Spring Spider Surprise

We went from having frigid weather to summer weather in just a couple of days. I went from wearing a jacket while inside at work to turning my AC on. With spring comes spiders. I haven't noticed too many new spiders around but I have spotted the first few baby cellar spiders in my upstairs bathroom. 

It's also time to start walking with my arm outstretched because the orb spiders will make webs to cross open spaces - like the walkway to my car - and there isn't a whole lot I hate more than walking into spider webs.

We've also had an explosion in the population of moths. It's very creepy! They are out in horror-movie-quantities. They are especially noticeable at my front door. They gravitate near the porch light and flutter when the door opens. 

Tonight I was taking my reusable shopping bags back to my car when I approached my front door. I spotted one of those orb spiders that I'm always on-guard for and stopped in my tracks. Now these orb spiders are usually about the size of a dime* at the beginning of spring. And it's only February 6th, mind you! This thing was the size of a half-dollar! Clearly, he had been cleaning up on the moths.

Fresh Catch of the Day!

The web had a few holes in it like this guy had been eating non-stop with the bounty flying around the light. And it was very active. I don't know if you've ever had a spider jump at you, but I have and I can get a little twitchy. While it was doubtful that this guy was going to leave the all-you-can-eat buffet, I wasn't going to take my chances. And despite the mid-70-degree temperatures, I got a shiver and went inside. When I went back out to get a picture, he had just caught another moth. 

*When I talk about the size of a spider, I always refer to the size with the legs outstretched. These orb spiders get this big around late summer, early fall, if they've had good hunting.