It's something I've been asked on many occasions but honestly have no answer. I've been fascinated (some say obsessed
) by spiders since I was a child, which is now so long ago.
I collected British spiders and tried to keep them when I was about eight, bought a tarantula at sixteen, ended up with over 300 at one point and got seriously into British spiders over 20 years ago.
Why I don't know.
Having read
Biology of Spiders by Rainer F. Foelix (fantastic book if you really want to know how spiders work) many years ago, the fascination was cemented once the realisation of how complex and sense orientated these creatures are. I could imagine them being a man made sensory device almost.
I also have a lifelong love of helicopters
, so work that one out, is it some pyschological factor bearing in mind the similarity between the rotors and the legs of a spider?
So dozens of spider books and a few microscopes later and the fascination persists.
I still don't really know why spiders - just a natural fascination I suppose (though I do love all aspects of natural history).
No.9 Spider
