My Chicago Garden

For the last week my wife and I have been watching a particularly large spider (in our mind) build his web and eat his catch right before our eyes. About a week ago my wife noticed that a spider was building a web below the light above the sliding glass door to our deck/backyard.  At first the web was about the size of a frizbie and we watch for probably 2 hours (9pm-11pm) as he built the web and caught things in it. He wasn't more than an inch from the glass and as far as we could tell he couldn't see us with the light above him and the inside lights turned off. We could point at things and get real close and he would continue his work without care.

Each night he has returned to take down and rebuild the web, always slightly bigger.

Well tonight…oh my….my wife and I commented on either the spider is different or the sucker is getting bigger every night.  His web has now taken up nearly HALF of the sliding glass door!! It really is amazing how nature works. I found myself a few nights ago sitting on the kitchen table chearing on the spider. "oooh he almost got him!"…"Oh the moth busted out a piece of his web."…"FIGHT! FIGHT! He's taking on a green bug his own size!!"  How he knows to build exactly the right size web with exactly the right size spacing so the bugs are not too small and not too big is beyond me. I wish I could get a good picture but he just wont sit still or the reflection of the glass makes it impossible.  I'll keep trying.