Big Spider with Striped Long Legs

Check this bad mamma jamma out! I was so super de duper excited to see a spider in my house, especially one so big that it might have to wash dishes if it wants to stay here more then a few days. The one thing about the cold days of Fall leading through Winter is that all my bug friends disappear (except for this one annoying fly living in the cabin that somehow pushes on through the odds, I hope the spider and him will meet up!) :0

Fantastic striped legs, of a reddish brown color with darker brown rings.

LONG legs.... and those eyes. Tiny eyes, 4 of them!

A nice artsy abstract pattern on it's back, reminds me of some kind of medieval shield. A off white with a touch of golden, running against the shiny black.

My cat Toots thought the spider was also the most exciting thing in the cabin since sliced gluten free bread... the spider played dead. Good idea Mister Stripes.

Can anyone ID Mister Stripes???

Xoxoxox

BIG Brown Spider (hairy face, white spots, striped legs & large abdomen)

Above my front door is a spider couple, who invites their spider friends for awesome parties... they jam out to my satellite radio music while eating moths & flies who are attracted to my porch light at night.
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These spiders are actually shades of brown and not the silver gray color in these two close up pics below - the color looks different then reality because the flash on the camera washed out the browns, so when trying to ID this spider go by the markings and not the color.
There are two spiders (the ones pictured here) living together in the same crack above the door, and the interesting thing is they let other spiders live right near them too - although I imagine sometimes things can get out of hand and the big ones might eat their smaller friends. It happens to us all, at least metaphorically.

This pic below is more the true color brown...

Check out those GOLDEN Nugget Eyeballs!

XOxooxo

Bright Green & Yellow Metallic Spider

ooooooooooh, pretttty.... spider! Those bright summer time colors and amazing pattern I can't really describe except maybe if you blur your eyes it will become a picture of running horses or somethin'.

I have a few of these spiders making webs all around the outside of my house - including spots like my water pump and outside shower (smart, since wet attracts prey!)

They are graceful and don't scare very easily either, so I don't get all that close cause I am sure they are somewhat aggressive. Does anyone know what kind of spider this is??

XOxoxo

Tiny Brown Spider On An Acorn Top

cute. What else can be said? .... maybe....

tiny?
But not creepy.
xoxo

Black and White Hairy Jumping Spider (Part 2)

Guess Who's Back....? It's like poltergeist, but way more fun with better facial expressions then any undead could eva' come up with....
My favorite fuzzy jumping spider! He's trying to possess my computer by hypnotizing me with his powerful stare, then infiltrating all my accounts. He felt real comfy up there on top the laptop screen cause it was so full of dust he blended in perfectly. Camouflagen' with my slobbiness.I am pretty sure this is...ehem... some kind of gesture of friendship he's giving me, and not his attempt to close out my internet screen with his ass. Or a gangsta threat. I'll take whateva' though cause this hairy guy has my heart.
He eventually started a trail of web across the top of the computer over to some of my potted plants - a perfect self made rope of web following perfectly everywhere he went. It almost made me envious how easily he can travel from place to place, having a handmade highway back home from anywhere he may end up traveling.XoXo

Spider VS Ladybug

LADY BUG in the right corner.....

SPIDER in the left corner....
My first inclination is always to save the suffering one... i think poor little ladybug is about to get eaten. But then i think about the spider, if he doesnt get food then he'll be starving to death and suffering too. So making a choice to save one and interfere with another is kind of a judgment based on personal preference more then the natural processes of life.
So shit - which would you choose? I chose to watch.
The spider moved down to the ladybug, who would periodically spread her wings in defense. A defense that seemed to work pretty good. That is unless the spider is jus' totally tired of eating ladybugs all winter...
Several times the spider came down and touched her, but never attacked. He went back to his corner to hide motionless for more victims.
Eventually the ladybug must have shaken herself free cause when i looked back, she was gone. Or maybe.........

XoXo

Black Jumping Spider On Bay Leaf

From far away, jumping spiders don't look like much, but close up like this it's a freaking tarantula! Hairy. Beast. Iridescent toothed. Quick. Monster.
And he told me a little secret... he said spring is coming early jus' like the farmers almanac said, so get ready for all the insects to come out! Yay!
XoXo

More Jumping Spiders! (Hairy Brown and Black w/ Blue Teeth)

Meet Miss Martha... she once dated Texas (the most handsome jumping spider eva'), but they had to break up & she kicked him out because he was just too wild for her! She couldn't handle all his showing off, she's extremely shy. She can also be a bit crabby and no fun... I chased Martha in literal circles around a piece of bamboo for gawd knows how long, she would turn her face away from the camera - no pictures please!
Living right next door on some dieing wild flowers was her cousin Clyde. He is in love with Martha, but since they are first cousins and all she is against them dating muchless gettin' married. Even if he has those amazing flashy blue teeth and proposes so sweetly!!!
Clyde rocks out wit' his socks out- he's a survivalist, he doesn't need sturdy bamboo to make a good web, he'll take a home where he can get it. He also has good camouflage in his tiny hairy blackness, he fits nicely into just about any shadow. Did I mention he has blue fangs? He wants everyone to know they are NOT buck teeth. ;)
So, who do you love most...Martha, Clyde or Texas?

XoXo

Black and White Hairy Jumping Spider

Oh My GAwd! I ... Barely... Know.... what to say! I am stunned by his power, beauty, force and the look of stern disapproval! Possibly the horns, button eyes, stitched lips and mesmerizing stripes have put me into a 'oh gawd it's the best bug in the whole world eva' trance. I am naming this spider 'Texas', as in 'Don't mess with Texas!' Tell me I am not the only one who thinks he looks like a Nightmare Before Christmas Grubby Goth creature full of love/hate?!!
Texas was beginning to make a web on some bamboo, in all his glittery and monster glory. Once he knew I was interested he did some things to show off too... swinging in circles around the bamboo, jumping to other places, looking directly in my eye over and over, and coming really close to me to get a better look.
If you want to feel pure happiness- click on the pic with the blue sky and Texas below, I left it big enough so that if you click on it you can get a good look at his adorable, cute, amazing, wittle, hairy, mean, bad ass face!
Below Texas was working on gathering up some free floating web- possibly he's a upcycler/recycler!

On his back there were three tiny green spots that shimmered in the light.
Texas only had one shy moment, when he had a run in with a beautiful ladybug scurrying by him, he politely got out of her way and hid in the crack till his heart throb was far enough away... you can't love those you want to eat! But Texas, I love you!
XoXo

Spider On Brussel Sprout Plant

Hiding between the leaves, stealthy, camo and smart - this little spider made it's home in my only brussel sprout plant. I really wish it was this easy for us humans too... that we could just live on a leaf and be cool with that. :)
XoXOoo

Spiders On Drugs

I know this is meant to be some crazy propaganda video, but I laughed through my nose.



XoXo

Brown, White and Black Spider

There's two things I love about this spider I found out in the potato field - the first is the really neat coloration of it's head in contrast to it's very round & muted body... and of course the second is the scorpian like stinging thing jutting out that smooth abdomen. Looks like a serger needle for sewing clothes. Is it just me or does it have hairy eyeballs too?
XoXo

A Walk In The Woods: Obscure Beauty

I hadn't been for my usual walk in the woods lately, maybe it had even been a whole entire 2 weeks! The things that nature does while you are sleeping are unreal - in that small amount of time the flora finally grew so tall in many spots it was well above my head, some areas had gotten so thick that the beaten path was completely obscured in confusion. Tall wild flowers fell in ways in didn't recognize because there have been bunches of deer pushing through and re-routing our forest 'highway' - so many deer that the once smooth ground was chunky with tracks. Many of which were fresh and one step ahead of me the entire time (possibly because my hot pink outfit was a warning sign!). :)
It's the little things that count for me. Like a hickory leaf eaten' down into this lacy pattern...
and the crazy shapes a fungus can take, this one below is kinda growing inside out - looking like a cup!
It's spiky spider season here now too- tons of these making almost invisible webs all along the path - I ducked under a few, and went face first into much more. I accidentally brushed my hand against that pointy lump of a body and it hurt - those spikes are not just for show.
Forest Food! This is one honker of an acorn - I had to carry it all the way back home with me, I couldn't put it down cause it was too mesmerizing.
I don't know if I am ready for this one, although on fire with color and mystery that leaf is a sign of fall coming, and fall means it's gonna get very very freaking cold very soon... (it may take a lifetime for a girl from New Orleans to get used to the seasons.)
At the end of my walk is always this spectacular view of wildflowers, trees and mountains. Pretty neato! Nature never stops rockin', it has consumed my every move like a really good song.
XoXooXOooox