Web of mystery explained: Spider webs strung across the Bay Area

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A web of mystery has been floating throughout the Bay Area as residents are looking up to find small clumps of spider silk hanging from trees, bushes and electricity poles. 

San Jose State University professor Fredrick Larabee explained that mystery to KTVU on Friday. 

Baby spiders are actually "ballooning," he said, where after they hatch, they send out tiny strands of silk, which get caught into the wind and spread about.

The purpose, he said, is so that they can move from their original birthplace and find another habitat. 

"Baby spiders need to get away from where they were born," he said. "When you have hundreds of thousands of siblings, you have to go where there is food." 

Spiders can travel for miles, which is why people all over the place notice the strands of webs all over the place. 

Larabee said more people might be noticing the webs this year and it's also possible there are more babies because of the winter rains yielding more plants.