I read in the paper at the weekend that there's been a big increase in the numbers of spiders this year, due to the temperate weather in the UK since last winter. This isn't too surprising for me - it feels like I've been finding them everywhere this year - even in the bed at my parents' house (shiver) - but it's reassuring to know that it's not just me.
While I'm not a huge fan of spiders (or of huge spiders, for that matter) but apparently this is good news, as spider numbers are an indicator of the health of the ecosystem. It's also good news for their predators (I'm not counting Kyle in that statement, in spite of the fact that she also hunts down and squishes any that she finds in her house - being more squeamish, I prefer to trap and release).
You can read more about the explosion in spider numbers here (warning: this article has pictures of spiders!). I know that a lot of people don't like spiders, but they do a lot of good controlling other insects - and after all the worries about bees and other wildlife species, it makes a nice change to hear something positive about the state of the environment literally in our own backyards. So viva la spider! (as long as it's not in my bed!)
2 comments:
I thought it was because you didn't want to kill a living creature. I didn't realize it was because of the mess they leave behind.
Is that the spider in your mum's garden? It looks just as big as the one in SC to me (and maybe fatter?)
There are some little spiders hanging out by the front door and foyer having a nice life because I can't vacuum. Because they are small, I'm letting them be. But I meant to ask you to suck them up with the vacuum.
Well, I don't really like killing things unnecessarily. But the mess is also a factor. I try to be tolerant as long as they leave me alone, since they kill other bugs that we can't see.
The spiders in my Mum's garden were quite fat but no bigger than an inch in length. The one in SC was hugely bigger!
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