It was the morning after this history making game and I was walking back to my friend's dorm after getting lunch. It was a glorious day, not too hot, not too cold, and the fresh win in our minds. I was in a zone of zen happiness talking with my friend, when suddenly I saw this.....WHAT IN THE WORLD!?! I screamed, like so loud. I pride myself with my lack of fear of all things animals. I love all animals....right!?! Well I screamed. It must have been because I was afraid I was going to step on him and hurt him, not because I was scared...right?!?
Another thing about this mysterious world we live in, beyond all things being connected, is the strange timing of things. (Like how you trip only when a crowd of people are walking by or drop your phone at the exact moment that it falls down the tiny hole of an elevator shaft.) At the exact moment I screamed like a five year old girl, a group of football players showed up on the scene. Like seriously, they were not there when I was acting like a normal human being, they were only there when I was oogling at a bug on the ground. (YAY ME!) They turned their heads looking back at me and my strange obsession over something on the ground. At this rate I will be Spider Girl in no time! Maybe I will have to call Squirrel Girl up, and see if she has any advice for handling the new found fame.
After the football players were far enough away, I began to focus on the surprising specimen on the ground. It looked like a spider, a tick, and an alien invader all combined. It was about the size of a quarter and was not moving. Honestly, it was one of the strangest things I have ever encountered on this Penn State campus.
Turns out, it is a spider, a Marbled Orbweaver to be exact. Although it looks like it could kill someone with a bite, they are actually relatively harmless. Also, this is a female, because the male marbled orb weavers are so small that you can barely see them. Look below for another picture of this spectacular insect. (WARNING: The picture below may gross out some viewers.)
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| Credit |
For more information on Marbled Orbweavers, click here!
I hate spiders and probably would've reacted very similarly! A few weeks ago I saw a spider crawl under my bed at about 11 in the morning and I was still afraid to go to sleep that night. I don't exactly know why but they just creep me out!
ReplyDeleteI have a fence around my pool at home, and these guys like to build their webs all over it. There must be at least 100 around my pool during any given summer. I didn't know the males were small or looked any different, so I guess I can now conclude that there are at least 200 orbweavers around my pool (not a comforting thought). As always, this was an enjoyable post! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE spiders! I just think they are the coolest. I have never seen this one though and don't worry, I'm sure the football players prpbably already forgot.
ReplyDeleteOMG!!! That is a funny blog of all the blogs you've written. I don't have abything against spiders because I actually like them. So it was very interesting reading about this spider
ReplyDeleteI HATE spiders to no end, but this is actually amazing. This must've been so cool to randmly stumble upon in the wild. It looks like something you'd find in a rainforest, not in this cold land of ours. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI understand why you screamed, I'm terrified of spiders and just having those pictures on my screen is giving me the heeby jeebies! I have never seen one of these in my life and I really hope that doesn't change. I'm glad he's still alive and kickin' though.
ReplyDeleteNot a huge fan of spiders so I think your reaction was very realistic! Love your post as usual but I had a hard time looking at the photo of the spider.
ReplyDeleteI don't care what anyone says -- there is NO WAY that that spider is "actually relatively harmless." Spiders will always be tiny, fear-inducing monsters. If I were you in that moment, not only would I have screamed like a five year old boy, you would have also seen me run away like there was no tomorrow. I have to hand it to you Lizzy -- it takes a special kind of writer to be able to craft a blog post with pictures of that creature staring at you.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely hate spiders, and couldn't even get close enough to get rid of one until last year (always had my dad do it for me). But even after seeing those terrifying pictures, I still read your blog post because I knew it would be funny and great even if it was about spiders! Great post!
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