Orb interceptor

It's only a matter of time before "knowing every slug in the garden" becomes an entry in the forthcoming DSM–V, so I won't mention that I've been out checking on them*. But while I wasn't checking on the slugs, I saw something delightful—an orb weaver spider packing up her web.

Another orb weaver (Eriophora biapiculata) has adopted the clothes hoist as scaffolding for her web. Tonight was her first appearance. For some reason, she constructed a semicircle rather than a complete wheel but the execution was just as neat and measured.

I took photos but the gusting wind played havoc with the focus. After a couple of minutes, the spider seemed to get irritated by the flash (quite understandably). So she packed up her web. She crawled down the anchoring thread until she reached the bottom of the web. Then she grabbed the lowest strands and gathered them as she scuttled back up. The process took a few seconds—certainly not long enough to get decent images with a point and shoot digital camera. But I took 'em anyway.

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* It's a quiet night, so only a couple of Limax are out on their evening glide.