The spiders see all.
"Crazy ideas proposed to explain web
There were "in the order of tens of millions of spiders running frantically back and forth," but they weren't interacting with each other.
Since the spiders didn't seem to care if an occasional insect stumbled into their construction, Thair doesn't think it was built for trapping purposes.
He suggests the spiders encountered an enormous quantity of high quality, nutritious prey to be able to accomplish this feat.
But he's also heard other suggestions.
"Some people have said, 'oh yes, well it's a trampoline for aliens,'" Thair joked. "Or maybe it was an effort collectively by these spiders to try and catch a sheep."
Snowstorms and wind have blown away much of the web since he first spotted it the week of Oct. 27, but Thair intends to return to the field to see if the spiders have mated successfully."
Read between the lines
