This Chilly Air is Not Autumn... dern..

Fall means cliche fresh starts, pumpkins, lighting of candles, a weird renewed interest in baking and Fall means all the spiders are moving into our basement. Hope this lovely lady stays outside.
She is currently guarding our front door.


Don't Arrive Unannounced by Cozytailmom on deviantART

The black widow bites are rarely fatal despite what many think. They are also super non-aggresive. I once had one on my watering can and had been sprinkling the garden for at least ten minutes before I noticed that it was running for its life, to opposite sides of the can, to get away from me. I'm assuming it had been hiding out in the can while it was being stored in the garage. 

I'm comforted when I remember that my deep dark woods home* is surrounded by venomous creatures and an impenetrable thicket of thorny blackberry bushes. Not even a ghost can sneak up unannounced without snagging his sheet.. (you know.. his ghost sheet... woooOOOoooo).  I'm a little excited about October. Can you tell?

*A door-to-door salesman just stopped by and tried to sell me on solar panels for my house. fail

You Can Appreciate a Tidy Girl

..at the very least.

Sure, many find black widows to be less than adorable, but after many, many encounters with them in the wild, and in my garage, I have found them to be quite intriguing. They avoid human contact as much as they reasonable can. I could tell you many tales of the widows that run from me while I try to get close enough for a clear photo.

Apparently, they are also good for reducing the cicada population. These pics were taken last summer during our cicada mini-plague.

Latrodectus


A Widow Prepares Her Lonely Supper by Cozytailmom on deviantART


A Tidy Girl by Cozytailmom on deviantART


Photos by Christie Acker. Prints available on Deviant Art.

Happy October

People, I love Halloween!
Any and all halloween bugs submitted will be posted.

This pumpkin comes from here.