December 2007 Archives
We've been observing a big spider building a web over our garage door through out the summer and fall. Around dusk, when we'd get back from walking our dogs, we'd watch her building her web. She'd have it complete it by the time it got completely dark. We'd occasionally see some gnat or other small insect caught in the web or being wrapped up by the spider. In the morning the web would be gone and she'd start again in the evening. Apparently some spiders "recycle" their web by eating it after it's served its purpose.
One time, the spider hit the jackpot by snagging a grasshopper in her web. I'm not sure how exactly it happened, since it got caught about five feet high in the air, but the spider had a party. Instead of tearing down the web in the morning, she kept it up for several days while feasting on the poor grasshopper. The insect must have been several times her body mass and it took her quite a bit of time to finish it off.
It was nice having a real spider web on our house during Halloween, but we stopped seeing her once it became really cold. She did have a little hiding place where she probably kept her eggs, so I imagine we'll bee seeing more of her kind next summer.
Against our wishes, we've been a three-dog-household for a while now. On October 20 while walking Rose, I found a dog running loose in the park. To keep our escaped dog Karma in balance, I brought her home with me to locate her owner. She looked well taken care of -- if a little chubby -- and had a collar, albeit without a tag. She looked a bit like a younger black-and-white version of Rose and I named her Elsie, on account of her Holstein appearance. Magda quickly nixed that name and christened her Tracy.
It turned out that she probably got dumped in our park. Despite posting found notices around the park, on Craig's List and other lost-dog forums, nobody seemed to know her. Too bad, too, since she's such an incredibly sweet and playful dog. We had someone foster her for a couple of weeks (while she was in full-blown heat) when we were on vacation, but they decided she wasn't a right fit.
So we got her back. She's now been spayed and has all her shots and we are now looking for a good home for her. She gets along well with other dogs (Rose is going to miss her). She's also extremely people friendly with both adults and children.
We'll try to find a rescue group to help us place her in a good home. But if anyone we know is looking for a great dog, we'd be more than happy to consider them. We'd just want to be able to come by and visit every once in a while.
