The early spider...

An early blip today. I've been struggling to get them in before supper for the past while. Has meant that comments have gone decidedly belly up. Apologies for that. If I haven't replied to someone, I am sorry.

Anyway, this will hopefully get me back on track. K noticed this little spider when he went off to work this morning. I waited until the sun was high enough to hit the web and was lucky to catch her wrapping up the day's food. The nice little bundle that looks like a baby in swaddling clothing is a tiny fly.

While most spiders immobilize their prey by injecting venom, in the UK there is only one that I know of that might be able to cause humans discomfort. The Great Raft Spider could conceivably give you a nip, but unless you are a stickleback these fishing spiders probably don't present too much of a threat. On the other hand spiders do an awful lot of good by keeping the fly population under control. At least, that's my excuse for all the cobwebs in the house!