An Unexpected New Acquaintance

 We had snow in Iowa last week, and have had most night temperatures below freezing for quite awhile. So even though it is technically spring, it has not quite felt like it! But today the sun came out and the temperatures rose enough to encourage rambling around and looking for evidence of growth on trees and shrubs and perennials. That is always exciting! I've been thinking a lot lately about the permaculture principles that informed us as we planned our cohousing community. Permaculture is a philosophy that looks at whole systems: ecological systems, human systems, systems in the natural world. And one of the first things we're asked to do when beginning to practice permaculture is to observe. Starting small, observe the patterns in nature around you, as well as patterns in your immediate culture. And then expand your observations to wider views. One thing I love to do is sit in a natural setting, put away my phone, close my eyes, and take in where I am. And then imagine what it would be like to be the tree I'm leaning on, or the ant at my feet, the bird flying across the valley, the tall grass blowing in the wind. Get out of my self and become someone or something else for awhile. That's on my to-do list this week. However, something else caught my eye first.

A few days ago, I noticed a black spider running along the wall in the kitchen. I was amazed at how fast it ran, and soon it had disappeared behind a cupboard. I had forgotten about that spider until two days later I saw another one (or could it have been the same one??). This time it was in the living room on the window sill. It was alone, just taking in the quiet, kind of compact and nice-looking (if you can call a spider that). I wondered where it had been, where it was going, what it ate, did it have a web? It didn't move while I was watching it, and I let it alone. It occurred to me that maybe I should squash it or get it out of the house. But it hadn't really done me any harm, so I just let it be. Then that night, I saw another spider just like the first two (or quite possibly it was the same one -- I have a small home). This time it was racing across the window in my bedroom. Hmmm, I thought. In the bedroom felt a little more disquieting. So I did some research. And it was such an eye opener! Before I decided to find out about spiders, they were almost non-existent in my perceived world, tiny little things running around that you could ignore unless they bit you. They are small, they aren't food for us, there's nothing particularly interesting about them (I thought!). But there was enough of the permaculture philosophy in me to open my mind a bit about what this creature really was. How would I feel if I were one of these spiders living in this home?

First I read about spiders in general. I probably learned this sometime in grade school, but had forgotten that they all have 8 legs. No wonder they can run so fast! They also breathe air. I don't know why that surprised me so much. I guess it's something we share: spiders and people both breathe air. They have fangs to inject venum, and the granddaddy-long-legs has terribly poisonous venum. However fortunately for us, their mouth parts can't bite us. So we're safe from granddaddy-long-legs, and most spiders are not very dangerous for us. Spiders also have spinnerets that extrude silk for their webs. By the time I got this far in my reading, I realized I was investigating quite a complex creature. Just because they are small doesn't mean they are not intricate and impressive.

Spiders are the largest order of arachnids, and they rank 7th in total species diversity for all organisms! All but one species are predators (you've seen their victims caught in webs). They have complex courtship rituals which I think would be interesting to study. Nothing boring about spiders so far. And rather than being useless to humans, there is research taking place as I write this that uses their venum in pesticides as well as in medicine.  And of course, their webs catch flies and gnats and mosquitoes that otherwise would be flying around our houses bothering us.

Now to identify the particular species of my housemate. (Yes, I'm feeling a bit more friendly to this spider now, knowing so much more about her/him.) Of all the spiders I looked at online, I decided my spider roommate was a Common House Spider. They're about nickel-sized and dark brown with a compact body. The female is bigger than the male, but since I never saw two at the same time, I can only guess which it is. They like to build webs in hidden areas, and their webs are kind of messy and disorderly. I haven't seen a spider in a web here yet, but I'm sure there are some under the bed or under the dresser. Common house spider females produce several egg sacks a year, small papery things that hang from the web. And in each sack there are usually more than 400 eggs. The male and female have their own webs, except during breeding season, when the male and female live together for several days, maybe making a nice change from seclusion.

After reading all this material about my spider, I went back to the bedroom to see if it was still visible. Surely not, I thought. But low and behold, it was right in the center of the window, still there. And I decided I needed to look at it more carefully to properly identify it. I took a small towel and picked the spider up, carried it over to the kitchen sink, and shook it out onto the smooth bottom. It couldn't easily get out, so I had time to study it better. And yes, it did look like a common house spider. And it also looked fine, not apparently injured by that fluffy transport. What to do now? I can't tell you why I decided to put it outside. The door was right there, and I just went through it and gently laid the towel on the porch floor. The spider sat there, looking around, and then scurried off to the woodpile. Who knows if she/he will make as good a living out there. I'll keep an eye out.