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Cranberry season is now officially here and their employee wolf spider wants to be your friend
Thousands will flock to cranberry bogs in the coming weeks for that perfect Instagram picture, though it might be ruined by a leaping wolf spider or two.
The leaves are turning orange and the weather is starting to cool which must mean that fall is in full swing and Halloween is right around the corner. With it comes an array of pumpkin-themed foods, the unrelenting need to be scared, and the best costumes of 2024.
Cranberry fields are flooded on purpose
Each year, cranberry farmers throughout much of the United States knowingly flood their fields to protect their crops from plunging temperatures, drying winds, and the presence of pests. The view is quite spectacular, with entire flooded fields bobbing up and down with millions of luscious cranberries.
Naturally, cranberry picking has become a major tourist attraction in the US, with the most popular States including New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Quebec.
The serene views of a flooded cranberry bog are also home to an army of creepy crawlies, but it’s not them you should be worried about, it’s their warden. Most cranberry fields are home to different spiders, though no more dominating than the wolf spider.
The arachnids, which can grow to 2 inches in length with enormous lanky legs, serve as an efficient pest control method as they gobble up everything from mosquitos to beetles. Thankfully, they don’t like to snack on humans.
Wolf spiders have a biblical ability
No amount of spider prevention techniques are going to protect you from wolf spiders, given that they are already outside and not bothered by the presence of horse chestnuts.
Thanks to their spindly legs, lightweight bodies and a phenomenon known as surface tension, wolf spiders are also capable of walking and running on water. When they see a human standing in said water, they often use them as a platform with or without consent.
Speaking about a conversation he had with a cranberry farmer, one man explained that the farmer always asks prospective employees about their feelings on spiders.
“How many guys would just straight lie. Like, you think Im asking you that question to be cute? Nah man youre gonna have like a hundred wolf spiders trying to climb your eyebrows, you gotta be chill, those wolf spiders are fellow employees. You really gotta be chill with spiders if youre gonna work a cranberry harvest,” he reportedly said.
Essentially, if you’re choosing to spend some your fall in a flooded cranberry field, just accept that their best employees will be up close and personal whether you like it or not.
