I came home late from a good friend’s house and ended up doing the evening chores around midnight by moonlight. I fell asleep working on my family tree. At dawn i was startled awake by sunlight coming through the window and two dogs sitting in front of the bed asking if i forgot to do …
Tag Archives: orb weavers
the Orb Weavers Arrive
I knew that Willow was a spotted orb weaver like Wilma had been before her, but her legs were grey. They were not the brilliant translucent red that Wilma’s legs had been. The day after my birthday i saw a spotted orb weaver in a web on the fence gate. I can’t be sure whether …
Crystal
I was waiting for a break in the rain to mow the lawn, but the rain kept coming and the grass got taller with each passing day. with a 5-blade reel mower i couldn’t afford to let it get any taller. So i put on a t-shirt and some pants i didn’t care about and …
Ruby’s Offspring
One morning i was walking from the house to the extension shed when i noticed something round sitting in the middle of the yucca plant in front of the shed porch. It was a white ball with brown squiggly lines on it, suspended from the inner spikes of the yucca by some sort of woven …
Killing Rasputin
It would be 3 days before i got my shot at Rasputin. After chasing Charlotte off she had sat in her web for days, taking advantage of the spider’s system and beheading anything that became ensnared in the webbing. I had looked for her, hungry for vengeance for my poor friend and eager to protect …
The Mantis Returns
So there my spiders were, doing their thing and living their best life. charlotte was catching bugs that flew behind the house, ruby caught the flies that tried to get in the shed, odessa caught everything attracted to the porch light, and piper went after the flies that attempted to make it into the well …
Wilma the Weather Spider
Shortly after i discovered Odessa and Piper i noticed a different type of spider on the property gate in the evenings and mornings. She would hold on for dear life every time the gate swung open. She turned out to be a spotted orb weaver. She had the most stunning bright red legs. I noticed …
A Whole Mosquito Control Squad
One day i arrived home from work to find Charlotte back on the porch. At first i was very concerned because i liked the thought of her being some place the praying mantises didn’t know to look for her. But then i realized, it was not Charlotte. The spider was smaller than Charlotte. Who was …
An Old Friend is Found, a Young Life is Lost, and the Girls Run with Coyotes
There’s not a lot of pictures for this post and there’s a good reason for that. I was busy. There was neither time nor hands to fiddle with a camera that day. So, you’ll just have to use your imagination. I had parked the car and unloaded my work bags. The sun was setting so …
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Charlotte Goes Missing
I had noticed a praying mantis hanging around on the underside of the porch roof. It was there for a couple days and each time i noticed it the thing was closer to charlotte’s web than it had been before. I didn’t think much of it until Charlotte went missing. When i last saw her …