daddy long-legs – Lee Duigon

Gee, who left this big clump of hair lying around outside? Maybe I’ll just pick it up and throw it away…

And it turns into 7 zillion spiders!

These daddy long-legs critters like to chill out in groups, the more, the merrier. I’ve never known them to do this in New Jersey, but it’s very popular among the daddy long-legs of Mexico. Mr. Nature says it’s a way of protecting themselves from predators. Like, you might be in the mood for three or four daddy long-legs; but a mouthful of a thousand of ’em might not be so appetizing.

Just so you know, these animals are completely harmless. Couldn’t hurt you if they wanted to.

Jambo! Today our safari takes us to the foundation of your house, where we see spiders crawling on the walls. Almost everybody thinks they’re spiders, and knows them well as “daddy long-legs.” But they’re actually very different from spiders.

There are over 6,000 species of these critters, found all over the world. If you’ve ever turned over a rotten old board and found a thousand red daddy long-legs under it, don’t worry: these animals have no power to harm us in any way.

I find it fascinating that both the male and female daddy long-legs take care of their eggs and hatchlings.

On the whole, they’re rather nice. Be kind to them.