Doth (Daughter of the House) and I were just heading out for a walk - and fortunately she saw this before I did, otherwise we both might have been 'captured.'
...has to be the biggest spider web I've ever seen...
..hanging between the car and the wall of the house...
And perhaps the biggest spider - although I didn't stick around long enough, or get close enough, to see :}
(this was taken with the zoom)
Since this is MY car he/she (do we know which one makes webs, or do they both?) has chosen as an ambush, I was dearly hoping that by the time we returned from our walk it -- web and spider -- would be gone. Not that I have arachnophobia, but it is a bit creepy.
I took my camera on the walk with me but for the most part it's a little too early for pretty fall photos.
But this tree is way ahead of most:
Oh, the joys of 'fall' ! And look how many leaves there are left to fall!
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And, speaking of 'fall'ing -- that's one thing we hope these trees will never do.
You can see how tall they are in comparison to the houses below. Our lawn is in the foreground.
When we have strong winds these trees really sway -- and I really pray!
Back home after our walk and itsy bitsy (not!) spider has gone and its web was in shreds - it was quite windy that day, or perhaps a sparrow flew through it.
But, lo and behold, another huge one - this time...
...between the shed and the house.
Surely it couldn't have been made by the same spider in the short time we were gone -- must have been there all along, and we didn't notice it, just a few feet away from the car.
I must confess that I am in awe of the design and the incredible result of a spider's creation - can't imagine how long it could have taken to make this one.
Okay, so I just googled 'spider' and now I understand why I don't like them. The first sentence reads:
Spiders (Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom.
And it doesn't get any better from there. By the time I got down to Courtship and Reproduction, I was pretty grossed out, as the kids say.
And it doesn't get any better from there. By the time I got down to Courtship and Reproduction, I was pretty grossed out, as the kids say.
I would imagine that since the females eat the males, they must be the ones who spin the webs -- ah, yes, now I remember, it was Charlotte's Web!
In case you flunked biology in school too, you can read all about spiders here
Me? I'm off to bed soon, and I am taking a good book with me, to help rid my mind (and my dreams) of air-breathing, venom-injecting, husband-killing, baby-stealing arthropods.
Wow! They are big webs. Spiders have nasty habits but they do catch other nasty stuff too. Do you have dangerous ones like they have in Australia? We get lots of spiders here, particularly at this time of year but none of them can harm a human, although some will give you tiny nip that makes you jump if you are not expecting it. Problem is that nowadays imports are likely to bring in some not so gentle ones and Global Warming is helping them thrive.
ReplyDeleteI like the autumn tree picture, nice colours.
Snafu, I am not sure if we have really dangerous ones, but I do know of people who have received very nasty spider bites that required treatment and have literally left a hole behind in their hand, arm etc. Usually they got them when camping out in the wilds or something - just another reason why I don't like spiders OR camping :)
ReplyDeleteOh good grief, Kay, now I'll have the dreams. We have these big spiders and their webs all over our back yard in the fall. I go out there with broomstick in hand. We have the Black Widows that are venomous. I once almost squished one that was on the church door handle, but I saw it just in time. We had a school locally that had to be fumigated recently because it was overrun with them. They are more dangerous for children. Then there is, of course, the famous Tarantula. I've seen them but not around the house. Some people I know have had really nasty bites and been laid up for a while with them. The worst is the Brown Recluse which is found mainly in the Northwest. Never seen one of those. They can be deadly!
ReplyDeleteEnd of lecture.
P.S. Every now and then I see a tree that looks as if it's dying and I wonder why -- then I remember -- it is fall.
Well, Kathy, that's us all shaking out our shoes and checking the bed for the next week or so! Gee, those webs are huge.
ReplyDeleteTalking of bites - I got a really nasty bite from a ladybird the other week. I had no idea they did that - N. watched in awe as my arm swelled into this huge lump with a hole through the centre. It took several days to sort itself out and even then it left a mark. Ugh!!! x
ChrisJ, I am very glad that we don't have real poisonous spiders here - so it could be worse!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth - I have NEVER heard of ladybirds biting! But I was at a retreat centre, staying alone in a cottage, not so long ago, and on eof the bedrooms had a nest of ladybirds - they couldn't discover the source of the nest but the room was always full of them, and the sisters told me that they bite (the ladybirds, not the sisters!).
So I kept the door to the room tighly closed while I was there!!