September 15 - Spiders

I've certainly seen more spiders busily spinning, hanging out on and catching prey in their webs in Cambridge than in LA. I thought this was normal - and it is to a point - until I saw a bit on some BBC morning news show about how there is an increase in the amount of spiders in the UK. I can't remember if it was being linked to global warming, because I caught more of the headline than the actual report.

I'm not much afraid of spiders - and for some reason I find them more charming here. There are many more insects here than in LA, so I feel that spiders do not have to bother themselves with entering the potentially dangerous human dwelling. I had a friend in LA who was bitten by a brown recluse and was eventually treated for the bite in the ER (yes I know there are urban myths about brown recluse spider bites, but this really happened). From that point on, I always cast a suspicious eye on arachnids in SoCal. I'm sure my Charlotte's Web/ Alice in Wondlerland/ Masterpiece Theatre inspired view of the friendly but harried UK spider rushing about muttering to itself with a British accent will change once I meet a victim of a nasty UK spider bite.

This morning I saw something dangling outside one of our living room windows, and soon enough it caught M*'s eye. A spider had caught a mosquito in its web and was busy with the task of paralyzing/killing it. The mosquito was still trying to escape (or maybe it was just leg spasms like when a chicken runs around after its head has already been severed - or maybe that's a myth as well) when we reached for our camera. M* and I both agree it was a pretty cool way to start off our one month anniversary.

Here are a few photos: