One of the wonderful joys of exploring!
Here are my top 7 nerve-racking abandonment
spider encounters and the locations where
they were found... in order from the
least to the most hellish....


#7.
A secluded residential abandonment outside of Toronto
harbored this gorgeous yellow-legged beauty in an inside
doorway. I almost walked right through its web...







#6: A decrepit cottage on the shoreline of Lake Erie had
numerous spiders catching flies coming in off the water.
Spanning a broken window was this spiky-legged monster....







#5: A rather new but condemned developer house near
Hamilton, Ontario, had this soft, cuddly critter living
in the kitchen doorway....







#4: This gorgeous old farmhouse had nylon twine hanging
from a light fixture that I almost walked into while
backing up to take a photo in the laundry room. I would
have brushed right into this orb weaver....







#3: This ruined and overgrown farm was home to a
gorgeous, bright red creepy-crawly that I have not
encountered since. It was a Neoscona arabesca, aka
Arabesque Orbweaver. The unusual colour on this one
showed they can be without the spiffy designs on
the abdomen that are common to the species
and still be gorgeous.







#2: The siding on this windmill farm abandonment was home
to a particularly threatening-looking beastie that held
its ground for a tight macro. I'm actually almost certain
it's also an Arabesque Orbweaver, but a slightly different
colour variation. They're harmless and just look nasty
in macro.







#1: The old stone dock of the Barclay Estate ruins in
Algonquin Provincial Park was home to a dreaded
Dolomedes tenebrosus (Dark Fishing Spider) of particularly
large size. I was thrilled when the Australian Museum
in Sydney commissioned use of this photo in their
Spiders: Fear & Fascination travelling exhibit,
which was featured at the Royal Ontario Museum
June 2018-Jan 2019 and is currently in Brisbane.







_________________________________________

Well, I do have to say, as nasty as these individuals
were, they're still nowhere near as disgusting and
horrific as my true exploration nemesis!!....

(looking down my pant leg after a particularly
nasty exploration in the Niagara region)

Some nice pics of the web slingers
Spiders are great fun.
Various jumping spiders and black widows are a favorites of mine.
Both of those get fairly large here in Texas.

LOVE your spider pics. But, Death to those Ticks! Man! i hope you didnt get nailed by one of those disease infested devils...

I cant tell you how MUCH i admire pic # 1. Totally must go in a frame.

This is cool...great job on these! Spiders have always made me rather nervous, but they are truly amazing creatures. #7 is probably my favorite; I like that spooky glowy look...
Thanks for sharing! 😊

Oooooh, these are great. That last one... fuck.

Pretty nice collection... especially because I have some what fear of those, even we don't have any poison filled here in Finland. But still when spotting those... gives me creeps. Nice shots you have.

none of the photos loaded when I clicked on this thread. Maybe it was an error on the server. I'll check back later

Going through this a 2nd time, I want to say, 5 is like a storybook image of a spider. It's so perfect & a definite standout!

I think it's more unsettling to see a spider indoors, probably because I don't want to think about them being in my home. The simple backdrop of the door, the contrast, and the cotton candy web really make that photo. 7/7 spiders.

I knew what I was getting into when I read the title, but I did NOT expect macro shots of spiders!! Talk about triggered...

Here's my contribution -- my cottage mascots, the lovely "Dock Spider"
(Dolomedes Arachnida)

They can get to be pretty big, I guess they eat well... This one wasn't the largest I've ever seen, but he was pretty big!

If you look closely you can see he (or she?) is crossing their front legs!!

get out the flame thrower for those ticks. FUCK those little demons.

Posted by RescueMe1060 get out the flame thrower for those ticks. FUCK those little demons.

That's one critter I'm not missing.
Haven't had one on me in 10 years or so.
There sometimes in yards with dogs here but are otherwise rare.
Kissing bugs are pretty common though and they're worse

Cool post. Your close ups are amazing! You catch so many details that I would miss.

Excellent shots dude!! Spiders creep me out, but nothing made my skin crawl like the last two shots of the ticks. I have had them a few times, including once in Southern Ontario, and they just freak me right out. I now spray my clothes with permethrin and my skin with 100% deet anytime I am doing rural explorations. Haven't had a tick on me since I've been doing that.