Spider hunting with a head torch
Ever since getting our head lamps many moons ago, I’ve taken great entertainment in finding spiders on the floor at night time with them when we are camping. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll either be very fascinated, or regret reading this.
Lorella Springs station prompted me to write about this, as the 150m walk from our camp ground to the toilets and showers yielded an incredible array of spiders. I reckon I could easily count 200 spiders on each trip, and you can see them super clearly with a good quality head torch. It doesn’t seem to work with a normal torch, or maybe it does if you hold it up near eye level, but head torches are ideal.
Still lost? The head torch lights up spiders as their eyes must reflect back at you. If you take the head torch off and shine it from further away from your eyes it doesn’t work.
Look for little reflections, usually blue, green or purple, and walk up to them. Every single reflection you see is the eyes of a spider, and you can see them from up to about 30 metres away. I could sit on the banks of the river at Lorella and count at least 30 of them on the other side, just chilling and doing their thing.
It really makes you wonder; how many get stood on from people who have no idea. Even more entertaining, how many people have no idea of the number of spiders sitting on the floor?
They aren’t everywhere
Since moving to our Hybrid Camper we actually very rarely use the head torches anymore, but when they do come out, we are always on the lookout for spiders. Some camps have plenty of them, and others have virtually none. Its the spiders out in the open that you’ll see best with a headlamp, and it can be a lot of fun for the kids to do (providing they don’t touch the spiders!)
You need a decent head torch
I should put a disclaimer in here and say that what you see will vastly depend on how bright your head torch is. Ours are all cheap eBay head torches that we’ve abused over the years, but they are bright as (good for looking for birds and possums in trees) and as such, work really well for spiders too. If you have a head torch that doesn’t focus too well, or isn’t very bright it might not work for you.
Leave them alone
Now, please don’t go out and get a nice head torch, and go around killing the spiders; they might not be the most pleasant animals (Sarah is absolutely petrified of them), but they fill an important role in the ecosystem, and have just as might right to be left alone as you do. Admire the fact that you can see so many of them, of all different varieties, but leave them be!
