Great minds think alike. I was just trying and failing to get a decent photo of a similarly robust specimen of the same species not 5 minutes ago while out walking the dog. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about spiders recently as I find them absolutely fascinating.
I used to be one of those arseholes that killed spiders and flies. I let flies back out of the window now and leave spiders well alone. We’ll, I may move them if the web is in the way (sorry spider) but I too am fascinated and think they are amazing creatures. Saw this orange variant the other day.
Yeah, same here - it never ceases to amaze me how nature just well... works. We live in an old house which spiders seem to love... and strangely enough they all seem to be called Harry. One little one, not much more than 5mm, occasionally abseils down from the centre light in the lounge and it amazes me how much (a good 4ft) & how quickly he can produce silk. I believe it's done by mixing two chemicals that react in a special chamber which they can spin out. Nature's Nylon if you will. I also believe they use muscles to retract their legs but a sort of hydraulic system to extend them - which is why their legs curl up when they die. However I'm not sure what they use to have a crap but if you've ever wondered what those little dark spots are sometimes found on the inside of windows, it's their pooh.
This looks to be exactly the same as the one I posted which is evidently a orange-brown female European garden spider - Araneus diadematus And I quote "Alongside the use of the web to capture other prey, the spiders are also cannibals and prey on each other, but this only happens just before, during, or just after sexual activity. They attack based on their size, sexual experience, and hunger levels." Oooeer missus.
