I was just updating my opus on the CJF blogging event when a spider dropped from the ceiling, about 30 cm away from me. He lowered himself to about the height of my navel.

Then, he stopped, reversed course and climbed back up to the ceiling.

I would estimate he lifted himself over a metre. With a body length of four millimetres (I'm guessing), that's like climbing a rope at least 250 times its body length.

In my case, that would be like climbing a rope over 476 metres long in about 15 to 20 seconds. Needless to say, that wouldn't happen -- although I don't have eight limbs. But I still think I'd have trouble with a 238-metre straight-up climb.

Actually, I think I'd have trouble with a 2.38-metre straight-up climb. :)

So while that's an impressive display by the spider, do they actually climb their own silk strands in these situations, or do they have some internal fishing-reel like structure that reels them upward?

Wikipedia tells me spiders have glands called spinnerets which produce the silk strand, but the strand wasn't left hanging there.