Natural History Wanderings

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that this season there has been a jump in spider populations. Read story at  Expect a spike in spiders this season, expert says – SFGate

This doesn’t mean we need to be worried about spider bite. When we blame insect bites on spiders we are probably guilty of false accusations. The NY Times article That “Spider Bite’? Blame it on Something Else says

Usually spiders are not even able to chomp on people, partly because the arachnids’ fangs are too small and weak. What victims take to be spider bites often are caused by something else entirely, like wasps, ants, bedbugs, an infection — or even thorn pricks.