Spiders!

[RJSakowski]

.............Much prefer spiders to flying bugs that bite. If only I could get the spiders to eat ants and ladybugs.......

Trivia: As far as I know, man has not been able to manufacture fibre as light and strong as spider webbing, so I gotta admire them (the spiders that is).

That's why I prefer the big fat spiders. They gotta eat. They would eventually develop a taste for the Asian beetles/ladybugs. Who knows, maybe even the mice?

I did have a covey of quail walk through the yard one fall and they were feasting on the Asian beetles but quail around here as as scarce as,, well, hen's teeth.

As to the strength of spider silk, I believe that it has been surpassed by carbon fiber. I did see an article where scientists were attempting (unsuccessfully) to feed carbon nanotubes to spiders in order to get them spin out a stronger silk. Spider silk is some of the finest. It had been used for making crosshairs for optical equipment. Fabric has been made from the silk but it is hard to harvest. It doesn't unwind as easily as silkworm silk so unraveling webs or food or egg caches isn't practical. They apparently take the silk directly from the spider. Here is a link to an article about one of the largest pieces of fabric made from spider silk. https://www.wired.com/2009/09/spider-silk/

 

[Tozguy]

Thanks for the link RJ, very interesting. It dates back to 2009 so maybe the carbon fibre idea has shown up since.
Mice eating beetles, spiders eating mice .... I like!

 

[savarin]

spiders eating mice .... I like!

Then you need to move here.

 

[Tozguy]

Whoaaa Savarin, think of the miles of silk that giant can spin from eating mice. Lets you, me and RJ get into that business before someone else does. Patmat are you in? Would be sweet revenge eh.

 

[RJSakowski]

A Garden Spider took up residence on my office window today. It has spun a web covering about a quarter of the pane. My vinyl window sash has a weep hole and some wasps have built their nest inside the sash. The garden spider is guarding the opening. One wasp has already been entombed in silk.

 

[woodchucker]

Haha!!!

After the hurricane, There are not enough spiders, birds, etc., to bring the mosquito population in check! And they are out for blood!

It's a little better now, that the county has done some spraying out here where I live.

Ken, how did you do?
Any damage, any loss of shop, equip, stock?

 

[4GSR]

Ken, how did you do?
Any damage, any loss of shop, equip, stock?

I came out better than most here in my area. Lots of missing shingles, fence damage, tree damage. No water damage. Just wind storm damage. My shop came out fine.