However, out on my front deck, out of the way of human traffic, there is a big spider web and a big spider on it, very cartoonish, so clear is it, under the light of the outdoor lighting.
I was worried, because of horror stories I heard about the brown recluse, and the flesh rotting away from its bite from the inside out, so I started doing research on spiders, to try to assess what to do, and what type of spider it was.
From my research, the brown recluse has un-spiraled or smooth, spineless legs, and it has a violin pattern on its head, and only six eyes, verses eight, however I cannot see well enough to see any of that, and who wants to get that close? Kind of dangerous. But, I did compare it to some pictures I found on line, and I was pretty sure it was not a brown recluse, because of the right out in the openness of its very distinct web. They say the brown recluse only builds small out of the way webs, and would not be hanging around like the spider in Charlotte's Web. My son likes this spider. It eats moths and mosquitos, and hopefully roaches, which I hate, and it is not bothering anyone. Still, I worry. I realize that most spiders cannot bite at all, so there is little to worry about. There are spiders that look similar to the brown recluse, such as the wolf spider and others, but I have not been able to see well enough to see exactly what spider type this is.
One spider which is also notorious for its poisonous bite, is the black widow, which contrary to myth, rarely really eats its mate, the female that is. Note I said 'rarely.' This spider is black with a distinct red marking on its back.
If you do not want a spider or it is in the way, and you do not want to murder it, in case it is not a menacing one, you can take a jar and a piece of crisp paper or cardboard to capture and place it elsewhere. However, this is not so easy for everyone, mainly me, because of my slight fear of spiders, and liking them from afar. I truthfully kill spiders I find indoors, to be on the safe side, just squash them, rather than dousing with bug spray to induce a slow and painful death. I would not even like doing that to a roach, at least not seeing it.
If you love spiders, and you have found a web like mine, a 'Charlotte's web' kind of web, you can feed your cute spider, by throwing small insects into the web, such as a beetle, an ant, a roach, a moth, hopefully dead.
Just to end, back to snakes, I once completely freaked out when a big corn snake went under my trailer. I had cats then, and I was trying to throw the recycling bin over it, to capture it, and the cats just sat and stared at it like wimps, because normally cats kill even the most poisonous snakes. I did not know at the time it was a nonpoisonous snake, and thought it was a coral snake or worse. The Mexicans across the street heard me screaming, but I do not know if they knew what I was screaming at, and I do not know the Spanish word for snake. They probably just thought I was having an emotional nervous breakdown, like my boyfriend left me or something, lol. I called a snake specialist, and he charged me fifty dollars for going under to find it, and all through. He never found it, but he showed me a picture of a snake that looked just as it had. I said, "yes, yes, that's it." It was a harmless corn snake. Still, I had a hole near my bed which was right above the place outside where it had gone under the mobile home, so you can see my concern.
I think that spiders are fascinating creatures, but beware of the brown recluse and the black widow.
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