Living with the Natives

No this isn't a post about the plight of the Aboriginals nor is about living people at all.  It's about the real natives of Australia: Spiders.

I have a friend in Massachusetts who has a slight phobia problem with spiders so I'm betting she just clicked away.  Sorry Kristin, I know you'll never come visit me.

Anyway no True Blue Aussie morning would be complete without a complete face plant into a huge spider web.  I know my American friends are saying right now, "So what, I've eaten a few spider webs myself"  Not like these and I bet most of our very tall friends are used to walking into them either.  Ted has walked into more spider webs in the last 5 years here than he has his entire life.  I know this because he screams this fact, plus a few unmentionable words every single time he gets one.

This picture is of the new condominium complex a few of our natives have built in our front yard.  See the large water stains on the road?  Nope, those are webs.  You can't see in this picture but the guy on the left has strung his little hammock from the top of the space age lamp post down to the ground, BEHIND the grass you see, down by the white gate.  The space lamp on the right, the one with a white sail next to it?  That's another web.

 Here's another angle.  You can really start to see how complex the little buggers how built things up.
It's easy to be impressed 20 feet back with a zoom lens.

This guy.  Ahh, this guy.  This is the guy that inspired todays post.  I came within a hair's breath of walking head first not only into the web but face first into the spider.  Thank you Monty for jumping out at me from nowhere and taking my feet out from under me so I'd stop to pet you.  I know I swore at you and threatened to "beat your furry ass into the ground" but I take it all back.  Anyway back to Arachnidis Scarious.  If you click on the picture I think you can see how big the web is.  Trust me, once I stopped dry-heaving off the deck and sobbing for my mother I thought it was pretty awesome.

I'm posting this angle because I really wanted to show the levels of webs.  Unfortunately I'm a crap photographer so you still have to use your imagination.  The web reminds me of a 3D chess board.  Many levels, all over the place.  Again, an amazing bit of nature to watch as soon as you get your heart rate back under 150.

I do want to point out that these spiders are the good ones.  They are your garden ones, the ones that kill mozzies-Australian for mosquito.  They do not like humans at all.  The only humans these spiders have killed are the ones like me who bang their heads against brick walls as they run away screaming from them.

Since we're all good friends here I'm sure you decided to be gracious and not notice my overgrown grass and the large overflowing garbage can.  I appreciate that.

I must be starting to get used to SOME of these outdoor pets.  Not once during my screaming, sobbing and whinging rampage over the invading spiders did I say, "I wish I had gone to that cricket game this morning"

So here's to you Mr. Spider Man, you mozzie eating, architect of inadvertent face masks and bouts of screaming and swearing - you still weren't enough to make me pine for cricket.