nature Archives - GoatKeepers Press

In late spring long lines of spider silk waft across the yard. These are single strands, not webs. “The Little Spider” was written as I found out more about these gossamer strands.

Lots of spiders call my place home. They come in many sizes and colors. They are welcome as they help decimate the fly and mosquito populations. The orb web weavers are the main ones to make gossamer silk in the spring.

Spring Spiders

Wolf and jumping spiders survive the winter hidden in building crevices or leaf litter in the woods. They come out on warm winter days and in the spring. By summer these have laid eggs that hatch over the summer into fall. These rarely make gossamer silk.

In late summer the large garden spiders – all females – mate and create egg cases like these. The spiders will die with frost. The egg cases will survive the winter protecting the eggs inside. These will become baby spiders once spring warms the area.

Orb weaving spiders die in the fall. They leave behind silken egg containers filled with eggs that hatch in the spring (Remember “Charlotte’s Web”?). These spiderlings scatter and build tiny webs in the grass. I see them decorated with dew shining in the morning sun.

These spiderlings are nearly blind as were their parents. However they do want to move away into their own territories so they can get more food.

Spiders On the Move

Tiny spiderlings may run fast, but it takes a long time for them to go any distance simply because they are so small. “The Little Spider” is about such a little spiderling that wants to move and has a way to go a great distance.

When the temperature is warm and the air has a slight updraft, spiderlings find a high place to stand. They spin a strand of gossamer silk. The air catches the silk and pulls it upward.

When the silk is long enough, the pull is great enough for the spiderling to be pulled aloft. This is called ballooning.

How Far?

Although most spiderlings don’t drift very far, others do. They have been found thousands of feet in the air on airplanes or miles out to sea on ships. Some cross the English Channel.

Gossamer silk spreads across the pasture after spiders go ballooning and return to earth. A few build webs soon after landing.

After landing, the spiderlings cut loose their silk strand. These gossamer strands are left spread across pastures, buildings or blowing in the wind.

This journey is the story in my proposed picture book “The Little Spider”. Being a picture book, illustrations are important and take a long time to do. They begin with the sketches I am doing now just as a tiny spider’s journey begins with finding that high spot.

When we first moved here, I thought wildlife surprises were turning around to find a black snake where my foot would go. And that is a surprise.

Another such encounter was reaching into a hen nest and grabbing a black snake. I don’t know which of us had the biggest heart attack.

Chills still come up my back when I remember walking in the woods and looking down on my jeans to find them crawling with ticks. At least the snakes want as little to do with me as possible and vanish quickly. Ticks must be removed as they don’t want to leave.

Perhaps I’m giving the wrong impression. Although there are unpleasant wildlife surprises, there are more pleasant ones.

A group of tom turkeys spent months walking around in the pastures eating grass seeds and insects. An eight point buck stood in the back of the yard one morning. Baby grey foxes played in the back yard one year.

Every year brings a new set of wildlife surprises. Some seem routine as coming across box turtles while walking in the hills. Others are treats as when the bald eagles visit the valley or turkey vultures roost in a tree across from the house.

Albino animals have some genetic reason for being unable to make melanin which gives animals their color. In the Ozarks, a white animal has trouble blending into the scenery and often has a short life. That makes spotting one such as this albino grey squirrel one of my wildlife surprises.

The latest surprise is an albino squirrel. It came hunting black walnuts in the back yard one afternoon. I’m glad I got a picture as it hasn’t been back since.

Each day brings something different, something special. Cold, frosty mornings put icy lace around leaves while freezing fingers and toes. Sunrises are never the same, but that first light sparkles on the icy coatings on tree branches.

Who knows what today will bring. All it takes is going for a walk, looking around outside or out the windows to see both special sights and maybe wildlife surprises.