It’s just before sundown Tuesday evening. I need to mow the lawn here in the Trailerhood. Takes under 30 minutes.
Mowing chore is done, daylight fading, but you can still see without needing a flashlight. While taking the mower back to the large storage building which sits at an angle to the trailer, there is an area about 6 feet across to pass through. I’m exhausted at this point after swimming through the humidity mowing the lawn.
In that nano second
Passing through the area going to the storage, pushing the mower that is not negotiating the loose dirt well, I am caught in a few stands of web. In that nano second, the brain registers that it is now getting dusk, all the spiders are setting up webs for the night. That thought precipitated me nearly breaking my neck trying to run over the mower which is bogging in the loose dirt, pushing it and flailing my arms in horror. I have a really powerful dislike of Spiders.
It’s a horror show! Turning around there are 3 large spiders at varying levels of height, first one starting about 6 feet up. Apparently I walked through the angled lower anchor strand, that ran from the house to the storage building of this hideous spider. Luckily I happened into the web as he was ending a trip to the edge of the house, at about 3 feet off the ground. Look at it! Are those muscles? I thought I would have to change an article of clothing.
They drowned, or I bored them to death
I knew if I walked back that way, one of them might decide to drop on me, precipitating the coronary that I had just miraculously avoided moments ago. After securing the mower in the storage, and arming myself with a stick, and made a dash through the same spot. Returning with some insecticide that was about 4+ years old. I sprayed the remaining 4 large spiders, using a spray bottle with a stream for distance. It killed two of the four, but not sure if they drowned, or I bored them to death.
Here are the others, I had to look them up for pictures since they were too high for the phone to get a good detailed picture. Yea, spiders are my Kryptonite.
It’s a bad boy when it can zig-zag double stitch. 
Just damn ugly… 
Watermelon with legs?
On the plus side, the scheduled stress test copay of $45 can be saved. 30 minutes of mowing grass with a non-self-propelled mower, in humidity you could cut with a knife, and getting the life scared out of me didn’t trip the circuit breaker of my ticker, it shouldn’t while walking on a treadmill. Sorry, Doc.
Comments welcome,
(softly please I’m still a tad jumpy.)
Oh my! I don’t have that fear of spiders myself but I don’t like insects walking over me. Glad you survived without soiled underwear! 🙂
I used to have a horrible phobia of them as a child. Somewhere around 20 years of age, I got over it. A kid in our neighborhood, was bitten on the belly by a Black Widow and it caused a quarter sized hole in him. That venom destroys tissue. Thanks for the comment.
I share that revulsion of large spider, though luckily we don’t have ones here that are quite so horrible to look at. It’s not that I am scared of them as such (my wife is) but I can’t stand the way they scuttle about. I tend to suck them up in the vacuum cleaner, and tip it out in the garden. But my wife twats them good with a fly-swat.
Glad you survived your encounter with Trailer-Land arachnophobia, Ron. And well-done for mowing with a non-powered mower. My one is electric! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
I had trouble describing the mower. It is gas powered, but it is not self propelled as some are with a drive built in for the wheels. You have to push it manually to move forward and back. I could not stand to even turn a page of a book with one in it when I was young. I finally got over that level.
My grandson can’t even look at a picture of one either. Otherwise I would show him how much more awful your spiders are than ours
I had one show up on my desk one morning. Walked right out from under the monitor, stopped and gave me the evil eye. I though I would turn the chair over getting up.
When I held that quarter next to it for comparison, I used a pair of long needle-nosed pliers. Have a safe Friday night.
You are a very brave man, Ron. I laughed that you don’t need a doctor’s stress test. I loathe spiders. The worst one I battled was in John’s basement office. I hit the dang thing, and it bounced in place like a rubber spider. It wasn’t made of rubber. I must have hit it ten times before it crumpled. I still shudder when I think of it.
I know what your talking about. The stick I had, I used to swat another that size near the fence. It felt like I had hit a solid gumdrop. About like hitting a Cicada. I hate the jumping variety. You try to ease up to whack it, and it jumps right for you.
I’m not necessarily afraid of spiders (I rescue any – usually daddy longlegs – that I find inside and put them outside) but I HATE to walk into webs!!! So creepy, plus at night it’s hard to see if any spiders are on you. Yikes! I’m glad you survived.
I went hiking with my now ex-wife some 25 years ago. Easing along the trail I ran into a web with one of these monsters still in it. I freaked, jumped backwards and hit the wife in the face with the back of my head, knocking her out for about a minute.
Have a great evening.
Oh Man!! I read your words but closed my eyes as I scrolled past the pics!
I cannot stand spiders either! They creep me out and I would have definitely been freaking out if I would have ran into the web like you did. A brave soul you are. 🙂
Thanks joyroses, it was quite an intense moment. Good to know others are not fond of spiders. Thanks for the comment, have a great night.
You are welcome Ron! Hope you relaxed with a nice, cool drink afterwards. 🙂
OMG!!!! I too HATE spiders!! When you said “DIY cardio stress test, then mentioned the lawn-mowing, I thought of a snake. A big one. But this was just as bad if not worse!
And Ron, watch out for them killer black-widder spiders! I believe they have red/white markings on their backs. YUCK!!! Hope you have a good variety of antidotes in your medicine cabinet! Glad you’re ok.
We have to venomous spiders in this area. Brown-Recluse (it has a dark spot on its head that resembles a violin) very poisonous. The black-widder (they sport the red hour-glass on their abdomen). Bad mojo with that one also. Thanks for the comment Ellie, you gave me a nice smile tonight.