And sat down beside her

In all likelihood the tuffet-sitting critter that caused Miss Muffet’s angst was harmless. Of the more than 3,500 species of spiders found throughout North America, only a handful are particularly toxic to humans. Here, in Western North Carolina there appear to be three worrisome spiders. The brown recluse, Loxosceles reclusa, and the black widow, Lactrodectus mactans, are the two most notorious but the yellow sac spider, Chiracanthium inclusum, can produce necrotic lesions (similar to brown recluse bites) in some victims.

While the bites of these spiders can be taxing and, in the case of the black widow potentially lethal especially in the case of the elderly, infirm and/or extremely young, probably 98 percent of spider bites come and go without the victim even knowing for sure what might have caused the irritation.

If you have a bite that begins with a red welt then the skin around the bite begins to die and/or turn dark you might be looking at a brown recluse or yellow sac spider bite and you should seek medical attention. Brown recluse bites are seldom lethal but they can cause painful wounds.

The initial bite of a brown recluse often goes unnoticed. A black widow bite, on the other hand, is usually quite painful. Symptoms like severe stomach pain, muscle pain and cramps, nausea, dizziness and chest pain generally manifest within an hour and medical attention should be sought.

For the most part spiders are a diverse and interesting group of animals and the biggest inconvenience is when we inadvertently walk into a sticky web. Of course, not all spiders build webs. Jumping spiders, wolf spiders, ground spiders and others actively seek their prey. Others like trap door spiders and crab spiders hide in waiting for prey to approach them.

Spiders thrive in almost any imaginable habitat from your home to your yard, to deserts, to mountains, to forests, to lakes, streams, ponds and marshes. According to Cherokee lore it was the water spider, Kananeski Amaiyehi that brought fire and warmth to the world by retrieving a burning ember in a basket affixed to her back.

The world still has fire and the water spider still has its basket. It spins a web and attaches it to submerged vegetation. Next it fills the web with air brought from the surface, trapped in the hair next to its body. The water spider then hangs out in its underwater condo, darting out to catch prey and returning to its haven to dine. Water spiders even mate and the female lays her eggs in these underwater chambers.

Orb weaver spiders are some of my favorites. They’re the ones that build the large spiral shaped webs with the intricate designs. You know the ones you don’t see spanning your favorite hiking trail till you meet it face on.

And now is the time for those gossamer wings. In mid autumn, this year’s hatch of spiders will be ready to set out on their own. Many species of spiders accomplish this by ballooning – dangling from those gossamer threads as the wind takes them aloft searching for brave new worlds.

Don Hendershot can be reached at ddihen1@bellsouth.net