Grizzly Bears and Spiders

On a recent trip to Canada a tour guide discussing the refusal of grizzly bear mamas to take underground passages to safely cross roads said, “they’re just doing what they’re programmed to do.”  I found that interesting.  Unintentionally, the guide had just acknowledged that God exists.  Explaining many of the clearly observable situations in biology is impossible in the absence of a creator. Let’s look at just a few things that are easily observable and seemingly simple yet we cannot explain how they can be.

Trapdoor spiders create an underground burrow about an inch in diameter and about 5 inches long.  At the top of this burrow they fashion a door made mostly of silk, but covered and camouflaged with dirt and plant pieces.  This door is hinged to the ground on one side.  During the daytime the door is shut and it’s difficult to even see.  The spider is hidden comfortably inside, unnoticeable. At night the spider holds the door open as it waits to ambush passing prey.  When the young spiderlings are produced they immediately disperse by drifting on wind currents to a new home.  The interesting thing here is that none of the spiderlings are taught anything about being a trapdoor spider.  They merely come into existence, disperse, grow and mature and in the process build a burrow, install a trap door, all without any instruction from the older generation.  Yet all Trapdoor spiders always do it and do it the same as all other Trapdoor spiders have always done it.

Funnel Web spiders have a similar existence, but different.  Instead of an underground burrow, Funnel Web spiders create a web that has a large mouth at its opening and becomes narrower as it “funnels” back into its hidden recesses.  These webs can be seen in the corners of old and abandoned buildings.  The spider sits waiting in the funnel for prey to make contact with the front part of the web.  When that happens, the spider rushes out to capture the prey.  As with the Trapdoor spider, when the young are born they spend no time with the parent, but immediately go their separate ways.  Yet every Funnel Web spider will always build its own funnel web and wait for insects to make contact while hidden in the funnel as all Funnel Web spiders have always done and are continuing to do till this very day.

Ray spiders, which live in damp areas, are very small and spin a web that is more on the order of what most people think of when they think of spider webs, however like the spider, Ray spider webs are small. The web consists of strands that extend outward like rays and are interconnected with webbing.  The Ray spider spins a strand from the center of the web and attaches it to a nearby twig.  The spider then applies force to this strand keeping it taut and in the shape of a cone until an insect becomes caught in the web.  The spider then releases the force and the web snaps back and the insect is further entangled in the web.  No Ray spider is ever taught by the older generation how to construct a web, or to spin a strand to hold the web in the shape of a cone in order to catch their prey.  Yet every Ray spider always builds the same web and traps their prey in the same manner every Ray spider has always done and continue to do until this very day.

No Ray spider builds a funnel web.  No Trapdoor spider builds a ray web.  Every spider always builds the web of its ancestors, but no spider is ever taught anything about the web building process.  They arrive with all of that knowledge and ability to perform totally contained within and they just begin doing what they are programmed to do.  But if they were programmed, there must be a programmer, a creator.  If they were not programmed, they could not perform as they do.

           Always remember, without God there is no plan, no purpose, no design, no reason.  Without God there is only random happenstance.  Without God grizzly bears and spiders,  along with just about everything else, cannot be explained.