Everyone should start counting spiders

I was having trouble sleeping, so I was going to count sheep, but then I saw this article, and I gotta say, switching from sheep to spiders really hasn't helped at all.

If spiders are dying off, that's horrifying. Never a good thing to see predators dwindle.

Noticed at my camp this year there were fewer banana spiders than ever. On arrival, you used to have to walk the trails with a stick, yeet 'em in the woods. Used to clear ~10 webs, this year maybe 2? Used to see them on the sides of the trails, not so much now.

There was some kinda funky beast that would come along in late summer or early fall when the banana spiders went away. Fat abdomen, thin colored bands? Not sure I saw any this year.

There are literally millions of tiny black "ground attack" spiders. Haven't looked this year, but a flashlight used to light up hundreds and hundreds right nearby.