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THE MAIN STREET bridge in Ohio’s capital might appear to be decked out for Halloween, but officials say the extensive webs spotted by motorists at night are real.
The Columbus Dispatch reports the $60 million bridge connecting downtown Columbus and Franklinton is infested with thousands of web-spinning spiders of different varieties.
Ohio State University professor David Shetlar specialises in urban landscape entomology and estimates the bridge has 5,000 to 10,000 spiders.
The spiders are from a number of different species including an “arabesque orb-weaver, which is known for its graceful weaving.
“Another is something out of an arachnophobe’s nightmare — it’s called a long-jawed orb weaver,” according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Ohio Division of Wildlife naturalist Jim McCormac says the sheer number of spiders is evidence of good health for the Scioto River underneath
A $35.5 million project narrowed the river for the creation of a 33-acre park with 800 trees and 75,000 plants.
McCormac says that allows for more insects in the area, and the spiders followed their food.
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So that’s where the web summit ended up :)
See..what they should do is put s hand full of chestnuts at each corner of the bridge..scares them away apparently
thats funny cause chestnuts are called buckeyes in the U.S and the ohio state uni football team name is the buckeyes
Explains why some put them in their knickers then lol.
I’d say we’d need bigger hands for that..
We’re taking the long way home tonight kids.
burning your bridges just took on a whole new meaning!
That’s too many spiders.
sounds like a real life nightmare
Spiders are funny…
One carefully aimed precision nuke should take care of it ,
God help the fly’s
Unless there is an adequate supply of flies to go around, those spiders will start eating each other. Until there is one.
who counted them ?
Thats a brave jogger, if it were me tho id be giving Usain Bolt a run for his money when on that bridge.
Drop all the Zero’s in Ten thousand spiders and there won’t be that many left.
Have have they now. ?
have your say