Wolf Spider

We're going camping this weekend, to wrap up spring break. Daddy got our tent out the other day to make sure we have all the parts, and the kiddos have loved playing in it. Until now. A (5yo) came running in to me this morning saying, "Mom! There's a poisonous spider in the tent! It's BIG and BLACK and DANGEROUS!" I told him I'd come check on it, but not before grabbing my camera. If there was a big, black, dangerous spider in my tent, I sure didn't want to miss a chance to grab a picture! One, because I just love spiders; and two, because M (11yo) is studying spiders in her Land Animals class and would love to show and tell.

It wasn't black, or dangerous, really. Just a wolf spider. I snapped a couple of pics, then shooed him into an easter bucket and carried him into the woods, where he and A would both be happier.

I love spiders. Mind you, I’d rather not be bitten and I’ll kill a black widow or recluse on sight. But wolf spiders are so cool – partly because they look like tarantulas and partly b/c they’re very good mothers – they wrap their egg sac up and carry it with them at all times. Then the newborns ride on their backs until they’re big enough to hunt on their own. I just love God’s creatures and how he made each one to provide infant care in its own special way! One time my friend's son caught a mama with an egg sac and walked up to us with it on his arm. Scared her to death. I took a picture of course! (wish i still had it, but it was on a cell phone that died soon after.)