Our Own Banded Garden Spider
I have a love—hate relationship with spiders.
On the one hand, spiders are our friends. Because spiders are our friends, I try to avoid squishing them when I find one outside. And I like looking at spiders, from a safe distance. They can be quite interesting, even if they are creepy.
On the other hand, while I’ve held a snake before, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t hold a “pet” spider in my hand.
Last night, I was watching a herd of bumble bees and a few honey bees in our Russian sage, when a bug with yellow stripes caught my eye. Turns out it wasn’t a bug at all. It was an arachnid, a banded garden spider.
The photo above is the view of the top of our spider. The photo below is the view of the underside of our spider.
Though the web and spider aren’t in the same spot today, I’m hoping to find it again and try to get some closer pictures of it with a macro lens.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
GROSS! I hate spiders and snakes.
September 14th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
I will take the spider, you can have the snake.
“if it does not have feet, and it is not a fish, KILL IT” Joe Wheeler
September 14th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Nice photography! That particular spider is pretty creepy, though. The only kind of spiders that I like are those little tiny ones that have big eyes and are cute and fuzzy (I don’t remember what they’re called).
September 15th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Your comment demonstrates a lack of information. Down here in Texas there are people who pay good money to have a snake set loose in their attics to eat all the rats. Once the rented snake has exhausted the rodent population, it slithers away into the wild. Much more damage is done by the snake’s food, than the snakes themselves.
September 15th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Um, cartoons?
Really? That’s pretty cool. Who knew that reading this blog could be such an educational experience.
September 28th, 2010 at 4:29 am
“I read in a weekend supplement all about this but I threw it away, but basically, if the insect is hanging around your garden – then it’s just hanging close to. I’ve seen stuff like mesh, which can deter those with little mouths, but you’d have to make some sort of construction of it. Even a greenhouse has its problems simply because the bugs could be there.
September 30th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Deneen, who knew that “weekend supplements” could be so handy? I bet you’re into “other” supplements too, right? I get lots of emails about those. I’ll forward them to you if you like.
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