LUCY THE SPIDER

The Becka June Series
Written by Rebecca Zarrinnegar

My name is Lucy. I am a big, fat spider. Children fear me, grown-ups fear me. I don’t know why. I am just a spider. I do good things, but no one wants to know of all the good things I do! They just run away when I try to show them my beautifully spun webs. It takes a long time to make my webs. Each one is different. Please do not throw leaves in my webs, or take things and break my webs up. I need my webs to catch my food. Did you know that I help control the bad bugs that live near you, that are much more dangerous than I am? Some bugs, like mosquitoes bite you for no reason at all, and they spread disease. Dogs can die from the diseases that they carry! If a mosquito comes along and gets stuck in my web, I will eat him up for my dinner! You see? I try to help you. I eat all sorts of things. I eat most flying things. Sometimes something beautiful gets caught up in my web. I cannot help it. This is how I survive. I know that butterflies are beautiful creatures, but they are here for a reason. One of the reasons is to help feed spiders. Do not hate me for this, as I told you, it’s not my fault. A lot of the times I catch fly’s in my web. Fly’s are one of the world’s most hated creatures. They spread disease too. They are horrible insects. They have no purpose. They can land on animal waste and then land on your sandwich and you could get sick from it! But if it comes and gets stuck in my web, I will eat him up! There is another reason I have been put on this earth. I am also food. I am part of the food chain. My species feed birds and other animals as well. So you see, I am not all bad. There are certain relatives I have that are bad. But it’s not their fault. Only if you bother them, then they can be quite deadly. My cousin The Black Widow has made a very bad name for herself. If she bites you, she could make you very, very sick, sometimes she can even make you die. Her bite is deadly to children and older people. She has a short temper. But usually she will not bother you unless you bother her. She lives mostly in dark places, like garages, and under old things that are left alone for a while. She could live underneath your desk, if you don’t disturb under there. She is all black with a red hourglass shape underneath her. There are boy black widows too, but they have no venom and the babies don’t either, only when they are adults, grown-up spiders, then they can hurt you. Did you know that the lady black widow eats the boy black widow? Yuck! I also have another cousin that is dangerous. Maybe you have heard of him. His name is “ The brown Recluse Spider” He is extremely dangerous too. He is not as dangerous as the Black Widow. They are light brown to dark brown and have a violin shape on their backs. If he bites you then you will be in trouble! A lot of people confuse good spiders with this one. He has three pairs of eyes. Usually he will not bother you unless you accidentally roll over on him when you are asleep, or if he is hiding in your clothes and you touch him. Please do not touch him if you see him or my cousin the black widow! Just to be safe, make sure you always look inside your shoes before putting them on, and always shake out your clothing if they are in drawers or folded somewhere. Brown Recluse spiders like to hide in clothing!

My point is, not all spiders are bad! Just some of them. Mostly we just mind our own business! Because of my cousins, most people fear all spiders, but there is no reason to! It’s kind of like saying be afraid of all plants because poison Ivy is poison, but not all plants are poison!

I have a story to tell you about something that happened to me one day while I was sitting in my web, waiting for my breakfast.

It happened on a glorious morning. The sun shone warm on my delicate black skin. There were dew droplets on my web, each droplet clinging to each different design I had made the night before. There were many insects out that day. I was just waiting to catch a big juicy fly when along came this little boy. He snatched me up before I knew what was happening. At first I thought for sure he was going to smash me flat! But then, for some reason, he didn’t. Instead he placed me in a cold jar. I couldn’t feel the sunshine on my black skin anymore, instead I felt very cold. I was scared and I even thought of biting that boy if he put his giant hand in to touch me. ( We only bite if we feel we are in danger). He didn’t, and I’m glad because I didn’t want to bite him. He was talking and all his words were echoing inside this glass thing I was in. He sounded excited. A few seconds later he placed a few sticks in my new home. I thought about it for a minute, then I began to spin my web. (I do this sometimes when I get nervous) I didn’t think I would catch anything in there, because there was no wind, therefore no flying bugs. I made the most beautiful web this time, and I think the young human liked it. He kept placing his giant eye up to me to see. Then all of a sudden he placed something above me. The air began to get thick, I was beginning to feel dizzy. I was bounced around as the human boy walked me home with him. When we got there, thankfully, his Dad poked holes in my new home, then I could breathe again! I was so happy I could breathe! Suddenly it was taken off and a big juicy fly came in. I am guessing the boy had caught him himself with his own web. I quickly wrapped him up and promptly ate him. I was full. The boy put my new glass home in front of the window so I could see the sunshine. I was beginning to feel too hot, my skin was burning and my feet grew hot. It was too hot! Too hot! After what seemed like forever, the boy moved me into a cooler place. I was much cooler now. Whew! The human boy kept talking to me, his voice would make my web shake and vibrate. He named me Lucy. Again later that day he caught me another juicy meal and I was happy again. I grew so excited that I laid an egg sack~! It clung safely to one of the sticks that were in my new house. It was light brown and looked like a little clod of dirt, but was soft like a leaf. Inside there were a few hundred baby spiders. All of which would look like me. The days went by and I began to grow fat for lack of exercise, my sack grew bigger and bigger as my babies grew. The boy spoke with me every day. I was beginning to grow fond of this boy. Sometimes other boys would look at me, but they would shake me up and I would feel sick inside. You should never shake up any living thing because they can feel pain too. My boy would yell at them and vibrate my web like crazy! Then they would stop. I heard a few boys say they wanted to smash me flat, that I would hurt someone. I wondered why they thought that. I was the one that was in this thing that I could not escape from! I tried to at first, it’s true. Before I grew fond of the boy. I hid in the lid and I tried to escape when the boy would place my food in, it didn’t work, he was quicker than I.

I was beginning to miss my home in the woods. I was beginning to miss variety in food and the wind on my back. I loved that feeling, while I was spinning my web. I missed the sunshine. I was beginning to feel rather sad, when it happened! My sack was starting to hatch! I was so excited that I was running around my jar! My boy came and saw what was happening and he called bigger humans to come and see. Hundreds of tiny spiders jumped out and began scurrying around. Some of them began to spin tiny webs. I felt sad again. They had never felt the sunshine on their backs or the wind. How was this boy going to help me teach my babies? Then it happened. I couldn’t believe it. My boy carried me outside, I saw the sunshine again! It was feeling warm. I was worried that he was going to place me in the hot sunshine, but he didn’t. It was a bumpy ride and everything was blurry. Things kept swooshing by me, I thought I was headed for certain death. I was wrong again! All of a sudden my jar began to slide, I was sliding! Icouldn’t stop myself ! Then there I was! I was on the branch where my old home was! Yippee! I was home! My babies were home too! My boy told me goodbye and he walked away. I began to teach my babies how to spin their webs and catch their first meal. In a few days they were spread out here and there, close to me. I began to tell them their first story. They would all crowd around me and listen to my spider talk. I warned them about humans and certain animals and other bugs that would eat them up! Then I told them the story of my boy. After my story was finished, most of the little spiders wanted a boy or a girl of their own. I told them that not all humans knew how to care for us and how I was lucky I was let go again, sadly most spiders aren’t let go and die of thirst or starvation or other things, like being shaken up before they are let go again.

So if you read my tale, and you listen to me, you will know, that not all spiders are bad. Next time you see me or one of my babies, don’t be afraid, but also do not touch me. I might be scared you will hurt me. If you want to be my boy or my girl, then make sure you take care of me the way your supposed to! And remember, never put me in the direct sunshine, never shake me up, always poke holes in my lid ( but not too big or too small), and make sure you give me droplets of water so I can drink when I am thirsty and sticks to spin my webs on. Make sure you remember to feed me, and after a while, always let me go. Remember, I am here for a reason. If you are nice to me, I may even lay an egg sack for you, but sometimes not. Remember one more thing. Not all spiders are bad. We may look scary, but there is a reason for that too! Look for me in the mornings, you might be able to see the dew droplets on my freshly spun web, glittering like diamonds in the warm sunshine.