Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, September 26, 2010, noon. Vandiveer snapped this photo with the latest I-phone, showing the giant spider with incredible detail. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Red Car Property neighbor, Jonathan Vandiveer caught sight of the spider with a one and a half inch thorax, hiding in a nook of the pergola over one of his gates. "It had been making some extremely big webs lately (I think). Some of them, tens of feet wide. Watch your small dogs and cats!"
Perhaps the spider is hunting Black Witch Moths that have visited Vandiveer's home in the past. If you can identify this spider, please send us a link to redcarproperty@gmail.com. You might use What's that Bug? and Bug Guide for reference.
Last week my inbox was inundated with neighborhood wildlife photos. We'll be looking at backyard wildlife photos sent in by Red Car Property neighbors for the next week or more.
Send us your photos shot in the Red Car Property Neighborhood: redcarproperty@gmail.com. Be sure to include details about your wildlife encounter (when, where, what was the animal/bird/bug doing) and never attempt to pet or feed wildlife.
* UPDATE, Sept. 28, 2010: Silver Lake resident and blogger, Will Campbell, who frequently documents backyard wildlife thinks it's an Orb Weaver Spider (of which, there seem to be countless varieties on BugGuide). Campbell included links to his own "abnormally large and beloved 8-legged monster on the north side of our Silver Lake house."
Campbell also included a link to a time lapse video, posted on YouTube, of a Jewel Garden Spider spinning a web in his garden.
Red Car Property neighbor, Jonathan Vandiveer caught sight of the spider with a one and a half inch thorax, hiding in a nook of the pergola over one of his gates. "It had been making some extremely big webs lately (I think). Some of them, tens of feet wide. Watch your small dogs and cats!"
Perhaps the spider is hunting Black Witch Moths that have visited Vandiveer's home in the past. If you can identify this spider, please send us a link to redcarproperty@gmail.com. You might use What's that Bug? and Bug Guide for reference.
Last week my inbox was inundated with neighborhood wildlife photos. We'll be looking at backyard wildlife photos sent in by Red Car Property neighbors for the next week or more.
Send us your photos shot in the Red Car Property Neighborhood: redcarproperty@gmail.com. Be sure to include details about your wildlife encounter (when, where, what was the animal/bird/bug doing) and never attempt to pet or feed wildlife.
* UPDATE, Sept. 28, 2010: Silver Lake resident and blogger, Will Campbell, who frequently documents backyard wildlife thinks it's an Orb Weaver Spider (of which, there seem to be countless varieties on BugGuide). Campbell included links to his own "abnormally large and beloved 8-legged monster on the north side of our Silver Lake house."
Campbell also included a link to a time lapse video, posted on YouTube, of a Jewel Garden Spider spinning a web in his garden.
