patndoris TechnoGeek

He really wasn’t itsy bitsy. But he wasn’t three feet tall whilst standing on his back legs and about to bite me with his mammoth fangs either. It was Thursday October 22, 2009. The boss and I had travelled downtown to meet clients for lunch. After a wonderfully enjoyable and productive meal we we headed back to the office. As I plopped down in the passenger seat, I noticed a spider on the outside of the car’s windshield almost directly in front of me. His furry body was probably 1/2″ across and he had  several white bands around his legs. From leg tip to leg tip he was probably 1 or 1-1/2″ across. It was slightly intriguing to see him so close and yet with no worries he might reach out and get me.

As a rule, I don’t like spiders - especially ones of his size. (I can tolerate the little white house spiders, but that’s where my interaction with them ends.) However, he was on the outside and I had a very good view. As we pulled out of the parking lot at the restaurant, I was convinced he was going to fly off and that would be the end of him. But, no. He was a lot more tenacious than expected. As we’d make turns, he was almost compass-like. He’d turn and re-adjust his position, all eight of his little legs making precision steps on the glass. Baltimore City traffic during the early afternoon isn’t horrible, but there was some. For several miles we didn’t really get moving very fast. I was oh-so-sure when we hit the highway  he’d go whooshing off to spider la-la land.

Interestingly, still no. That little bugger held on for dear life! I was really intrigued at this point. 55-60 miles per hour and he was having no trouble. Windshield wind surfing must be his thing. I tried to get a picture with my iPhone camera, (after all I did install the free app that lets me do 4x zoom with very little quality loss), but the car was bouncing too much to get a decent picture. I decided to wait until we returned to the office, and if he was still there, I’d snap one or two or ten. It is after all a rather unusual view of a spider like that.

Then I made a mistake. I mentioned to the boss the spider had been on the windshield for the last 20 minutes. Now, I’m sure visions of windshield wiper horror flood your brain. No, he didn’t smash him. (Besides - that would have made a nasty icky streaky mess on the glass.) But as we merged onto the Baltimore Beltway he punched the gas, and we determined that the little spider had to let go at approximately 75 miles per hour. I admit I was a little sad, I did so want to try for a picture.

A quick Google for Maryland spiders (and how to identify them) brought me to an interesting realization. I don’t think I’ve actually seen a spider like him before. He appears to have been a Phidippus audax or Bold Jumping Spider. I never got to see him from the top side, but based on what I could tell he looked something like this photo. Although, there were no visible markings on his belly.

I’m cerrtainly glad he was on the outside of the window and not in my house. Because they don’t subdue their prey with silk, they do have poison in their fangs. The enter homes in search of insects - big surprise! He is a spider after all. They rarely bite humans, but care is advised when handling them.  According to eHow.com “…These spiders are aggressive and spunky, with a bite that hurts, but lacks any dangerous poison.” Yes, well, I promise there was no way I was planning on getting close enough to him to find out!

And that my friends is your arachnid story and lesson for the day.