Many times each day I walk by this planter. At first glance you’d think it an unremarkable black pot, and yet it is always changing. Late in the season, I’ve pulled out the dying petunias, the black swallowtail caterpillars are gone, the dill is going to seed, and there are still a few strawberries ripening at the base.
Two days ago, something caught my eye. At first it was hard to see what glinted, and then, the light hit just so.
A spider had cast her web from the porch’s roof down to the dill. It was a classic web, quite large. I hope that she found flies to eat, but I did not see any successful entrapments.
By late afternoon, the wind picked up and the spiderweb blew away. For awhile the spider hunkered down among the dill tops. I don’t know where she is now. I’m keeping my eyes open. There’s been a lot of drama and change in that simple planter.
It is fascinating to watch a spider build its web. I hope yours builds again.
Steve has another of these spiders in his office window, that he’s been observing for a month now. It’s a sheltered place, and there must be plenty of food! As long as it stays on the outside of the house, I’m happy to see it.
Such resilient creatures, aren’t they? I often wonder about what prompts them to choose a particular site to cast their web. Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it’s not. Lovely photos! Your camera does a very good job capturing macro life.
Steve took those photos. He has a much better camera than mine, and knows how to use it!
It’s amazing how they build their webs and even more amazing how QUICKLY the build them. I walk through webs that run across my back steps at night when I go close the girls in….where there had just been lots of human activity 2 hours before. I’m not a big fan of these little creatures right now as I have a half dollar sized, angry looking bite on the back of my leg. It appears that one decided to snack on me during the night. Eww.
Spider bites can be so painful! And long lasting. Spoken from experience. I like to look, but not get too near.
It’s peak spider season in Pennsylvania, too. These orange garden spiders spin a new web late each day, and do their hunting at night. They tuck away in a safe spot once they’ve dismantled the web around daybreak. As the season gets later and later, the symmetry of the web becomes less and less, until finally one day the web and it’s maker disappear. She’s wrapped herself up tight in a leaf with a kit full of little ones, ready to lurk in the nooks and crannies to prey on next year’s juicy insect morsels.
Thank you for sharing that. I didn’t know. Well-told!
For the last week I have had an enormous spider just on the other side of the glass in the slider in my bedroom. I can’t see the web from indoors but the spider seems to be only a couple inches from the glass. Occasionally the cat spots it and I can see her trying to figure out how to reach it. Too high to jump and out of horizontal reach from the nearest piece of furniture. This morning the spider was munching on something which later disappeared.
I am arachnophobic and refuse to look!
At least I warned you in the title of the blog post :)
Oh yes, and I got that warning! Automatically started squinting to put the eyes out of focus while scrolling down the photos to the print. Eeek!
We had a huge spider problem in our shed, where I had the EE’s brooder, which was a number of cardboard boxes, newspaper and shavings on the floor, and a ladder overhead with the heat lamp. Well, one morning I came down and …the hens had figured out that they don’t HAVE to stay in the brooder. They can hop out and have the run of the place! Playing on the zero-turn, the bushhog, the rolls of fencing, the tools, everything. You know what? I didn’t care at all about the droppings. The spider webs, nests and related frightening stuff were all GONE!
Every morning when I go out to feed the birds I always end up with a face full of web. Of course my hands are full of feed containers and it is a few minutes before I can wipe them away. I do love to see the intricate webs in the early morning glistening with dew….the artsy spiders though have sought shelter from the rising sun.
The webs are marvels. I like the ones on the lawn constructed like tunnels.
Terry, this post reminds me of a chapter in one of Robert Fulghum’s books. He wrote about being outside of his house one morning, and noticed his neighbor coming out of her front door, ready and dressed for work. He saw her do the oh-crap-I-walked-into-a-large-spider-web-oh-my-God-the-spider-may-be-on-me dance, and watched her drop her purse and other things and dash back into her house. He assumed she re-showered and re-dressed just to make sure said spider wasn’t still on her somewhere! It was hilariously written as we can completely relate to her! I do love spider webs, and marvel at how some tiny little thing, can a) make silk, and b) make the most complex geometric webs, and c) that the webs have amazing tensile strength! Truly a wonder of the world. Having said that, I agree with you; as long as Mr. and Mrs. Spider stay OUTSIDE, I’m good with that. When I find one inside, I do hate to just squash it (karma, you know) and try to capture it, and relocate it outside, before one of our cats finds it. And eats it. Ewww.
Hilarious. You can remain itchy all day if you think there’s a spider lurking on your clothes.
I always do a “spider recon” on the porch in the morning before sitting down with my coffee. I shake out the cushions, look under the table and overhead. Hate it when a spider wants to sit down beside her….me. LOL!