I was headed inside this afternoon, thoroughly exhausted by another day of extreme gardening (and mosquito slapping), when I noticed that the orb weaver spider I'd seen earlier now had something beside her in her web. I thought at first it was an egg case but on closer examination, I saw that a hapless bug had ventured too close and gotten caught in her web. The spider was busily working to mummify the bug. Isn't the coloring on her legs extraordinary?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip30WGZjA69B2S_198-rmuQnEKDGTX9L3bMTzyg1S6tb1uP-dB_u5ez661cKqZPUNUH15HGHkQBCVsArQxI1M8BPT_ZjIXdW5khsxW6-ene4NyiB3D9aSbGQPNuL9sKq1hPIS9VNlILus/s400/spider5.JPG)
I watched in fascination as the bug literally revolved while she spun. It was eerie and creepy and absolutely enthralling. I'm not an arachnophobe but it did make me a little nervous to get as close to her as I did while shooting these pictures! I kept envisioning her scrambling onto my hand in her hurry to get away from me.
I finally got just a wee bit too close and startled her ... she scurried up the bloom stalk of a Salvia madrensis and made herself very small and inconspicuous. Is it just me, or does the way she's resting in this picture remind anyone else of a Thanksgiving turkey?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7dlcc8i_btmoJfuV6mHheAEOrPxK03u43Mq_0FuZJtfnEtajkc9ufKViqCOjx7dYJGQ6jC9KY2K_rSfeFH0eF76wPLTsITdvesxCqhLUPWLM4-pWy2nPUfJy-8zjAaocmUnCVg4m4qk/s400/spider11.JPG)
If only she'd eat mosquitoes!
I watched in fascination as the bug literally revolved while she spun. It was eerie and creepy and absolutely enthralling. I'm not an arachnophobe but it did make me a little nervous to get as close to her as I did while shooting these pictures! I kept envisioning her scrambling onto my hand in her hurry to get away from me.
If only she'd eat mosquitoes!
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