Friday, June 20, 2025

Let the Plagues Begin

While picking up yard trash from the trees, I dragged a palm frond to the trash bin and felt something crawling on my left arm, looking down it was a daddy long-legs. Poor guy, I brushed him off so quickly, he went flying through the air. Its been YEARS since I last saw one.

 Early AM still dark, I opened the door and stepped out on the front porch, and lucky me, I had turned on the porch light, which I rarely do, and there was a web the size of the porch and in the middle was a spider the size of a dinner plate (snort, snort) I shrieked and jumped back inside. Bob says what wrong? Spider! I gasp, it's right where my FACE would have been if I did not turn on the light....



In real life the spider was no bigger than a 50cent piece, but the web was BIG. I left it there until daylight, with plans to use to fly swatters, to remove him from the earth and when I came back from walking Beau, it was gone. EVEN the Web. So where did the web go?
Also, what would have happened if the Door dash brought my groceries and saw it hanging between her and the baskets, she leaves them in.

A week before these two sightings, I stepped out into the garage to put clothes in the washer, yes, I always turn the light on, in case a rat might be there, and another dinner plate sized spider ran under the washer! I nearly fainted trying to put the clothes in and turn it on for fear it would come out and run up my leg. Our Spiders JUMP, click the link to see one or two.

Yesterday, sitting beside Bob on the sofa, I looked at him to say something, and I KID YOU NOT, there was a single web dropped from the ceiling, right in front of Bob, if he had stood up, it would have hit him in his face.
He calmly reached out and clapped his hands and it was gone. NOT ME
I have been calling myself, Job(ette) lately and I said let the Plagues begin.

Don't fret, it's not really a plague, after 5 years of drought, it can't stop raining, and when it rains in Florida, all the bugs, mice, rats, spiders, roaches (palmetto bugs 2 inches long) come in doors...
PS I can live with this, compared to last year's hurricane season, that is a no brainier.



Nature Friday at Living the LLB Life with Rosy and Sunny..
https://llbinourbackyard.blogspot.com/


28 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

I would have been dead of a heart attack before the second sighting. I am TERRIFIED of spiders. And SO glad you did not show any real ones except the Daddy Long Legs. Speaking of which, there are several look-alike Daddy Long Legs that are not really them!! Pretenders to the legs...

CheerfulMonk said...

I'm afraid of spiders too!

Tigger's Mum said...

Sorry but I love spiders so it's just as well we don't have any deadly poisonous ones.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Even though, in OZ, we had some rather dangerous varieties, (and I even got bitten by a Whitetail once), I still like spiders, as they kept the mozzies down. Here in the UK, I tend to only see the Black House Spider. Usually they've come up the spout into the bath and I have to get a jar to rescue them and toss them outside again... YAM xx

jabblog said...

I made the mistake of clicking on your link., I try very hard to appreciate spiders and all the good things they do, even photograph them and study their legs, but that link frightened the life out of me.
It's good that you're getting rain, though, or did I misunderstand that?

Ann said...

I am perfectly happy to let a spider share my house with me so long as he does not invade my personal space. If he touches me, he's a goner.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I am quite sure that these arachnids have come to keep you company, Sandra, knowing that you could use a friendly face now and then! As for the disappearing web, certain spiders eat their web each day and spin another. Perhaps this is what is happening here. As for bumping into one (or other creatures), when we were in Cambodia a few years ago, staying at a very primitive place, barely more than an encampment actually, Miriam washed her face in the morning and grabbed the towel to dry it and a frog was hiding in the folds of the towel. I didn’t realize she could scream quite so loud, and certainly didn’t know she knew the words that came out of her mouth!

Pamela M. Steiner said...

OH MY! Yes, it is summer in Florida, and the spiders and roaches and grasshoppers and horseflies and deerflies and house flies and mosquitoes and lizards and snakes and frogs and all manner of creeping and crawling things come out for some fresh air! It's not for the faint of heart to live here. Back when we first moved to Florida in the 1950's, the property where Daddy built our house was in a piney/palmetto woods. It had not ever seen humans before, and so the critters wanted to visit us and let us know that this was their property before we came along. We had 6' long rattlesnakes sunning in our yard and one time across our doorstep! Oh yes! and tree frogs that sat on our open windows and serenaded us all night long (this was before AC), and I even stepped on a scorpion one night in my bare feet! Yes, it stung me and I thought a nail had gone through my foot! Yes, life in Florida is not for the faint of heart. But I'll take some of these critters over the two legged kind that have invaded our state and do even worse things. But thankfully, with the invention of central AC and overpopulation of the 2 legged creatures, most of those scary reptiles and critters have disappeared from our yards and houses. Although sometimes I wonder if that is progress or not...

eileeninmd said...

I like the spiders and their webs, some are really interesting. But, I would not want a spider crawling on me, yuck. Take care, happy Friday! Have a great weekend.

Mari said...

Yikes! I am not a fan of spiders or bugs. We don't get a lot like you do in the South, but still!

The Adventures of the LLB Gang said...

EEEK! But we're with you, spiders and other bugs are much better than hurricanes!
hugs,
Beth

My Mind's Eye said...

AMEN on the cob webs and I wanna know why all the ones out side are at my face level...never at Bryan's...it is WEB conspiracy.
Hugs Cecilia

Walter & Angel Millie said...

Running into a spider web is no fun! Glad to hear you saw them before you walked outside.

Sparky said...

All that you said reminds me of living in Central Florida (Titusville). It was unending with the bugs, alligators and snakes. I don't miss that. Moving here I thought we had also left behind the hurricanes but they seem to have followed us! I could especially do without that. lol
It brings a smile to my face that y'all are happy and doing good.
Love. 💖

messymimi said...

At least spiders eat the nasty bugs. As long as it's not a black widow or brown recluse, I just take them back outside.

Marvelous Marv said...

Our Mom is a spider lover, she does not mind the ones in the house, they eat the other bugs, she even talks to the one that lives in the bathroom. She says they listen and move if you want them to. I must say, the wolf spiders that live under the pavers at the bottom of the deck stairs are HUGE! But I do like to play with them. They run out and then dive into the cracks when I try to swipe at them. We do have some poisonous spiders in our area that do bite, but only as a last resort - so Mom is extra careful when she moves stuff in the basement, garage and the sheds.

photowannabe said...

I really, really, really don't like spiders but what I "hate" more are the cockroaches which last year and now beginning this year like our house too much. Ugh, they just give me the willies. Good old Raid to the rescue. Seems to be working.
Love your description of the HUGE spiders. Yes, spiders are better than hurricanes for sure.
Sue

Brian's Home Blog said...

YIKES! If I saw that many spiders I think I'd have to move!

Chatty Crone said...

I don't like spiders but give me them and not the palmetto bugs! They scare me to death.

Mevely317 said...

I used to think I was immune to spiders, until I found a "wolfie" outside my bathroom (in Arizona). I suspect the neighbors may have heard me scream.
So far, I've not spotted anything really scary here -- save those dasterly sticky webs. This reminds me, I need to fill my spray bottle with more essential peppermint oil for around the front porch and hedges. Supposedly, they hate peppermint.

PS - Sorry for being tardy ... we've had both a/c techs and plumber out today. (*sigh*)

Shug said...

Oh wow!! I do not like spiders.....Period! Several years ago, I had not just one, but two bites from a Brown Recluse. I kid you not, I was sick for a year...Not only did I have a big hole in my abdomen area, but one on my back as well where the poison kept eating away my skin. The poison also went up into my breast and I had to have several spots drained. This was the sickest I have ever been....

diane b said...

Ugh glad you didn't get one on your face. I don't like spiders but we have a lot of them here too.

DeniseinVA said...

I am fascinated by spiders but would jump a mile if one crawled on me. I used to find black widows in our garage when we first moved here. Fortunately they left. I also glad you didn’t walk into the web, shudders!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

I can't believe what I am reading. OMG! What's with all the spiders? Stay safe.

lexitheschnauzer said...

EEEEK, spiders! EEEK, roaches and palmetto bugs. I think the only answer is to get outa Florida! P.S. I never saw a roach or heard of a palmetto bug until I lived in Tampa for a year. EEEEK

Rose said...

You need Copper...rememberbthe video of him barking at a spider on the ceiling?

Meezer's Mews & Terrieristical Woofs said...

Spiders?? I am outta here!! I have a bad case of arachnophobia, since I was about 12, when twice that summer there were spiders IN my bed....yikes!

Inger said...

A couple of weeks ago, I see Faith in the hallway, gently sniffing a young rattlesnake's back. It may have been to young to bite and didn't rattle. I opened the door to my broom closet because I thought it came from there. And, sure enough, two more came out. I got the broom and swept them all outside. The other evening, I saw a bobcat eating a groundsquirrel outside my living room window. I will take all of that rather than a bunch of spiders. I feel for you, spiders for some reason, just look so scary.