In My Window, In My Door

This 'little' guy has been trying to make a home this month on our balcony. First, he/she spun a beautiful web across the right side of our window. I did not want to destroy the web or kill this spider because I know it helps take care of the mosquito population around here. We have a lot of mosquitoes this month and they love me, especially at 3am when I'm trying to go to sleep. rrrrrrrrrrrrr suddenly in my ear or a pin prick of pain and then a burning sensation in some uncovered part of my body...it was my ear last night while I was sleeping. Didn't hear the skeeter, but the burn and following itch woke me up.

So, I left Spider in the window and it stayed there for several days. The web gathered dust and debris and soon was in tatters. I could see Spider, hunkered down during the heat of the day in the space between the little 'fortichka' window and the main window, so I knew a bird had not eaten it. A day or so later, there was a smallish web across one corner of the balcony door. It didn't last too long and I thought Spider had surely met his end.

This morning as the sun is shining through the door, casting shadows on the livingroom carpent, Mel glanced out the window and saw Spider had been very busy in the night. The web spans the whole top section of the doorway. What shall I do? I have laundry hanging on the line that I must sooner or later bring in. Decisions, decisions. My life is full of the little decisions.

I have 'history' with spiders like this one. History that gives me guilt feelings and causes me to say, wait, don't destroy that web!

Back when we lived out on Goldstream Road outside of Fairbanks we had a big garden spider that lived in the eaves of the 'cabin' we were renting. One sunshiny summer morning as I was on the way to the outhouse, I saw her web stretching almost 4 feet from the edge of the roof down to the corner of the window frame. She was sitting in the middle of it, waiting for a fly or mosquito or other insect to come by for dinner. I was horrified. The web was huge, the spider looked mosterous to me. I am afraid of spiders, even garden spiders - they are so silent and sneaky! So, on the way back from the outhouse I found a long stick and destroyed her web.

The next morning it was back, beautiful in its geometric perfection, shining brightly with dew drops in the sunshine. I destroyed it. I think this went on for five or six days. I couldn't bring myself to kill the spider - I couldn't reach her anyway. The last morning I went out, there above me was a little web, no bigger than maybe twelve inches across, stuck up in the very corner where house met roof.

I had accomplished my goal - the huge web was gone. But I was horrified at what I had done. God had put that spider up there and I had destroyed her home, over and over. She was not hurting anyone, she was not in my way, she was only doing her God given purpose - eating insects that drove me crazy. Why had I determined to destroy her? I stood there looking at her little web, knowing that I'd probably killed her through slow starvation, and I prayed. I asked God to forgive me for not appreciating the gift He had given me. Beauty in the web design - so perfect! so beautiful with the dew sparkling off it in the morning sun. Insect control that did not poison me and the environment as well. I apologized to her, verbally, standing there on the path between the cabin and the blueberry bushes, looking up at her little web. I asked her to forgive me. The following day the little web was still there. She never did rebuild it to its original size.

So, now I am have a dilema. This garden spider is keeping me off my balcony. Sigh. This web has to go. Sorry, little friend. Please move back into the window!!