Do My World pictures have to be beautiful?
Can they be about something I found fascinating?
While having my muesli breakfast in the conservatory I heard a very faint buzzing sound. I looked around me and saw nothing that could be the source of the low buzz; following my ears, I came upon the scene of murder most foul: a tiny spider was busily circling a still (just) living fly three times its size, the noise came from the fly's vibrating wings. Round and round the spider went, even climbing up on to the fly and spending a long time near it's front end. (Do flies have faces?) The buzzing got fainter and fainter.
Eventually, the deed was done, the spider went off, under the rim of the shelf, leaving the dead fly behind. There wasn't a spider's web, there were no silver threads and I could see no nest. But I was curious to find out what would happen to the fly, why it had to be killed.
I have no idea how the spider did it, I saw neither pulleys nor strings, nor any kind of mechanical device; nor did he call for his relations to come and help him shift the massive weight of the fly.
But the next time I looked, the fly corpse had moved right to the edge of the shelf. There was no draught to shift it. The corpse was still there an hour later, I couldn't bear it any longer. I got rid of it.
I hope there are no starving spider babies cursing me.
(Sorry Folks)
Oh, I don't know, Friko. I'd say there definitely are some spider babies cursing you.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and unusual post!
K
"muesli breakfast in the conservatory"...sounds just like the beginning if a mystery novel to someone like me on the other side of the 'pond.' Murder most foul, indeed! I LOVE British mysteries so you had me from the beginning even though the end result was bug removal!
ReplyDeleteObserving nature has a beauty all of its own. - Margy
ReplyDelete"She wouldn't hurt a fly."
ReplyDeleteYour heart is great, Friko
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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"Feed me, feed me" say the spider babies. These life and death tales are all around us, in the conservatory and in the garden. Thanks for showing us this mysterious one.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me muesli and dead flies are pretty much the same. Breakfast for someone. I wouldn't worry about the spider babies, the spider had sucked that fly dry long before you moved it.
ReplyDeleteSort of a brutal morning when you think about it. Something must die for something else to live. The way of the universe.
Nature is nature, whatever you do to defeat it. I guess the spider was hungry.
ReplyDeleteI have faint memories of stories of spiders and flies, but they didn't turn out quite like this. Your story was MUCH more suspense-filled. And then the human element intervened. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting deed to unfold before your very eyes.. and now ours. Fine captures of an event most of us never see.
ReplyDeleteNow that is fascinating. Yes, not so pretty as your countryside, but just as surely a bit of nature. And here I thought, for spiders, that catching prey in a web was de rigueur. I bet an entomology magazine would snap this up!
ReplyDeleteCan't say that I am caught in your web, dear Friko. But you did so craftily set the hook and reel me in to the very end. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't worry about those spider babies, as I'm sure there are more tasty morsels awaiting them. Really interesting photos. I find things of this nature fascinating . . . a little creepy, but fascinating. Spiders are amazing creatures.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe I have ever seen spider/fly pictures before. I do not like spiders...nor flies. Fascinating though
ReplyDeleteoh i was so waiting for the feast pictures....haha...nice captures friko
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big spider fan but I couldn't help but think...after all that work... ;) But I am not a big fly fan, either. Can't blame you for not wanting to look at the body.
ReplyDeleteWhat's to be sorry about? This is a great post! Given the lack of web, maybe the fly got injected with spider venom. Does that sound plausible?
ReplyDeleteMore blood and guts stories please.
Darn it Friko!
ReplyDeleteI love watching my spiders do their deeds. They are so efficient and beautiful to watch.
Chapter 2 would have been most interesting.
Murder in the Conservatory. You devil you.
XO
WWW
Oh no, I was afraid to look at this post. I hate spiders. They are so alien! You couldn't make it up how sinister it all is. I feel scarred for life :-)
ReplyDeleteDi
X
Well, that was unusual! Nature is all about survival...
ReplyDeleteI am sure some expert on spiders will be able to tell you how exactly the deed was done.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe we need a special investigator for the world of insects to solve the How and Why.
Having proof of whodunnit isn't enough these days. We need the how and why to be thoroughly investigated. Seems like we need an expert witness!
ReplyDeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteMaybe no starving baby spiders, but we do wonder how Widow Fly and her children are coping?
Always good to read about your world, Friko. This time, under the magnifying glass.
ReplyDeleteA sinister tale indeed. Glad the fly didn't have a face of a human on it. Ha!!
ReplyDeleteShades of "The Fly"...movie
Hugs
SueAnn
I don't mind having spiders in the house because without them we'd have a lot more flies, but I prefer to let them dine in private!
ReplyDeleteMurderous spider she is! I'd love to have her in my house. You think she has a sister I can adopt in New England? ;)
ReplyDeleteFriko, thank you very much for this very close up view of a part of your world.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering just how the spider did corner the fly. The prequel to the episode you viewed?
xo
Every day Jerry and I walk down the road past the cow pasture where there are 5 beef cattle grazing. Next year, if we are still around, we will see 5 different beef cattle grazing. This years succulent beef flanks and loins will be distributed in various freezers.
ReplyDeleteWe all gotta eat.
I found this post very interesting and certainly unusual as well as unexpected. I have a love/hate relationship with spiders as they do help to keep other insects under control -- unfortunately they do cause me to 'pull of face' of distaste whenever I do see them -- including while reading this post!:-)
ReplyDelete"Come into my parlour" said the spider to the fly .....
ReplyDeleteHi Friko .. you'd waited so long - I'd have hung on .. I'm sure the whole would have gone - two wings left?!
ReplyDeleteWell I'm happy to have more posts like this! Cheers .. Hilary
um yes flies have faces. have you ever seen The Fly with Geoff Goldblum? you should probably check the face next time. the insect world is a savage place alright!
ReplyDeleteTwo flies in one day in my blog roll! :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a look Friko:
http://birdsfod.blogspot.com/
This one was more lucky! :-)
I don't know about spider babies, but I should think one grown up spider is cursing you. I went to stay in a cottage recently which hadn't been lived in for a few weeks and found a HUGE spider in the bath surrounded by the corpses of other spiders. Ugh! I fished him out and ran his ex-enemies down the plug hole.
ReplyDeleteI've answered your question about London by the way, it's in the comments on my post about hotels and b&bs. let me know how you get on!
I have difficulty seeing anything get the chop, but flies are nasty, noisome things so my sympathy is with the spider who must feed her children. Dianne
ReplyDeleteI think that the spider had injected the fly, which is why it flapping its wings. By the way, you have spoilt the spider lunch, dinner and breakfast, lol. Brilliant photos.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post Friko - love the macro feature, and I think the blood thirsty Georgia Little Pea offered the answer on "how" madam spider 'did it'. If this ever happens again, PLEASE lower your standards and keep watching (I wanted to know what happened!)
ReplyDeleteYour photos are gorgeous Friko...and, although I can't stand spiders or flies...at least I was able to look at those insects a little through your eyes and not scream in terror. Smiles - Astrid
ReplyDeletePoor fly; poor spider.
ReplyDeleteNature red in tooth and claw. . . or whatever it is spiders have. (She's lurking under your pillow, Friko, to exact her revenge...
ReplyDeleteI would have sent my cat Pookie in the room, close the door, hide somewhere and wait until she had cleaned fly and spider (she love spiders) !
ReplyDeleteich selbst rette die Fliegen immer, wenn sie noch am Leben sind, denn sie erleben einen grausamen Tod und Natur hin oder her, ich kann da nicht zusehen. Die Spinne sticht die Fliege, sagt man, und dieses Gift lähmt die Fliege dann und was danach kommt, ich kann nicht daran denken... Aber ich töte auch die Spinnen nicht, sie werden aber von mir vor die Tür gesetzt.
ReplyDeleteDir einen guten und schönen Abend!
Renée
Ein gelungener Blick in die Welt, erinnert an "Origin of the Species". Wir haben gerade einige unserer Blumen an Raupen verfüttert, und jetzt weiß unser Sohn wie Schmetterlinge "gemacht werden". Einen guten Freitag dir.
ReplyDeleteOh - I loved this. (And would expect no less from your inquiring mind...)
ReplyDeleteThis evening I can count 13 spider bites on myself.
ReplyDeleteIf I'd been in your place I'd have squished the spider.
Spiders make me shudder but if they're engaged in nefarious deeds - other than making me jump, that is - I can watch for hours. Friko, you have starving spiderlings on your conscience;-)
ReplyDeleteI've had a little spider living in the corner of my desk for a few weeks. It's a tiny thing, and doesn't seem to do much except hang out, but it must be making a living somehow. I think I'll continue to let it be, just in case there are babies around!
ReplyDeleteThis was so funny... you finally had to get rid of it. And what of the spider!!! I would have swatted that bugger right away if it had been in my house. You are quite a nice "landlord" :)
ReplyDeleteThere are few things I enjoy more than observation of the minutiae of life. Plus, when they find your corpse one morning, looking hale and hearty and with no clear cause of death, they'll now know to look around the room for evilly cackling spider babies.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated by your curiosity. The spiderlings do not count on their parent for food.
ReplyDeleteThat you saw no sign of any silk just means that this one is a variety that doesn't need it. Might be the jumping type. Pounced on the fly as it sat on the table and was injected with numbing agent.