According to entomologists, spiders in the Midwest are bigger and fatter this year because our cool, wet summer provided them with many tasty insects on which to feed. And did you know that no one anywhere is ever more than 3 feet away from a spider? Find out more in this AP story. Did you just feel something on your leg?
This explains a lot. Spiders in our neighborhood aren’t just bigger and fatter, they are a lot more prevalent. We’ve had more than usual inside and on our back deck, and they seem strangely fascinated with the car too. One seems to have made house inside the drivers’ side rear view mirror, so many mornings we’ll come out and find webs of various elaborateness spun between the mirror and the door frame. Then, while driving, I’ll occasionally look out and see the spider clinging on for dear life as we drive along at 30-40 mph. Then when we get to a stop light, it scurries back into the mirror well, where it has shelter from the wind, but it never stays there long before out it comes again for another wild ride.