7.06.2009

A Handful of Spiders

 
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Yep, they're alive but they have been effectively paralyzed by the stings of a mud dauber. A couple of them waved a leg or two at me, but only weakly. (Still, I bet SIL and FC will both be having kittens if they happen to stop by - hehe)

I'll be back tomorrow to explain how they came to be in my hand...

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed the dragon flies after your first batch of spider pictures and, then, you just have to show me a picture of you holding the creepy eight-legged creatures in your hand. (UGH!!!!)
Rat Dog says you shouldn't freak her mommy out like that(but she still loves you and so do I).

SIL

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Awww! Poor li'l spideys! Can't you give them CPR or something?

Anonymous said...

Swampy- If my cousin was around she would be using the shoe of death on those spiders. Thought of your spider pictures today which I was cleaning the bathroom and found a rather large spider in the tub. Maineiac

R.Powers said...

MEOW, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW ...


jeez girl ... shudder.

Jen said...

My 6 year old summed it up nicely: EWWWWWWWW!

Ellen Rathbone said...

WOW! How did the wasp feel about you snagging it's food? Or were they zapped to be used for implanting eggs? Ugh - visions of ALIEN. Poor spiders! At least they've now been immortalized in cyberspace!

Amanda said...

I remember those mud daubers when I was growing up in Louisiana. I used to love to crack them up and see the helpless victims. I also liked to watch the wasps going after and doing battle with their prey. So much drama goes on right under our noses and we never notice.

swamp4me said...

SIL,
You know what they say, a spider in the hand is worth two in the bush...

woodswalker,
I felt bad for the spiders, but I did put them where something else could make a meal of them.

Maineiac,
Spiders are cool -- just misunderstood :)

FC,
You know you immediately came to mind when I was picking up spiders ;)

Jen,
Six year olds are always eloquent, aren't they?

Ellen,
What happened to the dauber's nest is a mystery. The spiders were floating on the water when we found them.

Amanda,
I've always been intrigued by daubers -- such an interesting lifestyle.

jojo said...

can you show a pic of the mud dauber nest? i thought i had some around my house and barn areas. but NOT big enough to smoosh one of those spiders in them. And beetles, sometimes mine have beetles in there. Or is that remnants of the grub!

swamp4me said...

jojo,
That's an excellent idea. I will take some photos of a couple of different kinds of dauber nests and post them for you.
And to answer your question, the thing you saw that looked like a beetle may have been the pupal case of the wasp -- I'll photograph some of those as well so you can compare.

jojo said...

awesome!!! I learn so much from your blog. love it. Thanks!