Just recently, my daughter Ruth, a fledgling journalist working at the Press Association wrote about an encounter with Kevin (the Spider) in her apartment. It had me in stitches, as have a number of the other posts on her blog.
Well … we have been watching a “Missing Sector Orb-weaver Spider” recently who set up her nest in a corner of a velux window in our garden room and this morning I was able to take a few pictures of it dealing with a wasp (probably drunk on James Grieve apples) that had flown into her web.
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| From Susan (the spider) |
You can read more about the spider from the link above, it takes its name from the form of the web for instance, but unlike Ruth I’ve begun to have a soft spot for Susan and after watching through binoculars the early stage of the entrapment with Susan stamping on the web and then rushing out and smothering the wasp’s head with spun web (avoiding the sting), these pictures tell the story why. She’s a mighty efficient insect destroyer.
Watching and waiting
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| From Susan (the spider) |
“A little bit of spinning required …”
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| From Susan (the spider) |
“… and I’ll parcel you up nicely”
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| From Susan (the spider) |
“… that’s just about it!”
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| From Susan (the spider) |
“I just need to take you back to my larder.”
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| From Susan (the spider) |
Of course, the white droppings from the web/Susan and the bloody spots on the paintwork mean that Susan’s days our numbered … I’m just going to have to find another home for her to produce her babies, and then she’ll die. Sad story really, isn’t it!
