GUESS I'LL BE WELCOMING THIS MONSTER INTO MY GARDEN SPACE SOON: THE JORO SPIDER

According to an article, the Joros spider has invaded Georgia. Maximum size of female 3 to 4 inches.  It flies on its webs for up to 100 miles, Girls!!  It looks like something out of the movie, "The Mist."

One female gardener posted on Facebook from GA that she opened her back door to exit and found this spider and its web over her entire entry doorway  

When it reaches Texas, I'll have to live with this hideous thing.  It is a bug-eater.  Eating the bugs that most other spiders avoid:  our stink bugs. And it will be good to have another mosquito-lover in the neighborhood.  Knowledge is power.  God, forbid it builds a web over my doorway, though.

The Trichonephila Clavata (sci-name) is beautiful in its own way.  Bright-colored creatures are most times poisonous.  Good to know it is NOT poisonous for humans.

  True Story:

We rented a cabin in the woods of North Georgia. My window was cracked open about four inches.  I like the fragrance of the night forest. Suddenly, my husband crashed through a huge spider's web that extended over half the driveway.  The creature had no time to retract into the trees.  Instead, it set on the lowered window of a now terrified screaming woman (me).  

Of course, I didn't want the spider to enter the car feeling it was hiding from whatever tore through its web.  And I didn't want to touch the passenger door to roll up the window.  My daughter screamed from the back seat of the car attempting to tell me what to do to keep it out.  I finally decided (for her sake) to be brave and save us from that terrifying creature.  It was about the size of a tarantula without hair. When I finally got up enough nerve to touch the window button on the door.  Its legs were coming inside, which called for a higher pitched scream.  My husband finally stopped the car, found a stick, and knocked it off the car before it entered. Whew...poor spider. This incident happened years ago.  Didn't know about this spider at the time.  I assumed then that it was a common, but giant, garden spider.

Ladies and gentlemen, I've learned overtime to respect the existence of all God's creatures in my yard, even the snakes. They just want to be left alone.  I'm the smart one here. Every creature simply does what it takes to survive, so I give them their space.