I Might Be "Uncle" to Some Spiders

[General Lighting]

A few months ago a particularly large spider was crawling outside my kitchen door (leg span over 70mm). it was larger than the sizes I normally tolerate, so it got herded into a large plastic container and put outside.

I did photograph it before evicting it, (in fact I felt a bit bad about chucking it out into the cold) but subsequent research shows I may have evicted a male house spider what was looking for females.

A few weeks later, I then noticed outside my kitchen window (where I had evicted the first spider) another large spider but smaller than the first one. This appears to be a mature female house spider! She seemed to be keeping to the same area...

So I think I may have done the male spider a favour - unfortunately though the sex life of male house spiders is so strenuous that after a few days of intensive mating they drop dead of exhaustion, and then get eaten by the female (as nutrition for the offspring)....

now the big female has gone (I think she has moved to a large trough of plants the other side of my house) and has been replaced by at least one smaller spider - ironically I used to be a arachnophobe but this is the nearest i've come to feeling "broody" in a fair while!

[TEK Tonic]

Aaawwww! Congratulations!!

[fishpaste]

AWW! thats sweet lol.
i hope you and your spiders are very happy together
but you cant be their uncle because you are my uncle

[Scouse]

haha you do realise that ur crazy GL?

But who's going to 'mew-oww' at the local cats if your busy teaching your niece's and nephew's to play football?

How many baby spiders can you expect to be roaming around in your garden?

[Angel]

[General Lighting]

Originally posted by Scouse

haha you do realise that ur crazy GL?

But who's going to 'mew-oww' at the local cats if your busy teaching your niece's and nephew's to play football?

I can do both, as the cats turn up in the garden as well (there is an abundance of wildlife there) and the meowing is normally when I ride back home late at night, to encourage cats and kittens to be mindful of road safety (it actually started off years ago when I started meowing at and with my own cats..)

How many baby spiders can you expect to be roaming around in your garden?

this seems to be very difficult to find out, and I have spent several days searching. I did find the "Essex Spider Group" and may well ask them..

There are other species of spider in my garden what look like small house spiders unless you inspect the webs so its easy to get confused (but their webs have a missing segment containing a signal thread). You also have to search for the spiders on their complicated Latin names...

[General Lighting]

the spiders have hatched! - I saw some new ones last weekend at the same spot - and I am fairly certain its the same species as their web has the "signal thread" which is how they work out if a fly has landed on it...

incidentally the neighbours cat was sat on my wheelie bin watching me looking at the spiders (I was cooking though and I think she was hoping to beg food, but I just laughed as she isn't a poor lost kitty and I think she was actually put on a diet by the vet last year )

cheaper than Colchester Zoo and more ethical

[joshd96320]

[p0ly]

aahaaaahah nice one josh

[BioTech]

Originally posted by joshd96320

[p0ly]

Sally the Spider

[process]

Originally posted by General Lighting

I can do both, as the cats turn up in the garden as well (there is an abundance of wildlife there) and the meowing is normally when I ride back home late at night, to encourage cats and kittens to be mindful of road safety (it actually started off years ago when I started meowing at and with my own cats..)

this seems to be very difficult to find out, and I have spent several days searching. I did find the "Essex Spider Group" and may well ask them..

There are other species of spider in my garden what look like small house spiders unless you inspect the webs so its easy to get confused (but their webs have a missing segment containing a signal thread). You also have to search for the spiders on their complicated Latin names...

[Dr Bunsen]

[p0ly]

well good pic, i wanna go there tripping

[e_babes]

Originally posted by Dr Bunsen

Ahhhh, ATTACK OF THE .10 FOOT SPIDERS!!

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES