One of the first residents in our garden was a spider. It spun a web from our new fence to one of our first plants. It sat motionless all day in full view of the hungry birds. At no time did I ever see it move.
It sat with its legs tightly tucked into its body. It was black and white and looked like a bird dropping. Researching later on I found out that it was called the “bird dropping spider”.
Pretending to be a dropping, it would spring to life and grab deceived victims caught on its web. It disappeared one day and was never seen again. Perhaps it scratched itself and a smart bird gobbled it.
It’s been a puzzle- to me why spiders don’t get caught in their own web. I have recently learnt the reason. When spiders spin their circular web every second strand is sticky, so the spider walks on the non sticky strands. They’re not just spiders, they’re clever spiders.
Kevin – Diamond Creek (2009)
