Banana Spider

I shot this one early morning hiking through San Felasco Hammock.  If you've ever gone biking or hiking in the Florida woods, then you have likely come upon one or more of these critters.  The earlier you go out, the lower the banana spiders hang on the trail.  They are harmless, but they can be huge, which for an arachnophobe like me causes mini panic attacks all along the trail.

We've been known to carry a stick along with which to bat down the elaborate webs that are hanging too low to duck under, and I have a friend that likes to employ the same trick on her lawn tractor while mowing the backyard of her secluded cottage home.  But if we can, we simply pass underneath the resting spiders, marveling at the craftsmanship of their webs, some that often span several feet across the trail from tree to tree.