SPIDERLINGS

"First we molt, then spin a web, after this we weave, till our food is dead...." -Craig Froman

They squirmed . They writhed. They crawled, jostling for position as if part of Napoleon's army.

They were new.  New in spring.  Thousands of them. Perhaps millions....

Each wanting to say good morning. Each with his or her own agenda.

On this chilly spring day. On this day when no sun would shine, but only rain would fall.

They shimmied away from the nest. Pitter Pattered over one another. Finding the best spot.

Into the wind and light. They were the first. The first of their kind to exist.

They crawled up and over. Into the tall grass. Into the trees. 

Grasping at branches. Higher and higher.

Through the rain drops. Through the wind. 

There were thousands. Perhaps more. Perhaps less. Perhaps a million.

They clung to the top of the fence. It had a better vantage point.

And Spun their webs of silken threads.  Thousands upon thousands. Perhaps millions.....

Twisting , turning, flying into the wind on  parasols that they created.

The air took them farther than they've ever believed.

Took the Spiderlings far from where they were born. Thousands upon thousands. Millions upon millions....

"Sir, you have an eight legged beast crawling up your shoulder..." -Spock of Vulcan

Photographs 2023

 

SNAKE CHARMS

 Last day of September.The season is winding down.  I get a present. Smokey is extremely clever. One of the few garter snakes left from the season. Most of them  have burrowed away . Garter snakes usually hang around where there is a water source, and lots of food, like slugs bugs and other things.

 The Stellar Jay ( Cyanocitta stellen) has been known to eat garter snakes. Jays will eat anything, basically, being omnivores. And spiders are basically food to snakes and jays.

                      Spiders  will eat anything that falls into its web.

  Garter snakes will eat the spider, and the Cat will catch the snake that lives in the garden . Young garter snakes are born LIVE around August. Sometimes 70-80 are born a season. This year I noticed there were many garter snakes in the garden, more than in previous years. Healthy garden  healthy snakes.

 Cats will also torment jay, and the jays will torment the cats. They see cats as a big nuisance.

      Jays come down from the forests where they live to eat seeds, nuts, berries, snakes, and torment cats. Snakes like to slither into buckets of apples. Buckets that sometimes have human hands rummaging inside . Snakes do NOT feel like apples, by the way.......

  Ahh yes, there's a water source. Not just cats drink out of the buckets. Snakes, racoons, cats, jays....

                   Sometimes keeping track of the snakes, jays, spiders and other things takes team effort.

                                   

 Spiders in the garden eliminate the need for common pest control substances.

 And if you want to control the bugs and spiders and things, encourage the garter snakes. During the winter, garter snakes will live in undeground dens, hibernating with other snakes. Garter snakes will live up to two years. If captured they will release a musky scent. They are not aggressive unless under attack. 

                                   

 On the last day of September the snakes are heading for their dens. Spencer still sits on his chair, once in a while, in the last warmth of the season. The sunsets are earlier, the sky a little mottled. And tomorrow will be October.