So I'm playing in the backyard with my 3-year-old the other day and decide her dump truck is filthy and needs a bath. I'm hosing it off when I find a spiderweb in the wheel well. No biggie, grab a ...

Ms. Renkl is a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South. August is spider season. The orb-weaver spiders in my yard spend winter tucked away in ...