Meet The Real Spider-Man

Rod Crawford, our curator of arachnids, can be seen most afternoons identifying spiders and replying to emails in his office on the second floor of the Burke. Large windows let visitors watch our scientists and collections managers as they go about their work. Rod has decorated his window with spider specimens and his living map of spider collections across the state.

Note: Harvestmen (also known as Daddy Long Legs) are not spiders but are shown in this video. Rod collects them, too.

[burkemuseum]

Why is this work important?

A tough problem facing environmental conservation is how little we know about overlooked organisms like spiders. Rod’s goal is to lay the groundwork by producing a detailed record of which species are living in which parts of our state. To do this he preserves one specimen from each species in alcohol so that other scientists can verify his data and conduct further research on those spiders decades or even centuries into the future. This is standard practice in his field.

Rod cares deeply about protecting native species and makes sure he collects at a rate well below what could impact them overall.

[corujabiruta]

To the spiders this cute jolly grandpa is the titanic devil that comes to collect you, to never return.

[remcovanvliet]

It's guys like this one, who are the true heroes of science and biology.

Without them, there would be no field guides, no reference books or encyclopedias.

Thank you for your Service, Sir.

[stephenmadl]

He clearly loves what he does. He's a lucky man to have found something that he can dedicate himself to

[bananapeppers]

"Society can only flourish when men plant trees they will not sit in the shade of" -some smart guy

[JohnnyKoombill]

"spiders rarely found here" cuts to dead spiders 😂

[firecracka]

The rarest and therefore arguably one of the coolest animals i came across was a spider that was only seen 2 other times in my part of the country.

[happytuna]

Big spiders: YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!!
Small spiders: get in? You sure? Ok...

[russellsmejkal]

I hope someone can take over for him one day and not let this project go unnoticed

[xabalba]

As an arachnophobe in the rough area of the Burke museum I both admire his dedication and have no desire to see his records😅. Excellent work mr Crawford

[MiddleWayAcres]

That hat he's wearing essential to the mission

[virtueofabsolution]

Is there anything more beautiful than getting paid pennies to do what you truly love

[lilriverofsoup]

This is a project that can never finish, we must always have somone out there monitoring and recording the health of our environments. I hope he leaves a long lasting environmental monitoring lab for future generations to rely on.

[Kem-guor]

Please come to my house and pick up these crazy looking spiders i have around my house! 😂

[youngsu]

Ive owned and raised a couple of jumping spiders and I love how they act like little cats just without the affection.

Thank you for your work sir!

[jenkscx]

This is one beautiful side of humans we rarely ever see, yet so so important

[TimeSurfer]

"Spider Man, Spider Man
"Catches whatever Spiders he can.
"With his net while wearing gloves
"Doing the work that he loves.
"HEY THERE, he's the real Spider man."

[vladdracula]

Bless this man for finding love for even natures creepiest creations

[velvetaeon]

That's where all my spiders went

I'm coming for you pops

[Dashersacct]

I was not expecting him to drown them all😮