SURVIVING WINTER
            Winter approaches and we are busy finding ways to survive the cold. While we prepare for winter, wildlife makes it preparations. Occasionally wildlife seeks shelter in our homes. Yet, most wildlife is adapted to surviving outdoors during winter. Insects and spiders, very important to the ecology of our neighborhood, are particularly vulnerable to harsh winters yet they survive the winter ready to go to work for us come spring.
“Many spiders pass the cold months as juveniles or adults. Jumping spiders find sheltered locations out of the wind and rain in which to construct thick, silken hibernacula,” explains Hank Guarisco in Outdoor Illinois, November 2007. “Rock crevices and leaf litter can provide good winter retreats, especially if the latter is blanketed with a layer of snow.
“Some spiders, including many orb-weavers such as the yellow and black garden spider, spend the winter inside egg sacs. Although they may be protected from the cold due to physiological changes that enable them to withstand freezing temperatures, the spiderlings in these egg sacs often fall victim to birds, which discover a ready winter meal. In some areas, more than 98 percent of the egg sacs are torn open during the winter by birds.”
In our homes spiders are seldom seen. An occasional web gives evidence they have been around. They are easily scared away to an out-of-site hiding place. Only two species in Illinois, the black widow and the brown recluse spiders, are considered dangerous to people according to Guarisco.
“A black widow bite is very painful, interferes with nerve transmission, and occasionally causes death due to heart and lung failure. There is a very effective antivenin and recovery is almost certain with proper medical treatment,” explains Guarisco. [The black widow has a plainly seen yellow or red marking in the shape of an hourglass and generally does not enter structures – pictures available on the internet.]
“Most brown recluse bites cause local tissue damage which heals after several weeks or months. Antivenim is not presently available for this type of bite.” [ The brown recluse spider is light brown with a distinctive darker brown marking in the shape of a violin close to its head, and can be found indoors in dark recesses – pictures available on the internet.]
‘Some individuals may have an allergic reaction to any kind of foreign protein, and therefore may react to the bites of harmless spiders as well.”
Spiders are many and diverse and naturally adapted to the hazards of our winter. We can learn to respect their role in our surroundings.
            Outdoor Illinois is a publication of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, www.dnr.state.il.us. Hank Guarisco is adjunct curator of arachnids at the Stemberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas and research associate of the Florida State Collection of Arthropods.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 11/08/07 (for publication on 11/17/07 in the Journal-Standard, Freeport, Illinois). Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org