I have declared war on one particular banana spider. Well, not really on the spider herself, but on her web. Every summer, dozens of banana spiders string up webs outside our house, connecting up walls and posts and trees and fences in out-of-the way corners. I don’t mind the spiders, in fact, I like them. They eat annoying deer flies and horse flies.
But this one spider has spun her web above the air conditioners, where the dragonflies like to play in the air currents generated by the AC’s exhaust. I’ve rescued several dragonflies from her web, and spent meticulous minutes picking off the sticky web from their wings so they can fly again.
Yesterday, the dragonfly I tried to save didn’t make it. I think that she had already bitten him.
Welp, that made me mad. I had moved her web twice before, tearing down just enough strands to reposition it closer to the wall. I asked her nicely not to string her web over the ACs. She pretty much gave me the finger. So this time, I tore down her entire web (gently, of course; I didn’t want to hurt her) and as she dropped to the ground and crawled away in a huff, I didn’t ask nicely. I TOLD her not to rebuild her web in that spot, and I informed her that if she did, I would tear it down again, every single time.
Finally, she listened. I connected with her telepathically this morning, and she shows me that she has found a dark space under the porch that she doesn’t like as well, but she is content-enough that she won’t challenge my decree about the sanctity of the space above the air conditioners.
So far, so good. I checked today, and the dragonflies are safely playing in the air currents above the AC.
