They're Baaaack

Anyone who has ever been to my apartment during the spring and summer months may have noticed the family of large orb weaving spiders that take up residence there. Well, it's Memorial Day, and right on cue the adults have come out of hiding for another year of bug catching. We must produce a bumper crop of flying insects around here, because these things absolutely thrive.

They live on the whole front of the house, usually in the big living room windows on both floors. Sometimes they venture out to other areas, but they seem to have settled under the gutters in front of the big bay window. It starts with two or three big ones, the size of your thumb, and later in the season they spawn whole constellations of tiny babies to fill up the web network in the window. Sometimes, just to be funny, they web over the whole front door with a perfect orb, just to show off.

They are very hard to photograph. They hang upside down and away from the window (as spiders are wont to do) very close to the glass, making flashes almost useless. Because of the webs and the dirt they leave on the window, they also require a manual focus, which my little Elph doesn't have.

Just your friendly neighborhood BWAAGAH! GET IT OFF!

While some people I know are prone to Shatner-esque alarm at the very mention of spiders, I'm not so put out by them. I'm not exactly eagerly waiting in line at the Tarantula petting zoo, but spiders, however creepy, instill in me a sense of fascination more than twitchy revulsion. So it is with these guys (gals?). They are actually quite good roommates. They have clearly staked their turf (the front window), they do not venture into other people's stuff (we can leave the windows open without fear of bad sci-fi invasion), they're quiet, they don't add to the utilities bill, and they keep the bugs out.