April Wamhoff

Okay, laugh all you want. I suppose it’s a little weird, but I love spiders.
I say this because I did not grow up in a spider-loving family. My mother has great respect for all living things but spiders were pushing it, even for her. When they stayed outside that was marginally okay. Better if they stayed outside and a long way away from her.
Big, BIG spiders were particularly bad. Like the ones that used to, and still do, inhabit the outhouse. My dad would get the panicked call several times a summer to come and evict “Charlotte.” They were all Charlotte. And some poor, but giant spider would have to go.
Needless to say, spiders did not live in our home. Not spiders of any size. I’m pretty certain that when I was young the process of that eviction was pretty bad for the spider and probably involved some deadly tool. Like a fly swatter. When I got older, I would get the “Charlotte” call and I could evict her more humanely. I would swoosh her on to a piece of paper and into a paper cup. Then I would kindly relocate her to the outside.  Looking back on that time, I’m not so sure how excited the spiders would have been to be released and free when it was 20-below outside. Still, I allow myself to believe it was better than the fly swatter.
The island is home to lots and lots of spiders. We used to call the big ones in the outhouse wolf spiders, although they are actually “fishing spiders.” We have many wolf spiders here as well, but they are a lot smaller than fishing spiders. Both varieties are active hunters that do not spin webs. Instead, they actually find and chase down prey. According to Wikipedia, they are “agile and robust” hunters and have “excellent eyesight.” I don’t think this would have been very comforting information to my mom.
We also have the web-building kind of spiders that build spider webs across the docks. These are much smaller spiders. I try to leave as many of their webs alone as I can when I’m on the docks but, geez, they are everywhere and they replace the webs every night! I think these must be about the same variety as the spiders that build webs across my potted plants. Have you ever seen anything as industrious as a spider! 
Here is the really big thing I want you all to know about spiders. Listen close! Spiders eat mosquitos and flies. Should I repeat myself? It has been a year for the books, in my humble opinion, for mosquitos and biting flies. The repellent manufacturers must be working at top speed to produce the stuff. But, and here it is again, spiders eat mosquitos and flies. I say welcome the spiders.
I allow the spiders to winter in my house now. To be fair, I’m not sure what I would do if I had lots and lots of spiders that wanted to stay here.  So far, it’s not a problem. Guess I’ll just cross that bridge, or spider-web-covered dock, when we get there. Meanwhile, get comfortable guys. It is likely to be a long, cold one.
So, bring on the spiders, big and little and here’s a big welcome to ya! Oh, and make sure to have a big bite of mosquito or biting fly on your way in.