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Season Watch Podcast sponsored by Sugar Lake Lodge
Season Watch

Who's scared of a harmless spider? (Charlie is.)

By Charlie Mitchell,
Heidi Holtan
Published July 3, 2026 at 4:23 PM CDT
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A tiny jumping spider with big eyes stands on a brick patio. It is dwarfed by a single brick.
KAXE
/
Charlie Mitchell
A tiny jumping spider stands on a brick patio near Stillwater on July 11, 2025.

Co-hosts Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan discuss the harmless spiders of Minnesota, the spread of invasive yellow irises, and more.

Send us a voice memo through SpeakPipe!

In Minnesota, the only venomous spiders are brought in from outside state lines.

That hasn't stopped Charlie Mitchell (phenology coordinator, otherwise confident animal enthusiast) from being afraid of them. In this week's pod, Charlie and Heidi Holtan (director of content and public affairs, duck appreciator) discuss spiders, yellow irises, and House Wrens.

We hear from Chad Kaddatz, Saara Miller, Steve Cerkvenik, and John Latimer.

Attributions

  1. House Wren recording by Jonathon Jongsma, XC134864. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/134864.
  2. Chad Kaddatz, Saara Miller, and Steve Cerkvenik provided voice memos through the Season Watch SpeakPipe.
  3. John Latimer's phenology report originally aired on KAXE.
  4. This episode was produced by Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan.

Love the podcast? How do you feel about spiders? Let us know! Send us a voice memo through SpeakPipe!

Email us at seasonwatch@kaxe.org.

Tags
Season Watch Season Watch PodcastKAXENorthern MinnesotaPhenologySummer phenology
Stay Connected
Charlie Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell (she/they) joined KAXE in February of 2022. Charlie creates the Season Watch Newsletter, produces the Phenology Talkbacks show, coordinates the Phenology in the Classroom program, and writes nature-related stories for KAXE's website. Essentailly, Charlie is John Latimer's faithful sidekick and makes sure all of KAXE's nature/phenology programs find a second life online and in podcast form.<br/><br/><br/>With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, or the star-nosed mole. (Fun fact: Moles store fat in their tails, so they don't outgrow their tunnels every time conditions are good.)
See stories by Charlie Mitchell
Heidi Holtan
For more than two decades, Heidi Holtan has helped shape the sound of KAXE. Since joining the station in 2002 as a volunteer music programmer, she has worn many hats including the weekly book program, Realgoodwords, hosting the Morning Show, creation and host of the weekly call-in program Between You and Me, serving as Outreach Producer. Program Director, News Director and currently Director of Content and Public Affairs.
See stories by Heidi Holtan
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