I have a GREAT crop of.......

[Just-Moxie]

Hi peoples!!! Sorry it took me so long to get back here. I got back in Tuesday night...and as I feared...Big 'Un got mowed from her spot.
I KNEW I should have moved her, but I thought....."what's the chance of her getting mowed after all the rain we got"....
The neighbor mowed our yard the day I left.
Well, I have been searching for her since Tuesday evening. I FINALLY found her just now!!
She is on the front porch, by the door....in a nice safe spot.
She packed up and moved herself across the potting shed, the back room of the main house, and across the roof of the main house. I knew it was her, because I recognized her and how big she is.
Oh, she has finally learned to not spread her HUGE web into the open areas. lol

I will work on getting pics later on. I am still missing 4 spider ladies. Not sure where they got to. Maybe lizard food.

 

[Just-Moxie]

I took pics yesterday...but....they ALL look like the same spider!!!

They are very interesting though. I had to clean up the north side of the garage flower bed though, where the majority of them had webs. 11 of them were there. I guess I pissed some of them off.....the next day....3 of them were missing. I know when they move, versus getting eaten. Their whole web will be gone. They just pack up and leave.

Soooo...I went looking. I found one ..waaay across the driveway. I know which one she is, because they tend to put their webs in the same locations, relative to the ground. She was over by the steps going into the sewing shop. Her original web was low down. In the weeds of the garden.

The 2nd one to pack up and leave was a HUGE spider that I had originally located from behind the potting shed. I found her...waaay over on the other end of the property. She planted herself on the bathroom wall, and promptly laid 2 egg sacks. I didn't know they could make two at the same time, but I guess they could. She was BIG enough to.

I found a 3rd spider back behind the potting shed. I'm not sure which one she is. I check these areas daily, and she wasn't there the day before. Another large spider. Most of my spider collection....somewhere between 16 to 20 of them, are large and well fed. They eat, they grow. They get huge....and lay the egg sack. One spider can lay many egg sacks during a season. Dependent on their diet I am guess.

On another note.....last year we had a hurricane on the horizon. The ladies didn't put the zig zag in their webs. I will be looking this week to see if they do the same.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Interesting observation on the spiders- NONE of them took down their zig zag in their webs. I have a little one who has 3 in hers!!! Like a peace sign

Last years hurricane, which came more into our direction, all of the ladies built webs without the zig zag.

So, I guess the spider ladies didn't feel threatened by the hurricane.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Today I had to relocate 8 of the spiders. They are in danger of getting weed whacked this weekend. Spouse says he is going to hire a guy from his dept to come down and help him clean up the 1 acre property here.
Since all of these lovely ladies like/prefer to spread out over into the edge areas, I would hate to see them whacked for nothing.
So I found my white 5 gallon bucket and a fiberglass pole, and collected them in the bucket. They are now happily building their new webs back at the fence line, of the Back 40.

 

[canesisters]

I love this thread.
Those big Orb spiders cured me of my spider phobia. They are just TOO fascinating! I have several all around my garden and barn. Sometimes, if I don't see the little gob of web where they've got dinner stashed, I'll swat a nice juicy horse fly off of Eva and toss it into the web for them.

 

[Just-Moxie]

I love this thread.
Those big Orb spiders cured me of my spider phobia. They are just TOO fascinating! I have several all around my garden and barn. Sometimes, if I don't see the little gob of web where they've got dinner stashed, I'll swat a nice juicy horse fly off of Eva and toss it into the web for them.

Why Thank You!! I expected everyone here thought me nutz.

I find that if we take the time to observe our world around us, we can become quite enlightened as human beings.

I have discovered many things about these orb ladies. They don't eat each other. They don't eat everything. They have good eyesight, and will decide to pack up their web and move to a better location. Sometimes quite a distance away.

 

[Just-Moxie]

The other day, I was opening a door, and the little lizard fell into one of the webs. She ran right over and started wrapping.....then....backed off and left him. Hmmmm
I released him and let him go. I am thinking they don't eat the lizards after a certain size.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Update on the relocated spiders; I find 2 this morning. The remaining 6 have happily sauntered off into the back 40. Someplace the brush is so thick as t block out the sunlight. Of the 2 this morning.....1 just had to put herself at ground level....front and center. Right in the weed whacking path. So I moved her again.

Big 'Un. She was plastered all over the front door, on the storm door frame. DH had broken the glass so the frame made a great place for her web. She was only there 2 weeks tho
The day before, in the morning, I had found she had packed up her web and marched off somewhere. I have yet to locate her. She is HUGE, and should be easy to spot. But so far nothing. The front door faces the setting sun, so it prob got too hot for her there.
I didn't find any dead bodies, so she didn't just die. Her web still would have been intact if she did.
I don't think she was eaten by a lizard or frog. The web would have been empty but damaged if something had eaten her.
My spider count is now....2 on the north face garage wall + 6 or seven egg sacks. 2 hugs ones on the west side of the potting shed. They have 5 egg sacks between them.
1 growing huge one on the south side of the potting shed. + 1 egg sack I have spotted.
1 remaining huge one by the pump house door. + 2 egg sacks.
The one who had moved herself to the east side of the bathroom wall.....made 2 egg sacks and the left. No dead body there either.

Of the original 19 I have 8 remaining. Plus 2 tiny spiders that could still be eaten by the lizards.

 

[Just-Moxie]

As of today, I think I am down to 2 spiders. I had to re-locate everyone else, because the DH and his friend went around with the weed whackers and whacked EVERYTHING. The spiders would have been mush. So all of the ones I could find, I put in the Back 40 fence line.
I did find a baby lizard though. It didn't get away in time. Poor baby.

 

[Just-Moxie]

That little stinker! I had found a smaller one on Sunday morning, spinning her web inside the curled up water hose. By the time I checked again Sunday evening...she was gone.
I found her this morning. Spread across the lower corner of the potting shed by the thyme. Well, I had relocated one already, who was in that spot. To the Back 40 fence. I think it is the same spider.
I know they will travel quite a long distance to relocate. But I think this one might be stubborn.