'Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave'

If you are a cockroach sneaking around at night you had better water out for the spider web traps laid out. Boric acid has no effect. Cinnamon is just a fragrance. Hot pepper just entices you to move your feet, but a spider web... that's something to watch out for.

With more construction going on in the spring there are more cockroaches that try to enter through our door. We tried traps and roach motels. We tried sprays and powders but what really works is spiders. I really underestimated the work these guys do until this morning when I saw one little guy take on a huge cockroach.

The spider waited for the cockroach to get tired and then he took a little nibble. Then he wrapped him up and little by little pushed the cockroach into the corner for safe keeping.

My first thought was to get rid of the spider and either spray it or send it outside, but so far this spider has been more effective at getting rid of cockroaches than anyone else in our house.

From my point of view I think the spider has earned its keep. Bug spray and traps can cost us up to a hundred dollars a season but this guy works for free. I'm not afraid of living with a spider. People have all kinds of pets. As long as he is well fed with cockroaches he will never have to venture off into our bedroom and I'm pretty safe from this little fella's grip.

Irony of Symbiosis

This is the irony of symbiosis. We really can't live with cockroaches running through the house. They carry disease and my kids have respiratory problems bad enough already. We can't beat the cockroaches with modern sprays and poisons, but the spider can beat the cockroach. I think the easiest solution is to become friends with the spider.

I think I will name him Boris.

The Kids are Alright tour of 1989

Boris the Spider - The Who

This was such a fun show. They performed at Alpine Valley not far from Chicago and I cherished that "Kids are Alright" T-shirt my brother bought for me. I think I wore it every other day that year.

Back when John wrote this song in 1966 people used to fart songs. They never knew they would last or become classic. This was just one of hundreds the Who came up with, and it remained a crowd favorite for decades.

I hope you enjoyed this creepy crawly song. If you notice at the end of the song Pete Townshend points and says,

"There it is. There!"

Boris is still alive.

Boris the Spider was written in memory of Boris, but in my case I'm giving Boris a second chance. In memory of the 1966 Boris I am giving this spider the name Boris and whishing him the greatest success in removing every cockroach that crawls under our door.

That Boris

What a creep