SPIDERS! *shudder*

Actually, they don't make me shudder at all.  A spider is truly a wondrous creature; he makes his own home, catches his own food, and takes care of his own young.  (Wow - I guess I went overboard in my attempt to use only the masculine pronoun.  I should have said takes care of HER own young.  Mea maxima culpa.)

Daring Jumping spiders are doggone cute and almost cuddly, aren't they?  I was thrilled (not like Chris Matthews) when I'd find one in the living room window.  Excitement was in the air when a fly would show up in its territory!  Well, the fly wasn't so excited, and the resulting PG-13 action would make a kid cry, but I thought it was totally radical, dude.

This is a fairly innocuous photo, which unfortunately disguises the awesomely cute face of this creature.  Really, you must Google this for yourself; I've found a zombie face, alien face, baboon face, Darth Vader face, etc.  What could possibly be more fun?

Their webs aren't so spectacular, unlike the - ta-da! - Golden Orb Spider.  Feast your eyes:

If you're into spider milking (and aren't we all?), you could even use the silk from the golden orb spider to make this:

A few weeks ago, I walked into my bathroom and with my peripheral vision noticed a mess of dark thread on the floor.  As I looked at it, I realized the thread was actually in an organized pattern.....with legs.  It was that species which incurs instant horror, kind of like when you lift up a bale of hay in a barn to find a huge Black Rat Snake (you're welcome for my omitting the photo)....what?  Can't relate to that?  Let me try again:  it's like looking in a mirror after the big meeting only to find out that you have a big piece of green or black goo between your teeth, or you have something hanging from your nose, or .....never mind.

Anyway, my "mess of dark thread" was this:

I picked him up and gave him a loving pat before he went for a swim. (Don't send PETA!  I almost always catch them in a jar and toss them outside so the cat can inspect.)

These fun-loving creatures can get up to four inches in diameter; I even found one in the basement a few years ago.  Had no idea they could get that big, and even took it to the Dept. of Something or Other so it could be identified.  These are the spiders that make the beautifully engineered tunnels that are found in bush, grass, and garage.

Since the spider webs in the kitchen appear to be no longer in use this year, they'll be vacuumed up whenever I get around to it (I was going to say "pronto" to make you think that I'm ever-so-tidy, but most of you know better.)  Hate to see them go, but there's always next year, right?

Disclaimer:  I hope I didn't use any copyrighted photos.  I don't think I did, but I'm not the most observant person in these parts.