The Spider

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.