[at-l] Re: spiders...

["Thomas McGinnis" <tmcginnis@ucclan.state.in.us>]

>>> dlc <dlc@nrtw.org> 01/13/00 08:59AM >>>
I always feel sorry for the spiders.  After all, we want to keep the 
spiders to eat all those other crawly things.  I felt especially sorry for 
them in the afternoons, when I knew that people had already walked the 
trail and I was still walking into webs.  Because it wasn't just the first 
web of the day; the spiders had obviously spent the rest of the day trying 
to rebuild, in vain.  It's pretty sad if you think about it.  A fruitless 
effort they could spin(d) their entire lives on...

--Sometime

Sloetoe respondeth, getting a graspeth on the topiceth:
This thread is a sticky subject into which I could really get wrapped up. 

[One! Yes! Two! Yes! Three Puns in One!]

But consider this: spiders tend to put their webs where there is a specific balance between available support (to hold the webbing up) and air flow (to bring a "catch" of bugs from the available air currents). It's even a species-specific thang. The spiders which web across the AT are drawn to it because their species has been selected/taught that, between the shrubs and the breezes, it holds the best combination/chance for survival. Here's something cool: if you sit back and stare (somewhat vacantly) about 5-10 feet into the air channel of the AT, you'll notice that the buggies do indeed follow the AT — and most are gliding as much as possible (it's a very efficient form of travel for the winged). When they turn OFF the AT, they perceptibly slow to do so. Thusly, the AT provides the channel for efficient bug travel, the spiders tap that flow with their webs via an efficacious location, and WE spoil the mix with the occasional web catastrophe. Yet without the AT, both the spiders and their buggie prey would have much less area for living/travel — being kept (perhaps) to open rock ledges or cliffs and such. Something to consider, anyway.

From the top of the pyramid,
(for the time being)
Sloetoe




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