Jerry's Personal Relationship with God's Creatures...

The Charlotte's Web Blog

June 11, 2005.  I met Charlotte during the repairs and cleaning.  She is a Garden Orb Weaver spider.
Pictures at night stand out the best.  She is not a huge spider, but she is very friendly.  This is her underside.  My index finger is shown for reference.  She has some beautiful patterns. 
The first day that I met her, she just stared at me.  Then I shined a light on her very closely and she moved her tiny front legs as if to cover her face.  I knew this couldn't be, so I experimented some more.  Note- I know that spiders do react to light; and in particular lasers.  I once "beamed" a spider on the ceiling of my house with a laser from one of my guns.  It went berserk!  It ran all over the place, while I kept the laser on it.  Finally, it fell to the floor, where I squashed it.  Hey, whoa - come on- it was INSIDE my house! :(
I normally kill spiders, but this one, outside my house seems different.  I think that we have reached an understanding. I could get close, as long as I left her web alone. 
The first night was rocky and skittish with me attempting to study her closely; and with her flailing about she took out part of her web.  I didn't know her well then, so I just pulled the other strings, and the web went down.  She climbed the side of the house.  I left her alone.
After a while, I could touch her ever so gently.  I don't know if she's used to me now, the light does something, or I am just lucky.  All spiders are poisonous, but few bite.  Those that do usually either 1) have fangs too short to do any harm or 2) venom too weak to do much except leave a puffy-red, itchy bump.
I wish that I had more information about Charlotte.  She lives at my house in the Richmond hills, in Northern California.  That's all I know.  She will continue to live here undisturbed; except for a daily check up from me.

June 13, 2005.  I interfaced with Charlotte again.  Here are some other pictures that don't need explanation.  Also, notice the beautiful web design
Let's get artistic.  I irradiated her with some radiation and she glowed!!

...all right don't panic.  For those lay-people "radiation" could mean a variety of things. In this case it was radiation in the visible light spectrum (a flashlight!).  Note- be careful of jumping to conclusions about "radiation!"  See http://www.epa.gov/radiation/students/calculate.html to find out how much radiation (nuclear and otherwise) you are exposed to on a daily basis!
In order for me to touch her, I have to do it ever so gently.  Sometimes that is very difficult, depending on her position.  Remember that I cannot disturb her web either.  So today, it was a real challenge.  I did touch her, but a bit too abruptly.  The difference is nearly imperceptible to humans.  Anyway, when I touched her this time, she ran.  I always wondered where her home was (this would be where she would hide in the day time).  Well, now I know.
This is her "home."  It's under the deck hand-railing and in the corner where the railing post meets the house.  What's interesting is the tangled web that she has weaved!  This is really a ball of old parts of her main web, but I doubt she meant to deceive.
After a section of web accumulates a certain amount of insects, she pulls that section down and bundles it with the rest here.  This is sort of like her refrigerator (or meat locker!).

 

Information about her species from http://www.rochedalss.qld.edu.au/orbweaver.htm

"Orb weavers (Araneidae) are often brightly coloured with rounded abdomens, some with peculiarly angled humps or spines. However, there is considerable variation in size, colour and shape in this group. They are often recognized for building beautiful, large, round webs, on which they rest, head downward, waiting for prey. The webs consist of a number of radiating threads crossed by two spirals. The inner spiral begins in the centre, winds outward, and is made of smooth threads like the radiating threads. It covers only the central 1/3 of the web. The outer spiral begins at the edges and winds inward. It is made of more elastic, sticky threads, coated with a liquid substance"

 

June 18th, 2005  All new photos.  Click on each picture for a super high resolution shot!
Charlotte caught a mosquito hawk.  They are those insects that look like giant mosquitoes that get into your house and fly along the wall.  She wrapped it in a cocoon a few days ago.
The way most spiders operate is to put up a web and wait for something to get caught in it.  Then they bite it and inject paralyzing venom.
Next they spin a cocoon around the paralyzed insect and leave it for a few days.  This allows for the insect to decay and turn to "liquid," sort of.
Finally they return for their meal and suck the liquid out.

As a side note- Charlotte and I share something in common.  We have both eaten a mosquito hawk.  I ate one at a party on a bet one time!  ...didn't taste too bad; and I figured it's all protein anyway!  (also made $10, but don't tell the law I was gambling!)

Watch for more additions to "Charlotte's web.

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