Spiders

I found this beautiful yellow crab spider in our smaller meadow this morning! He must have come from a yellow flower, as his color hadn't changed to reflect his new ambush spot yet. It takes a couple of days before their color shifts, but these wonderful camoflauge artists can change to match many colors in nature to blend in!

I saw a smudge on the wall on our porch and at first I thought I was looking at the cast-off shec of a spider. But when I looked closer, I realized it was alive and eating a tasty meal! I don't know what kind of spider this is but I think it's really super cool!! :D

The other day Steve unceremoneously threw me out of the car at 50 mph so I could get my picture of the day...oops...wait...that's not right! :D Let me try again! Steve and I stopped at a pretty little trail where I spent 20 minutes taking pictures of the beautiful White Campion blossoms I found there. And along the way I found this cutie pie in ambush position with hopes of a tasty insect landing close enough to jump on! :) I was delighted that this picture turned out, as the light was poor here and there was a strong breeze! I took about 5-8 shots and only one other one turned out well! It's always a good idea to take a number of pictures of each subject at different apertures to help ensure success, especially when conditions are challenging!

Would you just LOOK at how GORGEOUS Roscoe has become?! As a baby, she was shades of beige and just a bit of orange tones. In the past couple of weeks, a lot of things have been happening...first of all, she's getting bigger and bigger and bigger! Below you'll see a picture of her as a little baby next to a dime. Today she's almost the size of a dime!! And take a look at the coloring!!! Lovely tones of orange, russet and yellow against a background of dove-beige. And wow, she's eating like there's no tomorrow, quickly tying up everything that should be unlucky enough to get caught in her web. Last night I saw two mosquito hawks and a large moth in her web and boy does she zoom all over the place when she's busy with a new victim! Totally amazing to see. It's going to be heartbreaking when she dies sometime this summer...I really love this little lady, but I know she will only live a year. Who knows though...maybe she'll make a big egg sac and I'll get to watch all of her babies hatch and find their way out into the world! It's all very exciting to me and I feel so privileged to have this special spider next to our front door and get to see it grow up and live its life. :) By the way, if I'm correct, Roscoe should eventually grow to the size of a quarter, her abdomen about the size of a dime. She's a Cat-Faced Orb Weaver, and that's how large the other ones I've seen are.

Here's one from my archives, an adorable Jumping Spider who's just 1/4" in size and cute as a button! :)

Making my way along the bank of the Rogue River, I kept looking at web strands, hoping to find a spider in a web, and finally I hit pay dirt!! Look at this beautiful orb weaver! I took a lot of pictures because the breeze was really bouncing this guy around, but I ended up getting several very nice images to choose from!

STORY TIME!!!!! SHE MADE IT!!!!! SHE MADE IT!!!! Roscoe Frank McCrawlerson* has survived her hibernation (brumation) through a freezing winter!! And here she sits triumphantly upon a moth four times her size that she caught, tied up, hoisted up to her spot where she lives, and is guarding, proud and victorious! HOORAY, HOORAY for my little friend!!!! *does a Snoopy Dance all over the room* *I discovered in time that Roscoe was actually a female, but kept her name as it was given. I have changed all gender to reflect that she is a female. I met Roscoe back at the beginning of September when I noticed her tiny 1/4" form in the center of a web she built just next to our front door on our porch! I was instantly smitten by this adorable little spider, and I took lots of pictures of her over the next month or two. However, I began to worry about her because winter was fast approaching. I learned that spiders can survive a freezing winter and will sometimes hibernate without dying. Spiders, like many other creatures (including frogs), have a kind of anti-freeze in their blood and this is how they can stay alive when other animals die. When the temperatures began to dip into the freezing zone, Roscoe stopped making her orb-shaped webs and sat in her little nook with legs pulled in, never moving. But I didn't think she was dead, and I took a peek at her every single day, hoping but with a worry in my heart. I know she's "just" a spider, but I love this little lady and I really wanted her to make it!! The months ticked off... November... December... January... February... and then March came and just when I began to worry that she might possibly be dead, I found her in the middle of a new web she'd made one night a few days ago!! I was so excited!! MY LITTLE BUDDY WAS ALIVE!!!! We had some flightless fruit flies in a jar, and I sprinkled a few in my hand and threw them at the web, hoping at least one would stick. DIRECT HIT!! One of them stuck and Roscoe POUNCED!! YAYYYYY!!!!! Oh how happy I was that she had a snack! Yesterday I tossed more flies in and she got one to eat! YES!! Last night I let the dogs out and took a peek...I saw something twirling near her spot, and I nearly yelled in delight! Roscoe was riding on this moth, which was twisting and twirling from a strong reinforced strand of web that Roscoe fashioned, and she was running all over the moth, which was completely encased in web! Just INCREDIBLE!!! How such a small spider can overpower a large moth and keep it from escaping...it's amazing!! I checked an hour later and she'd reeled in his prize and was sitting just as she is now, waiting for the moth to die before starting in on her magnificent feast! I took some quick pictures but I was hoping she'd still be there at midnight so I could take pictures for my 365 today...and just like a good friend, she waited for me to get my pictures!!! WHAT A PAL!!!! This morning I looked and she'd already released the moth's body from her web, and I found it below, an abandoned husk. I cooed at Roscoe, who was back on her spot, and told her how happy I was that she'd made it through the winter just fine!! I've been smiling all day long! So happy!!! John Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney, January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916) was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone.[6] He is best remembered as the author of The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life".[citation needed] He also wrote of the South Pacific in such stories as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen", and of the San Francisco Bay area in The Sea Wolf. Wkipedia: Jack London

Today's alternate is another collage, featuring a pair of spiders I found under a rock. They were crawling around and I got the chance to get a picture of each of them, although the female ran off to hide right after I got a picture of her! Each measured about 1/4" in size, aren't they cute?! :)

This morning I was amazed to find a bunch of incredibly tiny spider webs, all glistening with dew droplets. I didn't have a tripod or flash with me, and the pictures didn't turn out well enough to use. So out I went with the macro flash and I tried again. These droplets are so tiny that I had to hope I was focusing on the edge of this web. I had no idea there was a little buddy crawling on one of the droplets, what are the odds?! :D By the way, the droplets clearly show the duel flashes, gleaming brightly on either side! Amazing!

I love the way this jumping spider looks, positioned like a sumo wrestler! :D So cute!!

From my archives, here's an adorable jumping spider I found in our kitchen one day and brought it outside to let it go and to take its picture. I just love them! So curious and intelligent, it's such fun to watch them walk around and turn to look at things, including me! :D

I found a strand of spider's web covered with frost this morning and was amazed that it didn't collapse under the weight! (By the way, unlike Marilyn in this movie, I'm not a jewelry hound, though I do think it's lovely to look at! I am, however a huge fan of the late Ms. Monroe!) Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was an American actress, model, and singer, who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s. Wikipedia: Marilyn Monroe

Every time I see this picture, it makes me laugh, and I picture the scene in the movie, "Dave" (Here's a trailer, skip to 1:14-1:17 to see the clip I'm thinking of! Dave Trailer ) But this fellow also reminds me a lot of Jabba the Hutt! In truth, this is a type of crab spider! I found him wandering around our kitchen one day, and released him onto our front porch railing to take pictures! From this highly defensive posture, you can tell how impressed he was by me and my camera! The second I turned away from him and looked back, he was OUTA THERE! :D :D :D I have one more picture today and I hope you'll take a peek! :) Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

I used to kill every spider I found in the house! However, since I've had my 100mm macro lens, I've discovered how amazing and fascinating they are, and now I protect them! I found this fellow running around on a wall, so I captured him and put him back outside! However, there is a capture and release tax for this service: SAY CHEESE!

Oh my! This is 1/4" of total tough-guy!! I originally captured this cutie pie as he belayed down a web strand in our kitchen, and when I put him on our porch railing, he was understandably afraid. This is a defense posture, designed to make him look huge and menacing! However, all I could do was coo at how adorable he was while I took pictures and hoped he would realize that I pose no threat to him! :) Eventually he relaxed and assumed the normal behavior of a jumping spider: inquisitive, fearless, and stealthy. These are awesome spiders!!! I found a really nice page about another behavior of jumping spiders, the mating ritual, complete with a hilarious video which will have you rolling in the aisles! Be sure to check it out! Dirty Dancing, A Gallant Spider Goes All The Way

I got so many adorable pictures of the cute little guys I've found in and outside our house! This itty bitty fellow was spotted by Steve as he descended from the ceiling in our kitchen on a fine thread of silk! I caught him in a cup and sing-songed, "This is no place for you!" and took him outside for a photo session before he crawled away, looking for lunch!

On the way out to Brookings, Oregon, we stopped for a few minutes at a redwood park. We realized we needed more time to get the pictures we wanted so we left after about 20 minutes. However, I did get a few pictures while I was there, including this beautiful orb weaver, which Steve spotted for me!