A Staff Report from the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
Why don't spiders get stuck to their own webs?
September 13, 2001
Dear Straight Dope:
Here's just one of the legion of questions my 4 year old son asks me that I can't answer: How come spiders don't get stuck on their own webs? My answer was: because they have special stuff on their legs, but I really have no idea!
Actually, spiders could get stuck in their own webs--they're just more careful than that. You see, some of the strands are sticky, and others are not. The spiders only climb on the NON-sticky strands. Even if they accidentally set foot on a sticky strand, as long as it's not their whole body or multiple legs, they can still pull their foot free fairly easily. It's not THAT sticky.
