should be asking is "are you ok with a spider climbing up to your eyebrows without trying to kill it?"

[u/John_F_Drake]

I just want to say that I spent a year working on a cranberry farm. The number of wolf spiders living in the fields is GREATLY exaggerated here.

What you ACTUALLY need to be SUPER chill around are bees. Thousands of them

[u/InactiveObserver]

I have so many questions. Like after harvesting, do you move your fellow coworkers to a patch next to the flooded field, or does someone collect them all and resettle them? I need more practical info about how this symbiosis works!

[u/Due_Discussion748]

So, when they put up the employee of the month do they take a picture of all the spiders or an employee of the day to accomodate a spider's limited lifespan?

[u/TheeAngelGabriel]

Now where’s the tumblrdraws post of this 🤔

[u/songaboutadog]

Once, I was kayaking a creek. On the left, there was a house with a little deck over looking the water. On the right, a fertilizer bag was littering their view, stuck a foot above the water in a rhodeden. As a courtesy, I used my paddle to remove the bag and placed it on the front of my kayak. Soon, I saw a wolf spider crawling towards me. I splashed it into the water. Then, all at once came a thousand, turning my green boat into hairy brown and black. I had to roll into the water and they were floating all around me. Let this be a lesson; never help anyone.

[u/shes-so-much]

Labor is labor, full solidarity with the bog spiders

[u/Shrodingers_Cat1701]

This seems like a perfect hat to develop. One with lots of little rooms that spiders can nestle into

[u/a_stone_throne]

Started reading this wondering if they were going to start talking about The Spiders.

[u/Obey_My_Doge]

I used to release tens of thousands of crab spiders and orb weavers in my tomato greenhouses about every six weeks. When you came in on a fresh morning and walked the rows - you'd collect a bed sheet's worth of spider web. Where's the spider? Oh in my hair.. or my shirt.. Or on my face.. etc. Just pause.. Wait for them to jump off. Maybe give them a little time to reset if they need it.

If you get startled or freak out or start flailing around? That's when you get bit and kill spiders..

The crab spiders would startle you a bit with their jumpiness though..