# If you hear me scream, it's still in my hair



## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

A few days ago I repotted some pentas. We came back from an overnight trip and my poor pentas had been trimmed way back. All the flower buds had been broken off and the taller stems were just cut in half. I knew by the cut marks I was dealing with rabbit damage. I watched the video footage and sure enough, a young rabbit had parked itself in the flower pot and nipped off the pentas flowers. It had also eaten the ornamental sweet potato leaves. In order to save my plants I thought I would set the pot on a stand to keep the rabbits out. 

In the dark, early this morning, after sending hubby off to work, I thought this would be the best time to find something to set the pot on. The young rabbits are most destructive just after sunrise. I started to go onto the deck beside the front door, looking for a stand I was sure I had. Intent on my task I didn't see what I should have seen. I didn't even know it was there until I felt some resistance and heard a slight tearing/breaking sound. I had pushed my shoulder into a large orb weaving spider web. As I danced around pulling spider webbing out of my hair I desperately hoped the weaver was on one of the plants to which the web had been attached. As I was pulling webbing off my side I felt a glob of something which wasn't hair. I screamed a bit and frantically waved my hand around trying to dislodge the glob which was wrapped in sticky webbing and clingy hair. 

I don't know if the glob was a spider. I don't know if the web weaver is stuck in my hair. At 5:00 am it is pretty dark in Ohio. There is a street light but it doesn't cast that much light on the deck. The front light was off at the time so I didn't get a good look at the glob.

I hope a spider is not crawling around on me looking for a place to build another web!


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

I'm cringing. Yeah, I would be freaking out. Probably would still be freaking out a week later.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I was ambushed by one of those a few years ago and it was not a pleasant experience. This is the time of year that you need to be on the lookout for them.


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## Snowfan (Nov 6, 2011)

Is there, by chance, a video of the spider dance?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

take a shower , wash your hair , it will all be better.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

It is interesting how different regions have different hazards. When I was a Deputy and Search and Rescue Coordinator, I would often be late getting home, or gone for two or three days. While I was gone my wife fed the horses. When I got back there would be a few dead rattlesnakes laying next to the barn door. She kept a shovel just inside the door for killing rattlesnakes. She never mentioned them, just left them next to the door for me to dispose of.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Snowfan said:


> Is there, by chance, a video of the spider dance?


There would be, but you don't get to watch it.


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## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

po boy said:


> I was ambushed by one of those a few years ago and it was not a pleasant experience. This is the time of year that you need to be on the lookout for them.


I agree! I was weeding wild parsnip and I wear tall boots and am always careful for them. Not that I mind them, I just don't want them on me.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

muleskinner2 said:


> It is interesting how different regions have different hazards. When I was a Deputy and Search and Rescue Coordinator, I would often be late getting home, or gone for two or three days. While I was gone my wife fed the horses. When I got back there would be a few dead rattlesnakes laying next to the barn door. She kept a shovel just inside the door for killing rattlesnakes. She never mentioned them, just left them next to the door for me to dispose of.


I’ve heard rattlesnakes are endangered..., well yeah... they certainly are if I see them!


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i hate spiders! we got what they call wolf spiders they are all over around here this year. biggest things i've ever seen. i have trees next to my fence back of the house and some bushes by the house and a path in between and that's where they string their web. i dont run into them any more. i have this 5ft measuring stick that was one of the things i kept belong to andrew. i swing that in front of me and bang on everything in sight before i walk through. ~Georgia


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I just looked to see if I have any _Dolomedes_ pictures on the tablet but I don't. Those are huge spiders and very common here. They are hunters but often string webs as they are moving from place to place. A few weeks ago I had one in the rabbit shed. I finally got it caught in a bucket and moved it to the back of the yard.

THIS IS NOT MY HAND!









Large Spider - Dolomedes vittatus


An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information.




bugguide.net





The one I had in my hair was most likely a Marbled Orb Weaver which are neat to watch when they are not hanging off your face.









A beautiful spider: Marbled orb weaver, Araneus marmoreus — Bug of the Week


800x600 Chilly temperatures and the disappearance of foliage put a real crimp on hunting and photographing bugs in the wilds of Maryland. Over the next several weeks, Bug of the Week will delve into our mailbag or visit warmer climes to demystify bugs and their kin. This week we meet a gorge




bugoftheweek.com


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

This is prime spider season here in Mississippi. Every time I go outdoors in the yard, I walk through spider webs. And every night my outdoor security cameras' motion sensing gets triggered into recording spider webs blowing in the breeze.

I spray and wipe out their webs every day and they rebuild them every night.

I've even had to kill a few about the size of a silver dollar that got inside the house and were crawling across the floor. One had about 50 tiny babies on her body. They started fleeing when I sprayed her, and I sprayed them, too.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

When I walked through the woods to feed my chickens, I held a stick about five feet long upright in front of myself,


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I looked like Harry Potter frantically trying to cast a spell this morning when I was out feeding the birds. I forgot to grab a yardstick from the house and the only stick I found outside was less than 2 feet long. Of course I ran into a couple webs before grabbing the stick.

For the big web builders, I have found that most of the time they are not in the web itself after it starts to get light outside. The birds are waking up and they love spiders for breakfast.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Danaus29 said:


> For the big web builders, I have found that most of the time they are not in the web itself after it starts to get light outside. The birds are waking up and they love spiders for breakfast.


everybody’s gotta eat!


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