Wild Things Farm

I know why the spider frightened Miss Muffett away....it was probably a Black Widow.

Today was one of those "piddling" days where there are some things on the to-do list but nothing really pressing (finally!)  I had gone to the big high tunnel to remove unneeded items for the winter season and store them where they are supposed to be stored--flower pots, a stray gourd, a sprayer, and a sprayer box with attachments inside.  The box had been flattened during its abuse this summer, being tossed around out of the way of summer harvesting.

I took all the "stuff" to the shop to sort out and properly store.  I opened the sprayer box and noticed that the owner's manual brochure, warranty card, and plastic bag with spray tips were all glued inside the box with spider webs, including about 2 dozen acorns and some leaves.  I swiped it all out with my hand (bare, no less) and cleaned off the book and other items and put them away.  I had thrown the box down in the floor of the seed starting greenhouse and when I walked back out there, this is what I saw:

The spider is just to the right of the peanut butter lid.  I know it doesn't look like much here, but in real life it weighed 2 pounds!  Well, it WAS about 1-1/4" from tip-to-tip.  I was REALLY, REALLY close...can't you tell?

And I was lucky she didn't bite me while I was sweeping her house clean with my hand!

P.S.  The peanut butter jar lid is what I used to trap her while I ran to get the camera.

P.S. again.....she's a lot smaller now.