Joro spiders continue to spread across Georgia. Wherever they establish themselves, hosts of homeowners find themselves on the front line of battle against this foreign invader. Recently, two of our fellow bloggers shared their experiences with these large predators. Below you will find what they have to say.
Susan says:
I just freed a baby boy hummingbird from a Joro spider web. I did not take a picture, he was screaming and fighting to get loose, poor baby, it took a while to pick off all the webbing and smooth out his feathers-after being a little frantic in my hand he settled down and let me turn him every which way to free him. Luckily, when I was done, he flew away. I sweep the webs down daily that are around the house and in the flower beds but I missed this one. I live in Toccoa, Ga. I hate Joro spiders and kill as many as I can. They are not supposed to live here and are harmful to our natives.
I, also, “fight” Joros. Does it seem they are smaller this year than before?
We have been dispatching Joro’s from the beginning … even as many were told they were not a threat. Each Summer we dispatch as many as we can in our yard & where we hike along Little River. The Joro’s form 3D colony webs that are disastrous – we’ve found as many as 9 Joro’s in a colony. Here at home, where we have hummer feeders, I have dispatched nearly 30 Joro’s from just one large shrub. I photograph odes & butterflies – the worst (and largest) victim we have found so far was a gorgeous Georgia River Cruiser in a golden web near the river. It was still alive and we DID manage to free it – but it then died either from the stress or perhaps it had already been bitten by the Joro. Our drought conditions this Summer have not impacted the Joro’s. Cherokee County GA 2024
You are having a terrible time with joros. I hope others are not having similar problems. I also wish I could offer a solution to your problems.