The Crater is about a day’s drive from Ashgabat, and is a long walk off the road towards Kanye-Urgench. I remember lots of spiders
posted by JPD at 1:32 PM on March 26

Anyone else bothered by both this sentence and the way it abruptly ends?
posted by maxwelton at 1:54 PM on March 26

Please elaborate on “lots of spiders”. Are they attracted to the hole? This scares me. You know all those species of crab that live near hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor? I wonder if there’s some latent evolutionary pull in arachnids to go near hellaciously hot and toxic things like this. I wonder if over time a species of spider will evolve near this crater, just like those crabs.
posted by Pastabagel at 2:05 PM on March 26

You bastard! Now I have a new thing to worry about! Gaaaahhhhh……
posted by aramaic at 2:25 PM on March 26

I really think they are just attracted to the light.
posted by JPD at 2:32 PM on March 26

Haven’t you notice how even campfires attract spiders? For hundred meter radius, all spiders gather round and watch silently, planning spidery plans, creeping closer. When the fire goes out, they tend to get confused and aggressive and seek the next warm body. Don’t let the fire go out.
posted by Free word order! at 5:50 PM on March 26