the hose caddy was a nursery. most of the nursery was moved to the Canadian Hemlock tree and the hose caddy has made its crumbling way to the trash heap. of course it was quite a pleasant surprise to find Charlotte’s brood there on the handle of the hose caddy. i have no idea what variety arachnid Charlotte was. you can make your best guess from the image what her brood will become. i am not an arachnid expert. other than knowing that they are welcome and most definitely belong in the garden. we are about two miles south of lake Erie. that means there are an abundance of insects that live around the lake. and unlike the deer there are an abundance of predators to feast on this bounty. arachnids, odonates, chiroptera, and avians the list goes on and on. this morning i saw a very slow predator in the garden. a leopard, just not the kind you might suppose. it is a limax maximus. all part of the garden. a healthy garden. my kinda garden. so without further ado Charlotte’s brood. i hope to see a few of them later in the season. and if they should make you cringe remember they are a part of the package. so just take a step back and enjoy them from a safe distance. and if you find yourself thinking this list is harmful please take a moment and take a careful look at the alternatives. and reconsider…
I know they are good for a healthy garden…but I will have to love them from a distance. 😉
Thanks for the comment Mary ! And from a distance is just fine !
I probably would have left them alone, but that would have been quite a shock.
Normally I would have left them where they were. However some times getting the garden ready and leaving the nursery in place do not mix. A fallen branch made a wonderful collecting tool. Most of the nursery moved to the hemlock. And the hose caddy and one defunct hose headed to the trash. Now there are only another 999 things to do in the garden…
Good luck with those
What a healthy looking litter! Didn’t Charlotte describe herself as an ordinary brown spider?
Either Charlotte was a very modest arachnid or I took literary license… I do believe you are correct…
I find little spiders quite endearing and these look cute! The big hairy ones that run towards you in the house I don’t find quite so appealing. I would never hurt one on purpose though. I’m glad you were able to move most of them to a new home.
Love the pics and the spiders.
thanks hilary !