Learning to love — OK, like — your helpful spiders

In spite of 30 years of comfortable experience with everything living in gardens, I still yelp when I find a large brown spider in the bathtub. Then I want to move immediately — into a hotel where someone else cleans, preferably vacuuming every hour on the hour and scrubbing every half-hour.

Disliking spiders is common, and the "eek" reaction has been exploited by books and movies to scare us. Spiders have no "cute" animal features. Insects like beetles have been prettified into cartoon characters. Spiders, which are arachnids, seldom get the beauty treatment given ladybugs.

Let's all relax. Their eight legs aren't twitching to get us. We are not their prey. In reality, spiders are beneficial — they eat pest insects like gnats, mosquitoes and flies.

Spiders may seem to be everywhere now because many of them mature in early autumn.

Various garden spiders are busy making beautiful orb webs, the classic spiderweb shape, often showing brilliantly when damp with early morning moisture. You may also see small untidy spiderwebs resembling dropped handkerchiefs or funnel-shaped webs with dense webbing.

Garden spiders can fling their draglines for several feet. If you want to avoid encountering a sticky web that may be stretched across a pathway, clear the area with a sweep of a broom or a bamboo rod.

Spiders do have venom, but most don't harm people. There are a few to be aware of in our area. There are scattered populations of black-widow spiders, more common east of the Cascades but also here in the West. People also worry about the bite of a hobo spider (Tegenaria agrestis), which can result in discomfort or a slow-healing wound.

Don't presume that you know which spider you see, especially if you think it's harmful. Spider experts say precise identification is difficult even for specialists. The process involves looking at sex organs and counting eye patterns, getting you much closer to the spider than you might wish.

Arachnid management

Here are a few tips on avoiding an unpleasant encounter with a spider:

• Get acquainted with spider habitats. Spiders like loose piles of leaves, wood and junk. They also like storage areas such as attics, garages and basements because they're often unswept.

• Wear protective clothing. Dress in long-sleeved shirts with tight cuffs, long pants (tucked into socks) and gloves when working in areas that spiders like.

• Look before grabbing. Unstack piles slowly. Use a flashlight to check dark areas before reaching in. Check gloves and shoes before putting them on.

• Close cracks and gaps. Caulk around windows, doors and outlets. Spiders dwell in crawlspaces, but they do not climb up tub drains.

• Clean. Vacuuming or sweeping helps clear indoor spaces. For outdoor living spaces, such as porches and pergolas, use a broom or stick to remove webs. Pesticides are seldom necessary.

Garden expert Mary Robson, retired area horticulture agent for Washington State University/King County Cooperative Extension, appears regularly in digs and in Practical Gardener in Northwest Life on Wednesdays. Her e-mail is marysophia@olympus.net.