That said, a few nights ago our kids notices something on our back door:
What's that, you say? You can't see what's in the picture? Ok, look here then:
That's a no-flash shot, so there's a bit of blur. The markings on his back are pretty clear, and we were able to identify this as a giant crab spider. They're about 2-1/2 inches across. They don't spin webs, but they climb well, move quickly, and hunt pretty much anything you don't want in your house. Their bite "isn't harmful to humans", but is supposed to be painful. To me, that's harmful. But whatever.Luckily for me, I had a couple of inches of glass between me and him. A short while later, he flipped around to give me a better view of his underside:
And so we sat for some time, me reading my book and him eating small moths, occasionally pouncing hard enough that I could hear a 'tap' on the glass. Come to think of it, I'd heard these taps from time to time over the last couple weeks and wondered what they were. Now I know!
Eventually, a Katydid came up to the glass just around the corner from the G.C.S. (Giant Crap Spider). From what I think I know of these bugs, they're also hunters, and it appeared that he started chasing some moths as well. Had I my wits about me, I would have started filming him. Alas, I did not.
Sure enough, the Katydid got closer and closer to the spider, seemingly oblivious to the imminent danger. The G.C.S. set himself up and POUNCE!
He snagged himself a nice, big meal!That picture, by the way, is worth seeing in all it's detail. As is the next:
After the Katydid stopped struggling, the G.C.S. brought him over to the other side of the glass and just kinda held him there for a few hours.
It's the CIIIIiiiiiircle of LIIIIIIIIFFFEEEE! And it moves uuuuusss aaaaaalllllll!And to finish out, here a video of the G.C.S. moving:
Don't you love Arizona?!?
8 comments:
Those are some amazing pictures! How neat to have such nature to show the kids!
CRAZY! (but still cool)
Cool. It reminds me of my youth -- when I used to play "death match in a jar" wherein I would match up a spider and a praying mantis. The spider never won.
That's rad. I was wondering to myself why the spider would chose to hang out so close to the dangerous humans when I realized (duh) that your lights were attracting all the moths. That's a smart spider.
that is very gross and scary, i will never be the same.
That is so cool!!
I'm with Jenny...I will never be the same. Cool, but.......
I'm with Jenny, I will never be the same.cool but....argh.
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