BRIAN'S NATURE DIARY FOR NOVEMBER 2008
We all know the saying ‘if pigs could fly’ but did you know that spiders can fly? It is a fact that not only can they do so, but many of them fly as a matter of routine. ‘Money spiders’ are widely believed to be lucky, but in order to invoke the luck, if the spiderling lands on you, it must be gently removed and placed safely to one side kill it and you not un-naturally, but deservedly, lose your luck. At any time during summer and autumn these creatures are apt to turn up, and you become aware of them if they land on your arms, or perhaps your face. But how did they get there?
The answer is that they fly. You might think that without wings this could be a bit of a problem. Not so with these little beasts. On a pleasantly warm day when there is a light breeze they climb to the tip of a twig or a grass stem, and there they turn with their hind end pointing upwards. They then start to pay out a single thread of finest silk, so light that it drifts upwards. Eventually there is a long enough strand to carry the little beast skywards, and off they go. I have even see them do this on one of my finger tips. By this means they are able to travel hundreds, even thousands of miles in search of pastures new.
Of course this method of travel is not without its hazards. Many of them are carried over water, or even out to sea, where they land and drown, or end up as a snack for a fish. While aloft they will be picked off by swallows, martins, swifts, and other aerial hunters. They may be wind-drifted to a great height, where they have been caught in scientists’ nets as part of the aerial plankton.
Money spiders belong to a large group, with hundreds of species, all looking much the same to you and I. Only a handful of specialists, armed with microscopes, are capable of sorting them out. Not many of them are more than about 5mm long, but among the larger of their cousins is the dreaded black widow spider. Fortunately we do not have this species in our country. Most of our spiders whatever their size are harmless, and definitely among the most useful creatures to humankind. On no account should they be killed out of hand.
The spider that has blundered into the bath can be got rid of by draping a towel over the edge of the bath so that it can climb out. A few hours later and it will be gone.
Tip of the month: I still have marrows and even a courgette in my kitchen. Courgettes may be frozen, to be fried in butter straight from the freezer, when they are delicious. They may also be made into soups. I make mine in batches in a huge saucepan, and freeze unused portions in margarine tubs for later. I like nothing better than a couple of these, steaming hot with newly baked crusty bread, in the dead of winter.
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