FAQ: Why Spiders?

How Spiders Made Me Write My First Book

As you readers scroll through my site it will become increasingly apparent that I love spiders. I love to take pictures of them, study them, build enclosures for them, and breed them. Specifically, I've taken a liking to one species in the jumping spider, or Salticidae family, called the bold jumping spider, or Phidippus audax. 

They are delightfully fuzzy and fun to look at, with green fangs called chelicerae (Singular chelicera) and adorable central eyes made for enhanced depth perception. Along with having 20/20 (or 160/160) vision, these Salticidae spiders are hunters rather than passive collectors. Although they do make silk webs, they are primarily used as shelter and a place to lay their egg cases rather than the traditional use of ensnaring prey.

Jumpers have amazing jumping power, and they use their sharp vision to seek out tasty insects instead of sitting in a web.

Two of my captive bred infant audaxes duke it out for a meal.

Aside from all these cool facts, I have found that jumping spiders have something special that most spiders simply lack. They aren't just cold hearted hunting machines that will bite you at any chance– in fact, I have never been bitten by a jumper except to test a bite. Getting her to bite was challenging, even though she was a wild caught female, because they would honestly rather run than have to bite someone. 

In my vast experience, bold jumpers have demonstrated an incredible amount of diversity in their personalities. Truly, I have only formed deep relationships with a handful of them, but there are three I must mention. 

The first was named Jackson. He was a young boy, around 8 months old, and I took him with me when my family was travelling to a family reunion in Michigan. During the ride, we got to know each other very well, and eventually he would just sit on my wrist as we both peered out of the rental car's passenger window. What I liked about Jackson was that he was very calm, despite being younger, and he was hard to upset. Most spiders would have reacted strongly if I tried to nudge him or her in a different direction. Jackson wasn't spineless, but he would decide by the individual circumstance if he wanted to act according to my desires. Being what we would consider a teenager, there were times where he wanted to get his way, and there was little I could do to prevent him from trying to get it. All in all, he was a very agreeable and benevolent little guy. He died during a courtship attempt with one of my feistier females, whom he would observe patiently from his adjacent container until I eventually let him try. Below is my favorite picture of Jackson in his temporary container. 

My next story is about a rescued spider named Princess. When I say that I rescued her, I really do mean it– and I was just in time. Three and a half of Princess' legs had been devoured by vicious beetles, and as I picker her up, it was apparent that she wasn't in good condition. I took her to my room and crushed up some feeder cricket guts and fed them to her on my finger. She was very cautious not to bite me, as she knew I was helping her. It's amazing what a new world opens up when a wild creature realizes that you aren't trying to hurt it. Princess started to heal after I did this every day for a week, but her legs would never grow back in her adult life. She was already past the stage in her life where she could regenerate limbs. Eventually, though, we grew very close. At some point, I was even able to lightly pet her head without her dodging my finger. Sadly, she passed away when I suddenly had to be sent to a hospital for a week straight. Nobody was able to take care of her and her special needs, so by the time I got back home, she was too weak to feed. Princess died of starvation in my palm. It was a very terrible day, seeing this sweet girl lose her life gradually with me. Nevertheless, she did live a good life with me until that point. This was her:

Lastly and most recently, there was Kiloped. I have to admit, Kilo was something really special that you don't see in too many pets. Sweet as she was stubborn, beautiful as she was benevolent, even arachnophobes fell head over heels for this young adult spider. Her gorgeous pattern made her appealing to a larger demographic, and the fact that she was trained to come when I motioned for her to do so made her seem like any other pet. She touched the lives of many people and gave birth to a new generation of spider-curious students at my school, where I would bring her as a therapy pet. Kiloped was so calm and well behaved that I could sit her on the edge of my desk or on the eraser of my pencil as I did my work and she would stay put. We had more of an intelligent bond than a dependent one– she knew I could benefit her and I believe she knew, to some degree, how much I loved her. For a while, I abandoned all other spider projects to focus on making Kilo happy. My boyfriend, Kilo's 'dad,' bought her a huge round enclosure and we decorated it for her. She lived a full and happy life until one day age began to weaken her. Trips to school were no longer feasible. At some point, she stopped eating and drinking the things I would offer her by hand, and she passed away peacefully in her favorite spot of the enclosure. Rest in peace, Kiloped! We all miss you very much.

These three cases of my spiders are not all that anomalous. There really is so much diversity to these little creatures. Don't expect every spider or even every jumper to react to handling the same way, though. Just like us, they have different personalities, different experiences, and bad moods. If you are interested in befriending a spider, my recommendation would be to purchase a captive bred juvenile from a local breeder. Babies from the wild also have greater potential to become more docile, but slings tend to die quite easily. I encourage every person to explore the scaled down world. It has been and continues to be a fascinating journey discovering the huge life present in such little animals!