Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Mummified monsters in a frosted web

Frosted web
Thought this was pretty appropriate for the beginning of Monster Month! This is what a spider web looks like after being hit with a good dose of spray adhesive. I generally don't feel the need to kill every spider in the house - I know they keep the other insect under control and all, but this time there were extenuating circumstances.... not only was there a pretty big mamma spider at the center of this web, but a cluster of about a thousand little tiny dots, all of which would have become strapping little warrior spiders soon and gone tramping all over the house.

I've heard spray adhesive is the best way to kill them, because it glues shut the breathing spiracles located on their legs (I think?) and suffocates them quick. Seems to work pretty well... she twitched for about a minute and then stopped moving, and I haven't seen any of the babies move at all.

Click on the image to see it on Flickr and you can scroll over it for notes pointing out exactly where all the still-life is located in this tangled web. Plus of course then you can click on "All Sizes" above it to see the large version in all its gory Haloweeny glory!

12 comments:

Shelley Noble said...

I understand, sometimes these things have to be done. We gotz Black Widows at the threshold downstairs for 6 years so far. We leave them as guards but it's scary coming through the door everyday!

It would be wonderful if that sprayed web could be dusted with talc or something and thereby preserved and used on a set! Just saying!

Emily said...

Wow.... I thought that was part of your set at first... knowing the scale of that web compared to the surroundings? Um, I didn't need to sleep tonight anyways...... eeks.

Darkmatters said...

Shelley... black widows? Yipe!! I live in Brown Recluse country though. But I know the Recluses don't spin webs, so this wasn't one of them. They do seem to live in hoses all around here though.

Emmy, I WISH I could build something like that!!! I have no idea how I"d go about it... would be quite an accomplishment though, wouldn't it? o make something so complex and delicate you'd have to BE spider... or get bitten by a radioactive one....

StopmoNick said...

My first thought too.... if you need a web in your set, get a real spider to make it, then coat it with something to preserve and strengthen it! Many spiders make webs, abandon them, and build new ones, so you wouldn't always have to commit arachnicide. This must have been a special nursery web.
I've made spiderwebs for two of my films, and any spider webmaster would give me a big fat F for Webspinning 101.

Darkmatters said...

I was thinking the same thing!!! What does it take to coax a spider to build a web where you want one? They seem to avoid my set like the plague, though they're all over the rest of the basement. Too bad I can't train one...

tonychauzer said...

Gotta admit I was a bit creeped out I couldn't finish my comment when I saw this yesterday morning. It's really funny how everyone sees this and thinks "man what a great set piece that'd be" haha.

Yaz said...

Mike, I also thought that this was a part of your set first. But, I now see it is a real thing.. Vaow.. really scary for me. How do you work in that basement with these around. I imagine you shooting, all lights off and there are spiders walking around.. (happy halloweeeeen!) I have a problem with the bugs. Although I feel bad about killing them, I can not stand any kind of bug around me. We have our house applied pesticide every couple months both outside and inside. There are very big flying cockroachs living here in this town all around. By the way, this could make a very good web for a stopmotion set. I hope you can train some of the spiders to work on your set:)

Anonymous said...

It kind of looks like a skull... :)

Helen said...

cool, spider webs are amazing. you can really see it with the spray adhesive. looks like mama built her web in the wrong place! check my blog for fun stuff


http://helensblogstuff.blogspot.com/

California Girl said...

congrats on making Blogs of Note!

My husband loves the effect of the spray adhesive on the web. He's a photographer. Thinks it will make a cool shot w/ a black backdrop.

I'll be back...

Shelley Noble said...

It does look like a skull! Man, that would be a fantastic concept for an illustration!

Couldn't find another like it on Google, not even on a Goth Knitting page. Found some spiders that have a skull like marking on their tush though.

http://f00.inventorspot.com/images/Skull%20Crab%20Spider.img_assist_custom.jpg

antisniper said...

cool thing. how the heck did you make that web?