The Spruce Fir Moss Spider lives in the high mountains of Southern Appalachia (mainly North Carolina with some in Tennessee and Virginia). These spiders are the smallest of mygalomorph,or tarantula-like spiders (2-5 mm, or roughly the size of a BB). These animals are endangered and moving toward extinction because of destruction of habitat through the presence of a foreign organism called the Balsam Wooly Adelgid, logging, and tourism. Without intervention, these small spiders who are essential to the food chain, and whose benefits have yet to be discovered because of their small numbers, are likely to be wiped from the face of the earth in a very short time. Scientists are continuously finding uses for spider silk and spider venom (venom from many spiders has promise in the treatment of Alzheimers, Parkinsons, strokes, and possibly other diseases. Our ESL students at Glenn C. Marlow School propose that making this spider the North Carolina State Spider will bring it the attention that it needs so that care will be taken not to continue the destruction of the habitat it so desperately needs in order to survive. We ask that you kindly sign our petition if you'd like to see this amazing creature get the attention it deserves so that it can go on living in our world. Please cast your vote to make the Spruce Fir Moss Spider our North Carolina State Spider! Thank you so very much!