How would you get along with your sibling(s), parent(s), or any other person you’ve known for a long time — if you only met them for the first time today?
“Hello Fred, nice to see you have returned to my kitchen corner.”
“Fred, no, Fred was my grandfather. My dad was Fred Junior and now it’s time to introduce a new name in the family. I am Cyril, son of Fred Junior. Where shall I start Mrs. Angloswiss. Dad said to just hover around and wait for something interesting to land in the web. I must say you seem to have quite a lot of flies this year.”
“Oh yes I do Cyril, they are everywhere, especially in the morning when I eat my breakfast in the kitchen. They never seem to fly into your web. Do you think you might be doing something wrong Cyril.”
“I am hovering and waiting Mrs. Angloswiss. We are not hunters. We are not equipped with fly swotting hands at the tips of our legs. We are the patient kind. If a fly happens to get lost on its flight he will be caught in my web. It is then we pounce and make a lunch packet for later digestion. We indoor spiders are more into the smaller kind of flying insect. Fruit flies are welcome, but you have no fruit.”
“I keep the fruit outside in the summer Cyril, otherwise the fruit bowl is full of flies.”
“You see Mrs. Angloswiss, that is why I am so thin. You are starving me of my rightful food. Oh, just a minute, yes got him.”
“What was that?”
“One of the mini flies just entered my web.”
“You mean that dark speck in your web. I can hardly see it.”
“Mrs. Angloswiss you do not have to see all the flies. As long as we can absorb them, it suffices. And there goes another one.”
“I don’t see it.”
“But I do. If you want one of the big game hunters, you have to go outside. I saw that Jeremy has made a nice nest this morning, although he said he spun the original web yesterday and it was washed away in the evening. Be careful where you aim your hose Mrs. Angloswiss.”
“I didn’t see Jeremy. I was just giving the garden a good soak.”
“All very well, but be careful where you soak. Jeremy spent hours weaving his web and it was all gone in less than a minute. Look where you spread the water Mrs. Angloswiss. No consideration from the humans. We are only doing our job.”
“But some of us do not like spiders Cyril. My blogging colleague Marilyn …….”
“We know all about Marilyn Mrs. Angloswissl She is notorious in the spider world. Some of us spiders do not like humans Mrs. Angloswiss, but we have to live with them.”
“Well, I did look after your granddad and daddy over the years. They were very helpful in keeping the other insects away, except for the flies.”
“Glad to hear it Mrs. Angloswiss. My daddy told me that if you want a safe and comfortable place during the summer, then hang around in Mrs. Angloswiss kitchen. She says where there is a spider there is a home. Now go and take a photo of Jeremy, I am sure he would appreciate being shown to all the nice bloggers (except Marilyn), but be careful where you tread. I think Mabel may be in the garden.”
“Who is Mabel?”
“That’s Jeremy’s wife. Jeremy said she is transporting her egg sack at the moment and we don’t want to destroy Jeremy’s next generation, now do we.”
So here is a photo of Jeremy with his lunch next to him in the web. I did not see Mabel, but I think she was busy with the family protection plan.
I have a couple of distant relatives of Cyril living with me. I don't disturb them, just let them get on with their arachnid business. Good photos, by the way!!
ReplyDeleteThey don't both me either. There are mega spiders here, but they usually sit hidden near the door guarding the place from intruders. yes, I think after many years, I have now got the hang of a close-up on the camera.
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