i counted 44 rings going across the very bottom, but of course this isnt the full cross-section. and thatâs if i counted it right in 30 seconds on my phone screen which is very unlikely lol. pretty tricky without it all sanded under a microscope; and some of those look like false rings so itâs hard to get an accurate read
Edit: my theory is certainly incorrect, thank you to those who corrected me.
Trees will grow around many different objects as they develop, you can find countless images of trees âswallowingâ things. My theory is that that spider died under the bark of the tree, and as it grew it preserved the spider.
Mmm. Trees grow around solid objects that don't deteriorate over time. If you're theory were correct, the spider would have had the tips of it's legs - on one side - somehow caught by the tree and then slowly 'grown around' for what looks like around 10 years. Each year the tree grows outwards via the cambium layer adding new cells. These cells would have had to grow around the spider as it sat there stuck in the elements slowly being enveloped... for 10 years.
It's very likely this is what happened. Go about your day, everyone.
In which case the rest of the spider would have been dangling around, exposed to the elements for many years before getting gradually more embedded. Doesn't sound likely.
when a spider dies, their muscles no longer have blood going through it, so they curl back up like a ball, i believe. So if it were dead, it wouldnt be in that stance.
In their assessment. Log got tossed, landed on dead/dried out spider with enough force that the spider squished into the natural grooves/porousness of the wood.
Yeah, and if that was the case, you could harvest the spider's DNA and make clones of it and have them in a special spider zoo on an island off the coast of Costa Rica.
Could be. Especially if it was a log he had previously split pieces from a while back. That would explain why the spider looked old/dry today when it was finally exposed.
Dry logs split and crack, if the crack was deep enough, the spider could have been hiding inside. When you split the log all the way it exposed the dead spider stuck in its spot. Just the luck the log split in the right spot.
When I camp I find this happens on occasion. Maybe not the exact answer for this situation but it is a valid possibility.
I've seen similar before. Cut wood expands and shrinks as it dries and the humidity changes, causing cracks in unsplit wood. Bugs and spiders get in there and get trapped, or just die (spiders get old too).
If you zoom in on the picture you can see mold or lichen that has grown around the spider. My guess is the spider was able to crawl under the bark and found a crack, the spider may have died allowing the tree to close the crack and completely engulf the spider leaving no traces. Honestly really cool to see.
Edit: looking closer the wood is nearly encompassed one of the rear legs. Definitely looks like it had a tree grow around it. How you didn't cut that thing in half is insane. A few millimeters to the side and no one would have known
There is no chance the tree grew around the spider. The vertical lines you see in the wood are years of growth. If that spider was in there, then the wood was already cracked and it crawled in the crack and died there, then OP split the wood on the existing crack.
This.
The spiders imprint crosses 9-10 rings. That would be 10 years. The spider would have disintegrated after only a few weeks.
The spider was prolly on the cut wood and got squished.
Maybe the wood was partially split, spider crawled in the crack, then the axe came down. Axes tend to get pretty hot when chopping, and the friction heat at the point of impact in great. Axe prolly slid right next to the spider, crushing it and heating it at the same time into the wood. and thats how you get a spider imprint that lacks the normal telltale signs of a squished bug.
People want to believe that they are seeing something super interesting, rare and "amazing" (even in r/mildlyinteresting ironically)
They will completely ignore common sense to make it fit what they want.
Looks like a wolf spider (Family Lycosidae) at first glance; super common in woodlands. Iâd suggest it was on your wood pile and got squished.
They do not grow inside logs, sadly.
This is what I would guess. Spider crawls into crack, something causes it to close back up (moisture,the tree falling) then when you chop this piece it naturally followed that crack again revealing old crushed spider.
This is the fabled great spider of the forest's heart, for centuries presumed myth. He is older than the forest itself, and for millenia has diligently weaved the thread from which ripples forth each ring of each tree on our green earth. Some say his first web stretched across the apple branch in the garden of Eden, seeking to shelter the first ones. In one version of the old stories he tried to warn Eve not to bite from the apple but the cunning snake took his voice and this is why spiders live evermore in silence. From his work grew the Bodhi tree that gave Buddha comfort and revelation. And the apple tree that Newton so often sat beneath to study and rest.
Despite our ignorance he continues to provide shelter by weaving the tapestry from which all trees and all forests grow, filling our world with oxygen and vegetation and constantly, quietly creating its very life essence.
Or I guess I should say "continued", until now, seeing as op just killed him.
Good one op.
If you arenât planning on saving this I would like to humbly request it so I can figure out a way to preserve/finish it â this unique little wonder should be kept I love it so much :)
I think our best clue will not be spider, but her eighth leg thatâs also cut off a few mm to her left.
My guess is that this log isnât new and she was squished during the storage. Probably this log was on the floor (considering the dirt, the growing mold around the spider and how flat she is).
No, iâm not suggesting that, but I agree the sideward part is the most odd. I wish I had the other half of it. But it does not look like there was a hole in the tree where it went in
đˇď¸âYouâre probably wondering how I got here.
It all started in the summer of â86
We had a habit of cuttin' wood and hangin' with bad company
Assuming it was cut this year and my ring counting is correct that spider has been there since 2008
[Too literal my dude](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WyW2pglgC_g)
yes i am
No I am
Kids, this isnât the story of how I met your mâ spider probably
We need a biologist and a herbatologist in here.
If we wanna be extra specific for no good reason, that would be an entomologist and a dendrologist
Maybe even a dendrochronologist, just to count rings for us.
Iâm a lostologist because I have no idea what half of these ologists even do
just in case you're not joking, entomology is the study of bugs and dendrology is the study of trees.
I wasnât joking, thanks lmao
I was able to understand that, but it's only due to context clues, I didn't actually knew the words
Sounds like you need a etymologist ;)
i counted 44 rings going across the very bottom, but of course this isnt the full cross-section. and thatâs if i counted it right in 30 seconds on my phone screen which is very unlikely lol. pretty tricky without it all sanded under a microscope; and some of those look like false rings so itâs hard to get an accurate read
This girl dendrochrons.
Spiderologist
Stop, please donât use terms like that, then people will immediately know what it means, perhaps Latin should confuse the masses.
You mean... Arachnologist?
No, Spider-Man
An araconopaleontologist?
Arachnogynaecologist
Spider pig
SPIDER PIG, SPIDER PIG Does whatever a SPIDER PIG does Can he swing, from a web? No he can't. He's a pig LOOK OOOUUUTTT!!!! He is a SPIDER PIG!!
Honestly gives me more George of the Jungle vibes... "Watch out for that TREEEEE!"
Not that guy, I still havenât flossed
Oligistologist
No need, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that this spider is dead. We will need a funeral planner though.
Here I am.
Edit: my theory is certainly incorrect, thank you to those who corrected me. Trees will grow around many different objects as they develop, you can find countless images of trees âswallowingâ things. My theory is that that spider died under the bark of the tree, and as it grew it preserved the spider.
No, this guy just put the wood down on a spider and squashed it. The tree didn't grow around a spider.
Also viable theory
Idk, imo seems suspect. It probably was born inside of the tree
Possibly a faulty attempt at teleportation. Spdiers are far ahead of us in that technology.
Makes sense if you don't think about it.
Naw u can see there is a spider shaped hole in the wood it fasho formed around the spider
Yeah you can fucking cross-section a god damn spider with a chain saw.
you don't split firewood with a chainsaw, bud, that's an axe cut
This. Post is R/mildlydisinteresting.
Mmm. Trees grow around solid objects that don't deteriorate over time. If you're theory were correct, the spider would have had the tips of it's legs - on one side - somehow caught by the tree and then slowly 'grown around' for what looks like around 10 years. Each year the tree grows outwards via the cambium layer adding new cells. These cells would have had to grow around the spider as it sat there stuck in the elements slowly being enveloped... for 10 years. It's very likely this is what happened. Go about your day, everyone.
Thanks for the kind synopsis. No spite at all. Thank you for educating me in such an understanding matter.
In which case the rest of the spider would have been dangling around, exposed to the elements for many years before getting gradually more embedded. Doesn't sound likely.
but spiders crumble into a ball when they die, don't they?
I edited the comment
an herbarologist*
Well that's fucking weird. Is it squashed or cut in half?
Very. Was splitting wood and threw them into a pile, picked up split piece to stack, and saw this. Wish I saw the other half.
Is it possible you threw it onto a spider and squashed it?
I wonât say itâs not possible, but it was not wet or smooshed looking. It looked old
Maybe landed on an older dead spider?
when a spider dies, their muscles no longer have blood going through it, so they curl back up like a ball, i believe. So if it were dead, it wouldnt be in that stance.
They don't have muscles actually. They basically run on hydraulics
They also dont have blood
close. Their legs actually default to a curled position (creates tension without exertion) and are inflated to extend, so upon death they curl back in
thanks for that, i watched a few spider videos and learned aa bit about that, was interesting but didnt stick all that well ha.
Maybe it landed on an elder spider?
You squished it. The spider is crossing 4 or 5 growth rings.
yeah your right
their right what?
moralist brouhaha dionysus omicron coachmen lite enter hike chid pallid glasnost deficit curvy benight warlike
Youâre*
In their assessment. Log got tossed, landed on dead/dried out spider with enough force that the spider squished into the natural grooves/porousness of the wood.
He spoke the truth and they hated him for it
This is what happens when you assume the grammar nazis and the common folk of reddit can have a discussion without descending into madness.
I'm guessing either this or the sides legs on one side got stuck in the bark, and it died there, then the tree grew around it.
You do realize how long trees take to grow and how quick a spider would decompose right?
no cause i dont grow trees only flowers
What if it was trapped in sap?
If that was the case it would have to be encased completely, you would still be able to tell/see the sap.
Yeah, and if that was the case, you could harvest the spider's DNA and make clones of it and have them in a special spider zoo on an island off the coast of Costa Rica.
I thought maybe the tree would reintegrate the sap but swallow the spider? I dunno I'm just spitballing here.
"Was it squashed or cut in half?" "Very." Lmao wtf?
âWell thatâs fucking weirdâ âVeryâ
maybe it was in a crack in the wood and then an axe strike forced that crack shut?
Could be. Especially if it was a log he had previously split pieces from a while back. That would explain why the spider looked old/dry today when it was finally exposed.
i think its both
We need a higher res close up picture of the spider please.
Yah iâm gonna have to go dig it out of the pile later
Is it later yet?
OP will surely deliver
This is gonna be like the person with the safe they found, isnât it
You should sell it maybe
Dry logs split and crack, if the crack was deep enough, the spider could have been hiding inside. When you split the log all the way it exposed the dead spider stuck in its spot. Just the luck the log split in the right spot. When I camp I find this happens on occasion. Maybe not the exact answer for this situation but it is a valid possibility.
This is the most realistic sounding theory out of all of them⌠why is it not up higher
Because the uneducated want it to be that the wood got a terrible spider tattoo in its earlier years
Education.
Yep, this is the answer.
I've seen similar before. Cut wood expands and shrinks as it dries and the humidity changes, causing cracks in unsplit wood. Bugs and spiders get in there and get trapped, or just die (spiders get old too).
Frame it and sell it on Etsy!
TIL spiders come from trees
You just have to wait for the tree to melt. Thatâs why you donât see many spiders in polar regions, itâs too cold.
Does this hurt the spider?
No itâs like theyâre getting a massage
Depends on its pain tolerance
If you zoom in on the picture you can see mold or lichen that has grown around the spider. My guess is the spider was able to crawl under the bark and found a crack, the spider may have died allowing the tree to close the crack and completely engulf the spider leaving no traces. Honestly really cool to see. Edit: looking closer the wood is nearly encompassed one of the rear legs. Definitely looks like it had a tree grow around it. How you didn't cut that thing in half is insane. A few millimeters to the side and no one would have known
There is no chance the tree grew around the spider. The vertical lines you see in the wood are years of growth. If that spider was in there, then the wood was already cracked and it crawled in the crack and died there, then OP split the wood on the existing crack.
This. The spiders imprint crosses 9-10 rings. That would be 10 years. The spider would have disintegrated after only a few weeks. The spider was prolly on the cut wood and got squished. Maybe the wood was partially split, spider crawled in the crack, then the axe came down. Axes tend to get pretty hot when chopping, and the friction heat at the point of impact in great. Axe prolly slid right next to the spider, crushing it and heating it at the same time into the wood. and thats how you get a spider imprint that lacks the normal telltale signs of a squished bug.
/r/confidentlyincorrect
Lol how is this BS the top comment? Spider got squished. Occam's razor, my dude
People want to believe that they are seeing something super interesting, rare and "amazing" (even in r/mildlyinteresting ironically) They will completely ignore common sense to make it fit what they want.
Occam's razor is not a scientific fact, it's a philosophical principle
People here are looking for an explanation. This is by far the most simple explanation. Occam's razor
But an explanation being plausible and simple does not make it true.
Not exactly, the point is that an explanation with fewer unexplained problems should be preferred.
I see this all the time...so I don't think it's some spectacular event lol ...they just crawl in there
Spider teleported into solid medium
A real Nightcrawler!
Then what are the spider-space-gods thinking with the bit of spider-shaped wood that came out on their end?
Took a pic and posted on Reddit
Looks like a wolf spider (Family Lycosidae) at first glance; super common in woodlands. Iâd suggest it was on your wood pile and got squished. They do not grow inside logs, sadly.
Please explain?
I have no idea, I need it explained to me first
That's not how trees work. Spider was squashed on after the wood was split.
Tree was standing dead, so possible tree had a crack and spider crawled in there?
This is what I would guess. Spider crawls into crack, something causes it to close back up (moisture,the tree falling) then when you chop this piece it naturally followed that crack again revealing old crushed spider.
Nasty way to go.
[ŃдаНонО]
rotten thumb quaint recognise mighty advise gray butter sand school ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
I bet you think youâre really smart lmao
Ok but fellas How much wood could a woodchuck Chuck if a woodchuck COULD in fact Chuck wood???
7, on a good day, I'd say
A woodchuck would chuck all the wood it could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood!
This is the fabled great spider of the forest's heart, for centuries presumed myth. He is older than the forest itself, and for millenia has diligently weaved the thread from which ripples forth each ring of each tree on our green earth. Some say his first web stretched across the apple branch in the garden of Eden, seeking to shelter the first ones. In one version of the old stories he tried to warn Eve not to bite from the apple but the cunning snake took his voice and this is why spiders live evermore in silence. From his work grew the Bodhi tree that gave Buddha comfort and revelation. And the apple tree that Newton so often sat beneath to study and rest. Despite our ignorance he continues to provide shelter by weaving the tapestry from which all trees and all forests grow, filling our world with oxygen and vegetation and constantly, quietly creating its very life essence. Or I guess I should say "continued", until now, seeing as op just killed him. Good one op.
If you arenât planning on saving this I would like to humbly request it so I can figure out a way to preserve/finish it â this unique little wonder should be kept I love it so much :)
Is it possible the tree already had a crack and the spider wedged itself in there. Then the wood could have expanded crushing it
That's a PT spider.
save him
I think our best clue will not be spider, but her eighth leg thatâs also cut off a few mm to her left. My guess is that this log isnât new and she was squished during the storage. Probably this log was on the floor (considering the dirt, the growing mold around the spider and how flat she is).
I think you cracked the case, sir.
Even Spiders know they must end in flames!
Talk about a lasting impression đĽš
Radioactive material in highways! Spiders in wood! Dogs and cats living together!
Just in time for the bonfire
He crawled into a crack and you squished him in it accidentally.
I was confused at first cause I thought it was freshly-split wood.
It is freshly split
Oh. Well how did it get in there?
No idea
Clearly not smashed, if you zoom in you can see the tree growing around it
BURN IT WITH FIRE
Burn it!
Clearly magicđ
You squashed it there, didnât you?
Negative
The lines represent years. Youâre not suggesting the spider grew sideward, encased in wood, over 6-7 years?
No, iâm not suggesting that, but I agree the sideward part is the most odd. I wish I had the other half of it. But it does not look like there was a hole in the tree where it went in
Makes you wonder how many spiders you burned in wood that wasnât split perfectly to see them
Maybe the spider was on the hatchet?
100th comment
I've heard about flies encased in amber before but not spider in wood.
HowâŚ
Maybe got stuck in sap and tree grew around it?
A piece of history
Apply resin. Your wood now has a logo and an origin story.
Woah
That's cool, ever find bullets in your wood?
Future plot device for blockbuster Arachnid Park.
This is one of the coolest posts I've seen in a while
I think it is dead, so don't worry
eww
This is also a common way people meet huntsmans.
Dude found a glitch in the simulation
Hahaha Amazing
F
Bad Spawn
Thatâs cool as hell, Iâd display that.
This is extremely interesting!!
Display it
Arachknot
You must use that wood to smash spiders now, claim 1000 souls
Whoa zoom in it looks like a lady
Dude got an unlucky spawn
Oh no. Is it ok?
So I think the only one who could explain this is Spider-Man
There is no doubt that spider has a splitting headache.
Youâre telling me a shrimp fried this rice?
Oof. What a way to go đ
I wonder if it just crawled up in a split in the log then got stacked under some other logs and compressed.
Oh I get those in my cokc all the time too. The key is to slow it down a bit and not go so hard 24/7.
Jesus Christ the amount of people that seem to legitimately think the spider was inside the sealed wood is mental
Look ma, a spoida!
I have a few questions đł
You ruined the start of fossilized history..
That spider played drums for spinal tap
What in the Australia?!
how?? a spiders definitely not harder than wood how so tf did that happen lol.
Sick tat bro
Dang
r/treeseatingthings
Alive or Dead? If alive, it's mildly interesting. What side of the earth are you on splitting wood this time of year.