I am loving the cooler mornings we are having. It is still getting hot quickly, but, you can tell that autumn is coming. I took Tippy out to get some exercise earlier today and spotted this garden spider’s web reflecting the morning sun.
It’s not the best picture in the world. I was positioning to get a better picture when Tippy came running. With one misplaced wag of her tail, half of the web was destroyed.
I have always had a mild fear of spiders, but also have been in awe of how they can spin such delicate, and yet very strong, webs. In an effort to help me get over my fear, I did my college senior project on this particular species of spider, the Argiope aurantia. I collected several, dissected them, and sketched the arrangement of their spinnerets. That was many years ago, but, to the best of my recollection, they have 7 spinnerets. They also have 3 claws on their legs, one more than most spiders, which helps them to manipulate the silk as they spin their webs. When I was young, I happened upon one that was in the process of making the zig-zag pattern. It started by doing spider push-ups, which made the web vibrate, and then proceeded to make the design as it continued to vibrate the web. This stuff if very interesting to me. I guess that is why I majored in Biology.
Tippy was happy to be out running around and not dying from the heat. She took a couple of her puppy runs around the hill, grabbed a mouth full of grass, and did a little digging, just to get out some of her pent up energy.
Here she is, sitting in front of the spider web, which you can’t really see. A.C. tells me to make the elephant sound or click to get her to look at me for pictures. None of that seems to work for me like it does for her. I guess I just don’t do it right. I have found my best bet is to sing. When I do, she looks at me, wondering what in the world I am saying and why it sounds so funny.
Tippy Tales 
unfortunately, I accidentally put my hand through these webs in my garden all the time. But I haven’t seen any this big.
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I hate getting into a spider web. Seems you can never get it off of your skin.
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I, too, have a fear of spiders that I am trying to slowly overcome. We currently have what we affectionately call a science experiment going on in our kitchen window (between the glass and the screen). It’s a spider that has built a web, caught some prey, and continues to grow in size. It’s fascinating how quickly this spider can move! You jiggle the latch or the window even a little bit, and POOF! The spider is gone…
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That is so cool. I think watching them and having an appreciation for their abilities is a start at not being afraid of them quite so much. I still don’t want one on me, or in the house, but I can appreciate them in their native habitat. You’ll have to post a picture of your science experiment.
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I’ve been thinking about doing that! Thanks for the extra nudge 😉
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