Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

Another great day at the Falls of the Ohio.  Although it’s late May, we haven’t immediately jumped from a cool spring into a sweltering summer heat.  We still have time for that.  I’m following the deposited driftwood which forms these nice clearings punctuated here and there by small stands of willow trees.  There’s a method to my walks.  I carefully and as quietly as I can listen and look for any bird life in each new area I move into.  If I don’t find any birds than I move around the driftwood looking for interesting pieces and any other water born junk of note.  If an object captures my eye, I usually take a photograph of it in the context of the environment surrounding it.  If it is something really unusual, portable,  and potentially useful…then I may drop it into my collecting bag.  I also try to pay attention to any new flowers or insects that are out since my last visit. I don’t collect anything living since with the exception of fish…it’s against the park’s rules.

I will also walk the river bank doing much the same thing before heading back into the trees and my studio under the willows.  It’s here at my outdoor “atelier” that I check out my latest finds and with the materials I’ve previously collected…attempt to make art from them.  I was taking a break sitting on a bench I made and letting my mind “go blank” and just listening.  In the trees I could hear Northern orioles, Blue jays, and Catbirds all making their distinctive sounds.  With birds, you don’t need to see them to know they are present.  Small, noisy flocks of Cedar waxwings were flying from mulberry tree to mulberry tree seeking out ripe fruit.  I also kept hearing a “clicking or clacking”  sound originating behind where I was sitting which I mistakenly took for a squirrel moving among the branches.  I would look over my shoulder every now and then, but I didn’t see anything at first.  I didn’t see anything at all…until it moved!

Between its cryptic coloration and the dappled light effects of sunlight filtering through the tree tops…I had completely missed seeing the biggest spider in the world!  I know I had to walk by this marvel, but it didn’t register at all until this moment.  The spider wasn’t making any threatening gestures yet…perhaps it was remaining still “thinking” that I hadn’t located it.  The spider on its web was perhaps a dozen feet away from where I was sitting.  Meanwhile the hairs on the back of my neck were on end and I had an acute case of goosebumps all over my body!  Instinctively, I reached for my camera and started taking pictures.

Carefully walking around the spider and its web, I snapped off as many images as my nerves would dare.  I still had no idea what it was capable of doing especially in protection of its nest?  I had my stout walking stick at the ready.  Nestled in a depression in the wood at the web’s base was a silk-lined “pocket” that held three white cocoons.  I wasn’t sure if these were egg cases or the wrapped up remains of former meals?

In trying to describe this spider to you…I utilized my walking stick not only for protection, but to gauge its size as well.  Later in the comfort of my home, I estimated that the length of its body from the head to the tip of its abdomen to be approximately 30 inches or 76 centimeters long.  It’s moving legs made the spider seem much larger, but they were harder to measure.  The legs were perfectly camouflaged resembling the driftwood all around us.  The spider’s abdomen is covered with coarse hair arranged in bands of orange, white, and a bluish-black colors.  Otherwise, the spider is as white as the large river-polished chunks of Styrofoam that wash up on these fabled shores all the time.

The head of what I’m now going to call the “Giant Driftwood Spider” is very unusual for a spider.  The fact it is nearly distinct (as in insects) and not simply continuous with the thorax makes it different.  The head was not, however, capable of movement.  This spider features four eyes.  It has two, larger dominant eyes and a vestigial pair located between them.  The fangs were purple in color and supported by black jaws used for gripping prey.  The clicking sound I had heard earlier were its fangs rubbing together.  Like all spiders…I assumed that this species is carnivorous as well.? Consistent with true spiders, this giant species also has eight legs, although the Giant Driftwood Spider’s are not uniform.  After watching this great arachnid for several minutes, it surprised me by leaving its web and walking towards the river.  I naturally, followed behind it at a discreet distance.

The giant spider moved deliberately through the driftwood field pausing once in a while for whatever reason.  Thoughts about what this spider did for food crossed my mind.  Was it an ambush predator secretly lying next to a log waiting for a meal to walk by?  Did it rush and overwhelm its prey with a lethal bite to the body?  I thought this likely since its web by my outdoor studio didn’t seem big enough to capture anything larger than birds or rodents.  I got the sense that this spider was able to go a long time between feedings.  I continued to follow the spider when it stopped at another silk construction it had previously created.

The spider stopped by what I’m guessing to be another silk trap?  The spider may have been trying to hide its form with the silk?  Perhaps it uses a method similar to trapdoor spiders in catching its food?  I will confess that I do get “creeped out” by having spider webs go across my face.  I have always had an aversion to this feeling, although generally speaking…I’m okay with the spiders themselves.  In this particular area, it felt like I was constantly wiping my face which made me very ill at ease.

I circled back around to get a better look and when I did the spider lunged for me! With fangs clacking together and its legs gesturing wildly, the spider held its ground, but did not advance towards me.  With stick at the ready and in deep fear, I was prepared to swing down as hard as I could on the spider if I had to.  That’s when it occurred to me how wrong that would be?  Who was doing most of the provoking anyway?  Perhaps the spider was reacting in self-defense?  As with most living things, this spider had as much if not more reason to fear humans.  Even though this was the biggest spider I had ever seen…I was still bigger than it.  With that realization I backed off and took my leave of the Giant Driftwood Spider.  Reaching my home, I couldn’t wait to see the pictures and to tell the story of this remarkable animal encounter.  The world is full of natural marvels and the Falls of the Ohio…has many of them.

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