How to avoid the horror of walking through a spiderweb, according to the National Park Service
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It’s a downright creepy feeling. You’re striding confidently down what seems to be a clear, open path, and then you feel it. Stretchy filaments dragging across your skin, your clothes—even worse, your face. The more you try to backtrack and flail your way out of it the more you feel like Frodo wrapped in Shelob the spider’s deadly web, your luckier friends snickering like orcs ready to take you back to Mordor.
Long story short, walking through a spiderweb is awful. However, according to the National Park Service (NPS), there are ways to avoid the frustrating encounter. The first tip they list is sticking to the road most traveled. Since spiders are more likely to build their sticky and intricate homes near greenery, walking along the center of the trail can lessen your chances of becoming an arachnid home wrecker.
Tip number two: “Sweep a hiking stick or trekking pole in front of you as you walk to catch any webs before you run into them,” the agency writes. “No need to go full Jedi on your first day with a new lightsaber—use it only when needed. And remember to say sorry. Manners matter, even to spiders.”
Along the same lines, a brimmed hat can intercept webs and also protects your face from the sun’s harmful rays.The NPS also suggests—rather sensibly—walking slowly and carefully along a trail, and conducting your adventures during the middle of the day. Spiders are more active at dawn and dusk, so avoiding these times lessens your chances of an unhappy meeting.
What’s more, a cheeky Facebook user had another clever tip that is bad news for tall friends, but a great strategy for all the short kings and queens adventuring into national parks. “Let the tallest member of your group lead the way. They will clear the path! Also, never be the tallest member of the group.”
But if, despite all this advice, you still walk into a spiderweb, rest assured that there’s another Lord of the Rings-themed silver lining from the NPS: “One does not simply become a master of karate. First, you must accidentally walk into a spider web.”
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