I call it a Granddaddy-do you call it a Daddy Long Legs or something else? When the girls were babies I didn’t want them to be overly scared of creepy crawlies so when they pointed one out I didn’t make a big deal out of it even though I didn’t like them myself. Over the years I’ve wished more than once that I had passed my fears on to them, like the time they brought me the handful of hairless baby mice they found in the wood pile or the time I saw 2 long kicking Granddaddy legs sticking out of the corner of Chitter’s mouth. I never found the rest of him I’m positive it’s cause she ate him.
I’ve heard the story of the Granddaddy being the most poisonous spider-but it can’t bite you because it’s fangs/mouth is too small. You can go here to find out if it’s true or not (it’s not). Frank C. Brown’s collection of North Carolina Folklore has this to say about Granddaddies:
I asked Pap if he’d ever heard of a granddaddy helping you find your cows. After he quit laughing he said no he must have missed that one.
Tipper
Appalachia Through My Eyes – A series of photographs from my life in Southern Appalachia.
36 Comments
Angela Canady
November 16, 2016 at 6:01 pmYes, my family is from WV and we always held them by the back leg and said “Granddaddy Longleg, show me a cow” and he’d point with that front foot in the direction of the cows.
Bobby Title
June 11, 2016 at 4:06 pmUntil a spider bit me on my chest one night while I was asleep and by morning had caused a huge red weal that sent me to Urgent Care, I’d always had a live and let live attitude toward house spiders. “Friendly” I though of them as. However, after the episode above which cost me a pretty penny, I changed my opinion and now quickly dispatch every house spider I see (though I do apologize to them for doing so.) Daddy Longlegs are exempt from this fatwah. They stay out of my way and I stay out of theirs.
Delores "Rusty" Ellis
July 19, 2011 at 6:34 pmGrasshoppers, oh yeh! Grew up with ’em in Indiana, North Carolina and now here in Tucson.
But, hey, what about my granddaughter jumping out of her sleep and bed to discover a cockroach had fallen on her forehead. She got really creeped out, the type of person who runs
at the site of any critter that crawls and spins webs and lives
in the swamp. I told her she hadn’t lived til she caught site of a mesquite beetle here in the desert. I thought it was dog do
when I first saw it. CREEPY. Remember the fiddle tune cricket on the hearth? I was fiddlin’ one day with friends in the living room and saw a cockroach climbing my fireplace hearth. And they say I’m “buggy”….mmmmm?
Rusty Ellis, Tucson, AZ [email protected]
Joe Mode
June 14, 2011 at 11:57 amWell, growing up here in Knoxville, Tennessee we always called them Grandaddy Long Legs. If they come around I just grab em by a leg and sling em away.
We call Lightning Bugs….Lightning Bugs and baby frogs Tadpoles. Then there are Water Spiders.
It would be nice when someone says, “In my neck of the woods we…” to put where their neck of the woods is. I like knowing who says what where.
Lonnie L. Dockery
June 14, 2011 at 10:33 amI’m late, but we would always hold the grandaddy by the back leg and recite: Grandaddy, grandaddy, which-a-way’d the cows go! It was Mother’s way of keeping us entertained–cheaply.
Melissa P (misplaced Southerner)
June 14, 2011 at 7:41 amAlways called them Daddy Longlegs! Played with them all the time in the mountains. They are the ONLY spider (even though I’ve heard they aren’t technically a spider) that I will rescue and put back outside. Yes, we have them in Michigan which is oddly comforting. Had heard that they were extremely poisonous, too. Never worried about it because their mouths are so small and I figured I’d built up good karma from saving so many. Nice to know they aren’t deadly. I’m smiling over the pointing the way to the cows…First time I’ve ever heard that one.
Tipper
June 13, 2011 at 9:14 amGeorgie-I don’t have a clue : ) But maybe someone else will!
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Paula
June 12, 2011 at 9:54 pmToo funny! The picture of Daddy Longlegs (that’s what I call him!) two kicking legs handing out of Chitter’s mouth had me laughing out loud and reading your post to my husband. I grew up carrying Daddy Longlegs around in my hands, but don’t ever recall eating one. LOL~
Didn’t know he could help me find the cows, though…
Luann
June 12, 2011 at 3:46 pmDaddy longlegs in Oklahoma….
B. Ruth
June 12, 2011 at 3:33 pmHey Tipper,
Ewwww! I can’t imagine kicking Granddaddy longlegs hanging out of my child’s mouth…
It makes me gag just to think about it….but of course I have had those similar episodes raising two boys..
It is amazing what they can put in their mouth even with you screaming to stop and racing to get to them before they do it! Yuk! I have a story about one of mine but can’t think about repeating it here, without getting sick to my stomach!…Ha
That said, I used to play hand games with my children and grandchildren, like (here is the church, steeple, doors, etc and clapping games as well! )…A few of them were learning tools!
Cup your hands with the fingers touching each hand, open them until they spread out flat, with palms and fingers still touching, open and close them two or three times fast while asking the child to guess what it is?…You can give the hint that it is an insect, (without getting scientific, actually arachnid!)…When they give up tell them it is a Five legged Granddaddy Longlegs doing push-ups on a mirror!…The learning tool:…Spiders have 8 legs and bugs have 6. It helps them remember! At least it worked for my kids! By the way if you ever observe Granddaddy long legs you will see them doing push-ups on basement walls or the side of the house!….I always wondered if that was a scare tactic they used when you got to close to them, they kind of bounce like they might jump on you!…Also they do lift a leg and point….but don’t always follow the first point ‘cause they will sometimes point a front right leg as well as a back left leg at the same time! Ha They do this just to confuse you! I always heard if you asked about anything lost they would point in the right direction, but never heard specifically cows! We are a little short on Granddaddy longlegs this year…it has been too dry…once things moisten up around here they will arrive on the side of the house in droves..
I always heard they were poison too, but the mouth parts were to small to bite…
Thanks Tipper
Vicki Lane
June 12, 2011 at 9:56 amI call them Daddy Long Legs and we are blessed with an abundance of them.
Lisa @ Two Bears Farm
June 12, 2011 at 9:54 amI never heard that legend about the poison or the legend of the cows. Interesting!
Jen
June 12, 2011 at 9:47 amWe call them Daddy Long Legs here. I got the willies picturing legs sticker out of her mouth. Never heard about them finding cows, but love the idea. Have a great day!
Caro
June 12, 2011 at 8:46 amWhen I was little I was scared of Grandaddy Long Legs. My Mama would say, ‘That’s just a poor old Granddaddy Long Legs.’ IT worked like a charm on me. I never heard that they were poisonous, but their beak to weak to penetrate skin until a friend from Colorado told me that. She said she heard it from a science teacher. I tired telling her ‘it’s just a poor old daddy long legs’ but it had no effect. She lived in fear of the mutant Grandaddy Long Legs who could penetrate skin. Incidentally, the same is said of Coral Snakes. They are a danger to pets, but not really to humans because of the placement and small size of their fangs.
Tipper
June 12, 2011 at 8:05 amSandra-I hate walking through webs too. We don’t sing Rank Strangers-but I love the song too!
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Suzi Phillips
June 11, 2011 at 11:08 pmGrandaddies-I used to play with them when I was a kid. I threw one on my neighbor & she had an absolute hissy, screaming I was trying to kill her! That was the first time I heard they were poisonous. Just the other day, a boy thought I was gonna die for sure when I plucked one off Mitchell’s shirt. Some of us need to get outside more often-
David Templeton
June 11, 2011 at 10:44 pmWe called them granddaddy spiders or granddaddy longlegs and all of my childhood we knew that you could ask the granddaddy spider where the cows were and he would point in that direction. Of course, we were never actually in a cow-finding mode; it was just for our entertainment.
I’ve always been told that their closest relatives are scorpions and not arachnidas.
Ron Corley
June 11, 2011 at 7:42 pmOh my goodness Tipper … Daddy Long Legs (as we always called them back in Colorado) are the spiders that I am the least afraid of! And that was the same as a child. Never, ever have I heard that they were poisonous … in fact, just the opposite. In my lifetime, I’ve probably handled thousands of these little harmless creatures. Nothing to fear with these … I find them rather cute.
Ron
Tennessee
Charlotte
June 11, 2011 at 3:32 pmWe call them granddaddy long legs; I’m not afraid of them but don’t want one crawling on me. They stink too when crushed.
The folklore tell about the cows is sorta like “a horsehair turning into a worm”.
lynn legge
June 11, 2011 at 3:09 pmtipper how you make my days.. lol i laughed when you said what grandpap said about the little legs showing the way to the cows.. as for me…. i dont like ANY kind of spider.. even if it has granddaddy legs.. my brothers called them daddy long legs and loved to throw them on me.. so with four brothers who loved to torture their sister.. the subject still makes me queasy.. but i adore your stories and would stand back and watch a granddaddy tell the farmer where his cows were.. rofl
sending much love and ladybug hugs
lynn
Ethel
June 11, 2011 at 2:41 pmI’ve always called them daddy long legs. As a child I used to catch them and let them crawl up and down my arms, though I don’t think I have ever eaten one! Nowadays I catch them with my grandaughter Kate, even though I live in terror of all other spiders.
I love the old tale about them helping to find cows, but I must say they’ve never helped me locate any of my mislaid garden tools!
Dorothy Sanderson
June 11, 2011 at 12:09 pmI love the story about Daddy Longlegs pointing the way to the cows. Yes I said “Daddy Longlegs” That what we say in Kansas.
georgie
June 11, 2011 at 12:04 pmWe call them Daddy Longlegs. Yesterday I found a nasty looking red/brown spider in the soil by a rosebush. It was thin and scampered quite fast. Any idea what variety of spider that would be?
Becky
June 11, 2011 at 11:50 amI call them granddaddy long legs. I’m not afraid of them but I wouldn’t eat one either. EWWWWWWW!!!!
I’ve heard that about them being poisonous, too. I’m off to check out your link.
Oh, I can just hear Pap laughing. LOL
Helen G.
June 11, 2011 at 11:36 amThey are granddaddies in my neck of the woods but I’m with Pap on never having heard about them helping to find the cows. I put up my first farm post today. Try to keep cool and keep on gardening!
Helen
Ken
June 11, 2011 at 11:25 amTipper,
I wonder if those Granddaddies had
a good taste. Only Chitter would
know! When my oldest granddaughter
was just crawling she got into a
patch of ladybugs (those speckled
Voltswagons) and when her mama
hollared at her, she just smiled and there were pieces of glitter all over her teeth. What little
girls won’t do! And we also had a
cow when I was little, but I don’t
remember anyone asking a daddy long legs which direction the cow
was in. Nice post…Ken
Barbara Johnson
June 11, 2011 at 11:06 amWe call the Daddy Long Legs..and if you kill one it is sure to rain!
Coffeemuses
June 11, 2011 at 10:24 amDown here in east Texas, we call ’em daddy longlegs. They must be a different species though ’cause all I’ve ever seen were dark brown to black.
Reading the reference material leads me to believe ours are true daddy longlegs and not the spider variety as I always wondered about the single section of body.
Thanks for “spicing” up my morning read.
kat
June 11, 2011 at 10:16 amI’ve always called them granddaddys and sometimes just them ole long legged spiders. Never have liked the things. Have heard they were also poison.
Sheila Bergeron
June 11, 2011 at 9:11 amWe called them Grandaddies, Tipper.I remember when my twins were little, I found Lucy with a medium size miller in her mouth and then she threw a fit cause I took it away from her. Ya’ll have a blessed day.
Sheryl Paul
June 11, 2011 at 9:06 amThey are scary looking things, we call them daddy Longlegs
sandra
June 11, 2011 at 8:15 ami vote with granddaddy long legs, but have heard daddy long legs to. comes from half life in three states. never heard the story and i laughed too. i don’t like them at all. have not seen one in years, but my friend that lives here says her garage is full of them. i have not checked to see if it is so. our yard is full of spiders and their webs. 4 different species. i knock the web down and they build it back. i want to kill them but hubby says they eat mosquitoes, but if i tear down the web they can’t catch them. i really hate walking through a web and having the feeling something is crawling on me. does your family sing Rank Strangers? i have been listening to it, heard it on bluegrass station this morning.
Carol Isler
June 11, 2011 at 7:49 amWe call them Granddaddy Long Legs down here in Spartanburg Co.-carol
Miss Cindy
June 11, 2011 at 7:33 amI call them Grandaddy Spiders. I consider them the gentle giants of the spider world. I don’t deliberately kill them….unless they are in the house.
Maybe Chitter will now be immune to spider bites…lol!
When they came in with the hairless baby rats, did you let them keep them?!?
I’m glad you didn’t teach them to be afraid. Their life will be easier without that. When the Deer Hunter was little I caught my Aunt Ruth trying to make him afraid of snakes. Her intent was good, it was for his own protection. I had to really work at overcoming what she told him. I wanted him to have a healthy respect for snakes but not be afraid of them. I took him to a zoo where he could hold a beautiful big King snake. It worked, he is not afraid of snakes but he has a healthy respect for them. He doesn’t harm a harmless snake but doesn’t hesitate to kill those copperheads that are in such abundance around your house.
Sassy
June 11, 2011 at 7:12 amThat is a cute and funny story. I have to say ewwwww on the legs sticking out of Chitter’s mouth. We also called them Daddy Long Legs and I didn’t know they were poisonous 😮
canned quilter
June 11, 2011 at 6:38 amI’m with Pap as I missed that one too. We call them Grandaddy Long legs and like you I had heard that they were extrememly poisonous but couldn’t bite. Guess that was wrong : ) My kids used to love to catch them and play with them.