As i was climbing the porch stairs after work yesterday i noticed a familiar shape hanging against the well house door and i knew instantly that it was an orb weaver! I loved orb weavers above all other spiders. They were such lovely creatures. They spun beautiful impressive webs and then waited for their prey to come to them. They didn’t jump or chase or scurry. They were pretty stationary spiders. You could usually find them sitting in their webs and they were big enough that you could see all the detail of their intricate markings. They were great listeners and amazing to watch when spinning a web or a meal. They didn’t seem to mind the company. So as i approached the well house door i couldn’t believe my luck. It wasn’t just an orb weaver, it was a female spotted orb weaver…my favorite of all varieties of orb weaver. She had a brown body with lighter and darker brown markings. Her legs were the reason i loved the spotted orb weaver above all others. Bands of dark brown were present on her translucent bright red legs. They just looked so cool! What a pop of color can do when the light shines through it! I named my new friend Mieke after a character in a war film and vowed to combat any praying mantises that discovered her.
